IRMI Update
Risk Management
& Insurance Commentary, Tips, and Tactics
February 22, 2012 | Issue 266 | ISSN: 1530-7948
In This Issue
Colleague,
Are the health and wellness of a company's employees only the
concerns of the human resources function, or are they also risk
management issues? I would argue that the risks associated with
an unhealthy workforce are legitimate risks for the risk management
function to help address. "Our employees are our most important
asset" may seem to be a worn out cliché, but it is still a truism
for most businesses. As the baby boomers have aged, they've become
more susceptible to illness, disease, and accidents, all of which
increase costs and risks to the organization.
Historically, our society has focused on sickness rather than
health (i.e., trying to heal people after they become ill rather
than trying to help people remain healthy). This illogical approach
led to the medical cost inflation that we experience today, and
it will not end until we begin to apply something akin to the risk
management process to the problem (i.e., identify the risk, control
the risk, and only then finance the risk). A "culture of health"
must be embedded in organizations just as safety and quality cultures
are. Companies that do this—whether under the leadership of risk
management or HR—will be more competitive and successful in the
future. (For a compelling case for this along with a recommended
strategy for tackling the problem, read
Zero Trends: Health as a Serious
Economic Strategy by Dee Edington, PhD).
What do you think? Do you think employee wellness is a legitimate
issue for risk managers to tackle? Is there a relationship between
wellness and workers compensation claims? What positive financial
impacts have you seen as a result of companies instituting wellness
programs? Share your insight with others by way of a post in the
IRMI Group on LinkedIn.
We have an all-star lineup of speakers addressing the critical
issues related to cyber, intellectual property, privacy, and related
risks and insurance at the 2nd
IRMI Cyber and Privacy
Risk Conference, which will take place in Baltimore on May 16–17.
Check out the agenda on IRMI.com and reserve your place today.
All the best,
Jack
Jack P. Gibson, CPCU, CRIS, ARM
President & CEO
International Risk Management Institute, Inc.
IRMI Educational
Program News
Richard Clarke To Headline Cyber Conference
Homeland, national, and cyber security expert Richard Clarke
will be the keynote speaker at the
IRMI Cyber & Privacy Risk Conference, May 16–17 in Baltimore.
Mr. Clarke served for 30 combined years in the White House, Pentagon,
State Department, and intelligence community. Every business has
cyber and privacy loss exposures.
Reserve your spot now to learn how to identify, insure, manage,
and transfer these complex and potentially catastrophic risks.
Risk Tip
Address Claims before Policy Inception
Having brokered in a prior life a substantial number of Fortune
500 insureds as well as many trade groups, I learned that one of
the primary issues for many clients was the handling of liability
claims. All too often, the broking thought process seems to consider
claims management as a function of the insurer with the assistance
of the insured. Quite the contrary—claims management starts with
the expectations of the insured acknowledged by the placing broker
and negotiated by all parties, prior to policy inception. This includes
a total understanding of the potential for loss and the basis by
which loss can be mitigated.
Depending on the risk, these meetings should include counsel
for the insured, financial executives, possibly senior manufacturing
personnel, and virtually any other participant who has technical
or loss mitigation knowledge. Including people with extensive knowledge
of the insured's operations is one of the most important factors
in this exercise. On the insurer's side, senior claims personnel
need to be involved to clarify and avoid any possible misunderstandings
as to how claims will be handled.
Make no mistake, the tripartite of this partnership is one of
the fulcrums of claims management. Having this type of communication
at the outset can help assure the best possible outcome in the event
of a claim. (It's also a good idea to develop a panel of
"experts" to call on in the defense of claims as an in-house
immediate preemptory weapon.)
By: Peter Polstein, Consultant
Retired Senior Vice President
Alexander & Alexander
New York
GET PUBLISHED IN IRMI UPDATE:
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Recent Articles on
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New Expert Commentary
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What's New in Your
IRMI Library
Use Checklists To Assure the "I's" Are Dotted and "T's" Crossed
No matter how many times they've taken off or landed, pilots
use checklists to assure that they have addressed every detail.
With the complexity of insurance policies these days, it makes sense
to use this same process every time a policy is placed or renewed.
IRMI Insurance Checklists gives
you 58 checklists for reviewing the coverage provisions of personal
and commercial lines insurance policies, and the 2012 version is
now on IRMI Online and ReferenceConnect. You can use the checklists
as is or modify them to suit your needs. Below are handy links to
the latest updated version for subscribers:
If you don't subscribe, learn more about
IRMI Insurance Checklists on IRMI.com.
For summaries of other new and updated information in your IRMI
library, go to What's New on
IRMI Online or
What's New in ReferenceConnect.