Everyone knows that accidents happen, and sometimes no matter how careful you are there is nothing you can do to prevent them. This is particularly true for tradesmen, as the nature of their work requires them to take certain risks every now and again such as working at a height or with high powered tools. This means that it is important for all tradesmen to know how to handle accidents and damages whilst on a job, and here Nova Insurance shows you how:

Preventing Accidents and Damages

The old saying goes ‘prevention is better than cure’ and for tradesmen this certainly rings true. At the end of the day, accidents and damages will cost your business money one way or another, either because you will need to pay out to fix them or because they will damage your reputation resulting in fewer people trusting you to perform work on their properties. In order to prevent accidents in the workplace employers are required to adhere to Health and Safety laws which state that all employees no matter what type of occupation they have should be safe in the workplace. If you own your own business this means you will need to make sure all your employees have the correct safety equipment and training and that your premises is safe to work in.

Naturally, as a tradesman there will be times where you will have to work outside your own premises which means you will need to ensure it’s a safe environment before any work begins. Risk assessments are an important part of any tradesman’s job, and if not done properly can not only leave you and your employees vulnerable to danger but also your business as whole. Never try and rush a risk assessment, take your time and plan for every eventuality.

Minor Damages and Accidents

Every now and again you will cut the wrong wire, spill a dash of paint or knock a wall and leave a mark, and it’s generally how you handle the situation that will determine the reaction of your customers. Firstly, never act like it’s not a big deal: there is nothing more infuriating that having someone not take your grievance or property seriously and small things such as this can often lead to large disputes if not handled properly. Apologise, fix it straight away and whatever you do make sure it doesn’t happen again!

When it comes to small accidents, the first thing you need to do is make sure your employees don’t try to ignore them or hide them from you. Some people will always try to brush it off as if it was nothing so that they don’t miss out on work, but not only is this technically breaching health and safety legislation (all accidents need to be accounted for no matter how small) but their injury could be worse than they first thought. As soon as you find out about an injury make sure you apply first aid, log the incident in your accident book and keep a keen eye on your employee if they return to work after a short period of time.

Major Damages and Accidents

The whole point of tradesman liability insurance is that it covers you in the event of any damages occurring while on a job. However, if you don’t have the right level of cover or you haven’t carried out a proper risk assessment before beginning work then you may find yourself in a very difficult situation. Another benefit of tradesman liability insurance is that it can help cover the cost of legal fees should one of your customers take you to court, which could be the case if you have caused a substantial amount of damage to their property.

Your insurance policy can also help you or a member of your staff if they are majorly injured while on the job, especially if they claim it is your fault and sue you for compensation. However, in order to ensure the safety of all your workers you will need to ensure you are fully trained in first aid and know what to do should one of them be majorly injured. Hopefully this will never happen, however it is of the utmost importance that if it does you know what to do –it could ultimately save a person’s life.

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