[EDITOR'S FOCUS] Safe and Sound

Business owners routinely pay significant insurance premiums as a hedge against a catastrophic one-time occurrence. For most business owners, annual, quarterly or monthly insurance payments are a given part of the budget (and in some cases, they are mandated).

The payments are made in the event that if the worst happens—a fire, a tornado, a workplace injury—a third party pays for the damages out of funds contributed monthly by a pool of contributors.

For business owners, these can be tough checks to write out, because for practical purposes they are better off if the money going out never comes back in the form of a paid claim. Yet, there is little disputing that maintaining full insurance coverage is a sound business practice.

In the recycling industry, business owners and managers who understand the importance of maintaining insurance coverage as a shield against catastrophic events should have little trouble comprehending the benefits of the new safety videos being produced by the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries Inc. (ISRI).

With the completion of the latest video in its series, "Working Safe and Smart with Shears," ISRI offers another affordable way for business owners to hedge against catastrophe. As the French physician Joseph Ignace Guillotin noted more than two centuries ago, shearing equipment can have disastrous consequences when it comes into contact with people. Despite the obvious dangers, workers can still lose their concentration around such equipment, and accidents do occur.

The ISRI videos on shearing equipment, balers, conveyors, truck rollovers and other topics use alarming graphic images and recountings of actual incidents to jar viewers into understanding the dangers they face every day if they don’t pay attention to the equipment around them. (Many of the videos are also available in Spanish, recyclers with Spanish-speaking workforces will be happy to hear.)

Whether viewed by new hires or veteran employees, the videos serve to jolt workers and managers alike into realizing that the dangers are real for those who are careless in the scrap processing work environment.

ISRI member companies can purchase most of the videos in the $50 to $75 price range, while nonmembers may have to pay double that. Even at the higher rate, it is difficult to argue against making a one-time payment for a form of "insurance" that can protect against a catastrophic event.

Recyclers with a consideration for both their work forces and their bottom lines can find out more about the videos by going to the Safety Videos section of the online Bookstore at www.isri.org (also http://isri.safeshopper.com) or by calling ISRI’s national office at (202) 737-1770.

The full complement of videos—available at a cost less than a typical insurance premium—make for a safe and sound investment for any recycling business looking to avoid the worst case scenario.

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August 2003
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