It’s important for all businesses in the fashion and apparel industry to ensure they’re adequately covered by a workers’ compensation policy. Just like your business has commercial property insurance to cover the costs that result from theft or fire, it must also have a workers’ compensation policy to pay for the costs of injuries that employees sustain in the workplace.
The loss of experienced employees due to injury can be a major threat to your business. Understanding your risks and implementing proactive risk management strategies can help you prevent injuries and reduce insurance coverage costs.
Some of the common causes of injuries in the fashion and apparel industry include, but are not limited to:
• Slips, trips and falls. Slips, trips and falls are among the most common and costly workplace accidents across all industries, accounting for 35% of incidents and 65% of lost workdays, according to the National Safety Council. The good news is that most slips, trips and falls in the workplace or jobsite are preventable. Investing in employee education on preventing slip, trip and fall hazards and ingraining safety best practices into your workplace’s culture can lead to substantial long-term cost savings.
• Prolonged standing. When workers must stand for lengthy periods on concrete or similarly hard surfaces, they can develop swollen or painful feet or legs, tendinitis, knee problems, lower back pain and neck and shoulder stiffness.
• Overexertion. Bending, stretching to reach, repeatedly grasping, lifting, pulling and pushing can cause sudden trauma or cumulative strain, sprains and tearing to muscles, tendons, ligaments and other soft tissue. Carpal tunnel syndrome is a common overexertion injury caused by the type of repetitive tasks found in textile work.
• Contact with machinery. Employees risk having their fingers, hands or arms stuck in machinery. This may lead to serious crushing and tearing injuries, including loss of body parts, bruises, cuts and/or burns.
• Exposure to fibers and dust. Anyone working with fibers should be masked, as inhaling dust from synthetic fibers or natural fibers like cotton and wool can cause acute and chronic lung damage.
Accidents happen, even when an employer has implemented strict safety protocols and training programs. If a workplace injury occurs at your place of business, that’s when workers’ compensation insurance comes into play. Workers’ compensation insurance pays monetary benefits to injured employees to compensate them for temporary and permanent disability associated with their work- related injury or disease. Equally important is that workers’ compensation insurance supplies, at no cost to injured employees, medical benefits related to the work-related injuries.
Most workers’ compensation policies are comprised of two parts which address workers’ compensation and employers’ liability. In the first part, the insurer agrees to pay whatever a state’s required compensation amounts to because workers’ compensation does not have a limit on a policy amount. The insurance company pays whatever the employer is statutorily obligated to pay as a result of an employee’s injury. In the second part, the workers’ compensation policy provides coverage where an employee sues the employer for work-related injury or illness that is not subject to state statutory benefits. This part of the policy does have a monetary limit.
A workers’ compensation policy also covers third-party claims, where an injured employee sues someone other than the employer and then a third-party tries to hold the employer responsible for situations in which the spouse of an injured employee files a lawsuit against the employer for loss of consortium.
It’s important to assess and manage workforce and workplace risks and create a workers’ compensation coverage package that meets the employer’s unique situation and insurance requirements. Employers should also work with their insurance advisors and their risk management teams to reduce workplace injuries by providing guidance on best practices for creating healthy and safe working environments. Pre-hire screenings, employee safety training, daily check-in requirements for workers that perform injury prone tasks and wellness programs to promote employee physical and emotional health are all essential elements for creating a comprehensive and affordable risk management and workers’ compensation strategy.
Frank DeLucia currently serves as senior vice president of Hub International Northeast, a leading, full-service global insurance brokerage. With over three decades of experience, Frank specializes in building insurance and risk management programs for the real estate and apparel industries and is a long-time active member of the Fashion Service Network (FSN). Frank can be reached by phone at 212-338-2395 or at frank.delucia@hubinternational.com. For more information, visit hubinternational.com.
