Practicing Public Safety: The First Step to PLI
Although public liability insurance (PLI) is often an excellent choice for small businesses, companies who opt for public liability insurance should still practice safety before and after purchasing PLI. In fact, the first step your business should take before purchasing public liability insurance is practicing public safety. Before we get into the details about practicing public safety, let us first briefly address public liability insurance.
Public Liability Insurance
This insurance safeguards you and your business against lawsuit-induced bankruptcy. If a member of the public becomes injured on your property or during your business care because of your business’ negligence, public liability insurance will pay for any costs associated with the lawsuit.
This can, of course, save your business from being forced to close should an injury occur, and PLI may seem like an excellent solution to potential lawsuits. However, insurance like this could encourage businesses to feel too secure and to become more lax in completing regular business repairs.
This practice of becoming lax on repairs can unfortunately lead to more claims, and since public liability insurance is just like any insurance, the more claims that are filed, the more insurance premiums increase. Therefore, if businesses allowed disrepair (and lawsuits) to occur, premiums could become too expensive.
Where, then, is the solution to this problem? The solution simply lies in avoiding public liability claims. Let’s look at some ways to keep your customers safe and to decrease your likelihood of filing a public liability claim.
Practicing Public Safety
To keep your customers safe, you must ensure that your business is as safe as possible at all times. This means that any repairs that need attention should always be tackled as soon as possible. Some of the more common areas where repairs may need to be completed include:
Stairs: Stairs and stairwells are areas prone to injuries. There are many places on stairs where problems can occur, and they are often heavily traversed. If you have stairs or stairwells, you will need to assess them regularly for loose treads, loose or missing handrails, and low headers. Fix any problem spots that need repair, and for low header, use signs to make customers aware of the low ceiling.
- Parking Lots/Walkways: Parking lots and walkways provide many opportunities for injuries because they are often overlooked, with far sides of parking lots and little used walkways often presenting the most dangers. To ensure your lot and pathways are safe for customers, walk through each to look for potential problems, including loose gravel, potholes, faulty lighting, and any other obstructions that may case tripping hazards.
- Within the Store: Inside your business, many other hazards may be present. Look for hazards that may cause slipping, tripping, and falling. Additionally, look for sharp corners and low ceilings.
Correcting these hazards periodically and making sure that safety precautions are taken at all times will help ensure your customers’ safety and decrease your chance of lawsuit. However, should a customer become injured despite your best safety efforts, having public liability insurance in place can help you keep your business safe from bankruptcy.
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