| With economic stress in the national and international lodging industry, there are some strategies in the loss prevention arena which can enhance the "bottom line."
Carefully review the OSHA Log 300 to determine where a special emphasis on safety training might significantly reduce job-related accidents and illnesses with a reduction in incident costs.
Meet with your workers' comp carrier and review reserves. Frequently, an amount has been set which is far beyond the ultimate value of the case. Also, there may be a delay in removing reserves for a case which has been settled at much less than the original reserve. Heavy reserves ultimately impact your premium.
Evaluate the "return to work" program. Are employees being returned to limited duty as soon as medically certified for such an assignment?
If you have a mentor program, have you reviewed it and evaluated it recently?
Be sure the engineer reviews the U.S. Fire Administration material included in this month's newsletter.
Make a sincere effort to maintain a preventive maintenance program and do not make the mistake of deferred maintenance in a budget cutting program. You may encounter major expense when a poorly maintained system collapses; or, confront some major capital expense when the economy recovers.
When did you last up-date your emergency evacuation program? Remember that is a mandate under OSHA. Because of the nature of our operations, the evacuation will apply to non-employees as well as to all of our employees. Does each employee know individual responsibility in the event of an emergency evacuation?
Does every employee know to immediately sound the alarm and ensure that a staff member calls the fire department? This must be done even though the employee may be able to extinguish a fire with a portable fire extinguisher.
Have all employees received "hands on" training in the use of a fire extinguisher and do they know the correct extinguisher to use? (Solve that problem by installing the ABC extinguisher which can be used for classes of fire, such as a paper, grease, or electrical fires.)
On a 24/7 basis, is there at least one employee acquainted with all emergency shut-off locations for gas, water, electric, swimming pool pumps, or other power sources? Is there a specific location for tools needed for such shut-off action? Are the tools visible and readily accessible?
When is the last time you had an infra-red scan of all electrical lines and systems? That could locate a hot-spot and avoid a serious fire.
Are you implementing a program of American Red Cross First Aid and CPR training so you have a significant number of employees trained to immediately respond in a medical emergency?
Using the above points for example, meet with the Executive Committee and supplement this check-list with items specific to you establishment.
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STRATEGIES TO CLOSE OUT THE FOURTH QUARTER OF 2008