When starting a new business, the thought of ‘negligence’ can seem a little distant, like something that only happens in extreme cases or to other businesses that haven’t been operating with the best interests of their customers or employees in mind. But the truth is, negligence can happen to any business, even unintentionally, and often more easily than you might expect.
Small mistakes, overlooked details, or miscommunications can quickly escalate into bigger problems if they’re not managed properly, and apart from this, it’s also easy to get accused of negligence, even if you acted responsibly. With this in mind, it’s important to actively reduce the chances of business negligence in your operations, ensuring that your company is protected both practically and legally if anything goes wrong.
Attaining the Right Insurance
The first way to do this is by obtaining the right insurance. As we just mentioned, there are many businesses out there that have been given the tag of ‘negligent’, even if they haven’t done anything fundamentally wrong. Every year, more and more court cases emerge from customers or employees who feel that their expectations weren’t met or that mistakes were made, and for companies that don’t have the resources to fight these claims, it can often end in them being unfairly labelled.
To avoid this, it’s important to get errors and omissions insurance right off the bat, ensuring your company has the ability to defend itself against such claims without risking financial ruin. This will provide you coverage for anything from legal fees to settlements, and it’ll also give you the peace of mind to grow your company, knowing that you’re protected if an incident like this arises.
Develop Clear, Documented Policies
That’s the best way to prepare for a claim of negligence, but it’s also on you to make sure you’re doing everything possible to prevent such claims from happening in the first place. Developing clear, documented policies is essential for this. When your business has well-defined guidelines in place – guidelines that cover every critical process – it works to minimise confusion and ensures everyone knows exactly what’s expected of them.
This will then help to reduce any mistakes and improve accountability, ensuring you have a strong foundation for quality control and consistent service delivery. These policies will also be crucial for audits or investigations. Let’s say a claim does arise, even if you’ve done everything in your power to stop it. If you have evidence that your business follows established protocols and takes its responsibilities seriously, there’s far less chance that the claim will result in any penalties or damage to company reputation, which can be even more crippling than the penalties themselves. You’re demonstrating that you’re in control, you know what’s going on, and all the necessary procedures have been followed at all times.
Create Comprehensive Training Programs
One last key way to reduce the chances of business negligence is to introduce comprehensive training programs. By that we mean, you should be regularly training your employees on industry standards, legal requirements, and best practices relevant to their roles. If you do that, you’re ensuring that your team stays knowledgeable and confident enough to perform their duties correctly and responsibly, which will be key when it comes to avoiding any errors. One of the most common causes of negligence, for instance, is a lack of awareness of regulations.
Across the US, every state has its own set of rules and compliance standards that businesses must follow, and failing to meet them, even unintentionally, can result in serious consequences. If a member of your team has recently moved to the state you’re operating in, all it will take is a solid training program to ensure they’re fully up to speed with your region’s specific laws, and won’t make any mistakes that could have been so easily avoided. It’s your job, then, to make sure that training program is in place, and every member of your team knows exactly how to be compliant, safe, and as far away from ‘negligent’ as you can get.
