Risk prevention keeps your shop fragrant
Nationwide Insurance offers online training for florists, staff
Columbus, Ohio — Keeping customers safe from accidents is critical for building and upholding a florist's reputation. Nationwide Insurance combines simple safety tips with online training courses for a complete safety and loss prevention package, with the goal of helping small business owners keep customers happy, increase profits and in some cases, reduce risk and insurance premium.
“Customer service and safety are every small business owner’s top priorities,” said Mike Ekiss, vice president of loss control for Nationwide Insurance. “A few preventive measures can go a long way to protect your business and keep customers returning again and again.”
Nationwide Insurance offers online safety-training courses for florist shops, many available in both English and Spanish. The training website allows users to select the courses that fit their needs, learn at their own pace and track results. These courses are part of a larger online safety-training resource from Nationwide, which offers more than 300 classes to assist a variety of business needs. For more information, please visit safety-training.nationwide.com.
These simple tips from Nationwide Insurance also offer easy ways to maintain a safe workplace for staff and customers at minimal or no cost:
- Maintain the interior and exterior - Frequently check exterior lighting to ensure well-lit walking and working areas. Maintain racking and shelving so the units remain steady and secure. Remove excess trash and debris.
- Keep walking areas free and clear - Make sure that the areas where customers walk are in good physical condition and clear of cords and debris. Clean up wet spills immediately. Clear exterior walking surfaces of ice and snow to prevent slipping in winter months.
- Inspect your equipment - In addition to regularly inspecting fire, burglary, sprinkler and alarms systems, it is also a good idea to have your shop’s wiring, heating, air conditioning equipment and refrigeration units checked regularly.
- Train your employees - Make sure employees have been trained in storage and dispensing practices when using aerosols, combustibles, flammable liquids and cleaning supplies, and can properly use fire extinguishers. Employees should be trained on the use of special equipment. Consider providing first aid training.
- Plan for disaster – Florists need to prepare themselves and the businesses for fire, weather and other potential disasters. Nationwide, in partnership with the U.S. Small Business Administration, created A Disaster Planning Guide for Small Business Owners. This guide provides information small business owners need to develop an effective plan to protect customers and employees in the event of a disaster. Identifying hazards, creating plans to remain in operation if the shop is unusable, making backup copies of critical records and storing them offsite, and understanding limitations of the company’s insurance coverage are some key disaster preparedness strategies covered in the guide. The guide can be found at www.nationwide.com/disaster-planning-recovery.jsp.
