Safety and wellness brief

Minimize your risks and decrease potential losses based on learnings from our Workers Compensation Safety Council participants, The Hartford, and CUNA Mutual Group.

Program highlights

Key risk insights

The success of a special event can be measured in many ways — but events must also be measured in terms of safety. When planning and managing risks associated with special events — such as a holiday event, educational seminar, or annual meeting — credit unions should consider proper planning.

Consider these items when returning to a live face-to-face event:

• Additional signage and handouts reminding all attendees of best practices and recommended behaviors.
• Spaced seating and wall signage for presentations and meetings.
• Frequent communication reminders on staying safe best practices and recommended behaviors.
• Federal, state, and local regulations or mandates related to physical distancing, inside/outside restrictions, hygiene, temperature checks, face coverings and the impact on your activity.
• How and when to clean, disinfect, and effectively use or distribute PPE.
• Your approach to hospitality and food & beverage considering pre-packaged, individual serving sizes.

Health, hygiene, and safety will be top of mind for organizations and attendees. Making sure to implement best practices and additional protocols can maximize success and minimize both personal and business risk.

Employee wellness

8 tips to parking lot safety

1. Park in a highly visible and well-lit area near your building.
2. Use the main building or employee entrance — avoid rear or secluded exits.
3. Have your keys out and ready as you approach your vehicle.
4. Don’t approach anyone loitering near your vehicle. Walk to a safe place or go back inside your workplace, and then call the police.
5. Lock the doors and keep the windows rolled up once you’re in the vehicle.
6. Always be alert to your surroundings. Keep your head up and look around.
7. Don’t wear headphones or talk on the phone. These devices can create distractions.
8. If you must walk alone, wave to a co-worker watching you from a window (even if no one is watching) to give the impression someone is watching you return to your vehicle.

8 guidelines to minimize slips, trips & falls

1. Introduce an awareness campaign around slip & fall prevention — Incorporate team member suggestions.
2. Create good housekeeping practices — If an organization’s facilities are noticeably clean and well organized, it is a good indication that its overall safety program is effective as well.
3. Reduce wet or slippery surfaces.
4. Avoid creating obstacles in aisles, walkways, and stairwells.
5. Create and maintain proper lighting both indoors and outside.
6. Control individual behavior and minimize distractions — Cell phones, being in a hurry, and walking with arms full, not using designated walkways, wearing sunglasses inside are common distractions.
7. Wear proper shoes — The shoes we wear can play a big part in preventing falls — slickness of the soles, types of heels, and shoelaces tied often contribute to an incident.
8. Develop and implement a slip, trip & fall self-inspection checklist.

They said it

"Spending a little bit of time and resources up front on risk prevention can definitely save you money on the back end."

Holly Spiczenski
Risk Consultant
CUNA Mutual Group

"A short lapse of attention or distraction — like checking your phone messages while walking to your next meeting — can lead to a variety of regrettable events ranging from a simple bruised shin to an extremely serious injury. It's not uncommon for these situations to lead to slips, trips, and falls in the workplace.

Brian Walker, CSP, ARM
Sr. Risk Consultant
The Hartford

Resources you can use...

• Special event considerations²
• Slip, trip, & fall prevention overview²
• Shoes for crews program²

Additional resources

For additional employee safety, wellness, or workers compensation tools and resources, check out the Workplace Safety/Wellness page within the Protection Resource Center or policyholders of The Hartford can also access thehartford.com/risk-engineering (policy number required).

For questions on risks, contact a risk consultant at 800.637.2676.