01/31/2007
Use Your Good Safety Record for the Opportunity to Earn Dividends Through the NFIB/IWIF Group Safety Plan
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Larry Sanders |
Health options
Maintain a safe workplace, and you could earn dividends on your workers’ compensation premium. That's all Larry Sanders needs to say to sell the NFIB/IWIF Group Safety Plan to his small-business customers.
"Business owners know it's in their best interest to have a safe workplace, because a safe workplace means that employees miss fewer days of work as a result of injuries," says Sanders, president of the Edward L. Sanders Insurance Agency in LaPlata, Md. "But offering an opportunity for dividends helps encourage small-business owners even more to put safety first and participate in the program. Every business owner can appreciate the potential for a monetary reward."
The choice is clear
The group safety plan, a collaboration between NFIB and the Injured Workers' Insurance Fund, which has provided workers' compensation insurance to thousands of businesses in Maryland since 1914, gives NFIB members who understand the importance of workplace safety the chance to join together to lower the cost of workers' compensation insurance by earning dividends based on their collective safety performance.
What impresses Sanders most about the program is the fact that most small businesses, as long as they're NFIB members, are eligible to participate. "Most incentive-based programs aren't offered to broad-based business classifications. This program is practical and simple. If you fit in the classification and you're an NFIB member, you can elect in."
When you enroll in the NFIB/IWIF Group Safety Plan, you will be given a copy of the NFIB Workplace Safety CD, which helps you identify workplace hazards, create your own workplace safety manual, establish employee training specific to your business, reduce accidents, and improve productivity and profits.
Participants also have the opportunity to participate in safety seminars, receive safety newsletters and even arrange on-site meetings with an IWIF workplace safety consultant -- all to help keep your business and employees safe.
"The program's goals are to reduce injured workers' claims and improve worksite safety, and IWIF makes sure its participants have the tools they need to achieve those goals," Sanders says.
Insurance agents or NFIB members who would like more information about the program can call NFIB at (866) 479-5831. To transfer an existing IWIF workers' compensation insurance policy or apply for IWIF coverage for an NFIB member, agents can contact their IWIF territorial marketing director.
Not all members qualify for coverage, and members can be removed from the program based on claims experience. Dividends are not guaranteed and must be declared by the IWIF board of directors and approved by the Maryland Department of Insurance.
