Small Business Safety Expert from EMPLOYERS^® to Identify Dangers Lurking Under Desks

RENO, Nev.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Insurance agents who serve small business owners throughout Illinois on October 1 can learn how to help prevent workplace accidents—even in the seemingly safe environs of a small business office.

Kathy Javaneau, a loss control expert at Employers Compensation Insurance Company, a subsidiary of EMPLOYERS, with 25 years of industry experience, will speak at the upcoming, annual convention of the Professional Independent Insurance Agents of Illinois (PIIAI) in Springfield, Ill. An estimated 800 PIIAI members are expected at this year’s October 1-3 event at the Crowne Plaza Hotel and Convention Center in Springfield.

Through Javaneau's educational seminar, agents can expect to learn exactly how a seemingly safe office setting filled with desks and file cabinets still can present the potential for workplace accidents and employee injuries. She will provide easy-to-understand explanations of OSHA’s federal safety requirements and will encourage agents to share this expertise with their small business clients.

Seminar registrants also may be eligible to receive three Continuing Education Credits from individual state chapters of the Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers Association for their attendance at Javaneau’s training presentation.

Since workers’ compensation insurance is required of most small business owners or operators, agents can focus on providing policyholders with the additional value the loss control experts and on-line resources at EMPLOYERS can provide. Javaneau’s presentation to PIIAI members will encourage agents to discuss with their clients steps they can take to help avoid injuries, what should be included in a small business’s written safety program, and how policyholders should respond when an employee injury occurs.

More information on EMPLOYERS workers’ compensation insurance and fraud prevention programs is available at www.employers.com. Additional information about the upcoming PIIAI Convention October 1-3, 2008, in Springfield, Ill., is available at www.piiai.org.

Copyright © 2008 EMPLOYERS. All rights reserved. EMPLOYERS^® and America’s small business insurance specialist.^® are registered trademarks of Employers Insurance Company of Nevada. Workers’ compensation insurance and services are offered through Employers Compensation Insurance Company and Employers Insurance Company of Nevada. Insurance coverage not available in all jurisdictions.