Joe m recently posted a reply where he brought up the tort issue of training/evaluation and wrongful death. It is an issue that weighs upon all forklift trainers/evaluators. It is one of many potential liability problems that a trainer/evaluator must consider when it comes to obtaining insurance coverage for their business and business activities.
The Australian Quality Training Framework (AQTF) requires all Registered Training Organizations (RTOs) (including those conducting forklift training) to have certain insurance coverage. To my knowledge, Australia is the only country that requires broad insurance coverage to become a registered training organization. The AQTF has published an eight page booklet on the subject of insurance and registered training organizations. Google: ADVICE ON INSURANCE FOR REGISTERED TRAINING ORGANIZATIONS for a pdf download.
Although the publication is targeted for Australia, it gives a good overview of some insurance concepts that apply universally. Use it as a basis to start reviewing your current policies and insurance coverage and to make a list of questions to ask your insurance carrier as well as competing insurance companies.
Many training companies in the U.S. and Canada list general liability insurance coverage in their advertising. Very few list professional liability coverage (errors and omissions). To my knowledge, general liability insurance does not protect from wrongful death lawsuits.
If you are employed as a trainer/evaluator for an employer, I recommend you check to see if the employer's current insurance coverage protects you for your training/evaluation activities. If not, I recommend you consider obtaining a personal "errors and omissions" policy to protect yourself and ask your employer to pay for it. If the employer is not willing, you may consider paying for it yourself.
Worker's compensation coverage excludes certain lawsuits. Certain types of negligence, however, can void the worker's compensation lawsuit protection. The definition of negligence may vary from state/province/territory/etc.
Joe m, thanks for bringing up the wrongful death issue. It is an issue that many trainers/evaluators are probably not ready to handle.
Forum readers: Are you adequately protected?
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Joseph,
Thank you for the good advise and through overview of an often overlooked issue.
WHM
Insurance coverage is either occurrence based or claims-made. Most "errors and omissions" coverage is claims-made.
Occurrence based coverage is tied to the date of the event/accident causing the claim. The policy in effect on the date of the event/accident is responsible for defense and indemnity. If an event/accident occurs during the term of an occurrence policy, that policy is usually responsible for future claims.
Claims-made policy coverage is triggered by the date you first become aware and notify the insurer of a claim or potential claim. The insurance policy in force on the date you become aware and give notice is usually the insurer who is responsible for defending and settling the claim. A claims-made policy, however, must be in force on the date you first become aware of a potential claim to provide coverage.
All coverage for prior services stop once a claims-made policy is allowed to expire. If you retire or stop providing training or evaluation services, you may want to keep your claims-made" policy in effect at least until the next required legislated time frame for training/evaluation of the operator has expired in those locales where you have trained or evaluated. You may be able, in some cases, to add a special endorsement to your current policy to extend future coverage.
With all insurance policies, read and understand your policy and its requirements. You may think you are covered when in fact you are exposed to liability because you did not comply with certain stated requirements.
Insurance is a complex subject and an area where I claim little expertise. My advice to forum readers is to discuss your needs with your insurance agent or preferably several different agents. I also advise that you read the fine print in your current policies and learn the requirements the policies impose on you to ensure coverage.
Google: UNDERSTANDING CLAIMS-MADE INSURANCE for a good four page overview from eqgroup.
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