Loss Prevention

Developing an effective loss prevention program and maintaining a safe workplace not only reduces your Experience Modification Factor and workers' compensation costs, but it also can increase productivity, yield greater profits, reduce employee turnover, increase employee morale, reduce rehiring and training costs, ensure compliance with OSHA and other state or federal regulations and reflect a professional image, just to name a few.

An effective loss prevention program also helps reduce the direct and indirect costs of accidents. Direct costs of accidents include medical bills, attorney fees, increased insurance premiums, property damage and lost wages or compensation. The indirect costs of accidents are more costly and long-lasting; for example, rehiring, retraining, lost productivity, low employee morale and the inability to meet customer demands and deadlines.

What We Do

• Comprehensive Safety Inspections
  Safety is the key to keeping your worker's compensation rates in check. A member of our experienced loss prevention staff will conduct an initial survey of your facilities and provide written recommendations to help reduce your exposure to employee injuries and illnesses within your workplace. They will also discuss with management policies and procedures as well as safety programs to help keep your worker's compensation claims costs at a minimum and ensure compliance with OSHA and other state or federal regulations.
  
• Safety Alert Bulletins
  Periodically, one-page safety alert bulletins that discuss a recent claim at one of our member locations are distributed. The purpose of these bulletins is to identify the factors that led to the claim and discuss strategies to prevent similar claims from occurring at your place of business.
  
• Safety Training Videos
  Safety training video rentals are available to our members free of charge. Videos are an excellent way to convey safety ideas to employees. Simply contact our Loss Prevention Department for a list of our safety video library and thereafter request the videos that you would like to show to your employees. Some topics include: Back Injury Prevention, Slip, Trip and Fall Prevention, Workplace Violence, Hazard Communication and Bloodborne Pathogens.
  
• Safety Seminars
  Each year our Loss Prevention consultants put on more than 20 safety seminars throughout the state for our members. These seminars are FREE OF CHARGE for our members, and there is no limit to how many seminars you can attend. Topics of the seminars vary from year to year. Some of the topics covered include Worker's Compensation Claims Management, Fire Safety, Slips, Trips and Falls, Robbery Prevention and Hazard Identification. Click here for the current Safety Seminar Schedule.
  
• Written Safety Training Materials
  Foodservice safety inspection forms, forklift training, hazard communication, laceration and burn prevention. These are just a few of the thousands of written safety training materials that are available to members of the LRA/SIF. If there is a particular problem within your workplace that you would like to address with your employees, simply contact our Loss Prevention Department, and we will be more than happy to provide you with written materials that can be used to get the safety message delivered to your employees.
  
• How Safe Is Your Restaurant?
  If you think that restaurants are a safe place to work, think again. Electric slicers, mixers, fire suppression systems, deep fat fryers, electrical exposures and slippery floors are just some of the many causes of injuries in the foodservice industry. How does your restaurant rate when it comes to safety? To find out, take the safety quiz in the righthand column on this page.
  
• Safety Meetings
  Would you like to hold an employee safety meeting? Not sure of what to say or how to say it? Why not let our loss prevention professionals do the work for you. Simply determine the topic you would like to have covered (or have us pick one for you), determine the best time, date and number of employees and leave the rest up to us. We will customize a safety meeting to fit your needs, be it five minutes or 50 minutes. All handouts, presentation materials and equipment will be furnished by us at no cost to you.
  
• Safety Training Posters & Pamphlets
  Posters and pamphlets on safety-related topics are available for our members to post or distribute to employees. These posters and pamphlets detail in a concise way the safety message you are trying to convey.

Our Method and Goal

Our Loss Prevention Department is committed to the members of the LRA/SIF. Our goal is to promote safety and health awareness and eliminate employee injuries and illnesses in order to reduce your workers' compensation costs and increase your overall dividend potential. In order to achieve that goal, our Loss Prevention Department uses a three-step method. That method consists of educating, training and evaluating.

• Education is the first, and perhaps most important, step of the process. During this stage we attempt to promote safety and health as a basic job necessity. No job can be done properly if safety is not an integral part of the process. The Loss Prevention Department also provides educational safety materials for our members at no charge.
  
• The second step of the process is training. Because our members are restaurateurs, hoteliers and purveyors and not safety professionals, our Loss Prevention Department understands that it must take the lead when it comes to safety training. And there is virtually no end to the amount of safety training that we offer. Whether it be a customized safety training program, safety video presentation, train the trainer, safety seminars, safety meeting, etc., our Loss Prevention Department is available to meet all of our members' training needs.
  
• The final step of the process is evaluating. Similar to the second step of the process, our members are not experts at evaluating or identifying potential safety hazards, but our Loss Prevention consultants are. Therefore we offer comprehensive on-site safety inspections of our member locations. We can also assist in developing a written safety checklist for their operations. Following our evaluation of a member's facilities we will provide detailed written safety recommendations to reduce the exposure to the identified hazards.

This simple three-step process has assisted in reducing our members' losses by more than 33 percent in the last three years and has raised our overall total dividend distribution to $81 million dollars.

Our Services

The LRA’s Loss Prevention Department is prepared to provide you with the highest quality safety and health consultative services available. Our experienced safety professionals are ready to assist you in developing and implementing effective safety programs, hazard recognition and compliance with current safety requirements and standards. All of these services are available to you FREE OF CHARGE through the LRA/SIF.

On-Site Safety Inspections

• Proper hiring and firing practices
• Compliance with OSHA codes and standards
• Hazard communication programs
• Safety inspection checklists
• Bloodborne Pathogens programs
• Fire safety
• First Aid
• Forklift safety
• The Americans with Disabilities Act
• Use of Safety Video Library

Contact us

Personnel Phone Numbers 1(800) 256-4572 – local (504) 454-2277

• Victor Balbuena, ARM, CWCP - ext. 502
  Vice President of Loss Prevention – all areas
  
• James Coco - ext. 503
  Loss Prevention Consultant – New Orleans, Baton Rouge, Northshore & Bayou
  
• Richard Graham - ext. 503
  Loss Prevention Consultant – Shreveport, Monroe, Alexandria, Lafayette & Lake Charles
  
• Micah Hooge - ext. 503
  Loss Prevention Consultant – New Orleans, Baton Rouge, Northshore & Bayou
  
• Stephanie Beaumont - ext. 568
  Assistant Loss Prevention Coordinator
  
• Judy Simoneaux - ext .503
  Loss Prevention Coordinator

Loss Prevention Member Services

• Safety Surveys/Audits
• Facility/site inspections
• Trending/claims analysis
• Accident investigations
• Specific recommendations
• Safety program development
• Safety equipment consultation

Additional Loss Prevention Services

• Train the Trainer Programs
• Safety seminars
• Safety meetings
• OSHA compliance audits
• Fleet safety program development
• Security assessments/program development
• Forklift safety
• Specific Safety Program Development
• Hazard communication
• Lock out tag out
• Bloodborne pathogens
• Back injury prevention
• Personal protective equipment
• Respirator safety
• Hearing conservation
• Emergency preparedness

Safety Inspections

Safety is the key to maintaining an injury- and illness-free workplace. Our Loss Prevention consultant will make an initial inspection of your facilities to familiarize himself with your operation and provide detailed written recommendations to assist you in reducing your exposure to workplace hazards. The consultant will also evaluate your written company safety programs and make recommendations to help you comply with OSHA standards as well as other state and federal regulations.

Loss Control Safety Manual

This FREE, 223-page safety manual was designed exclusively for the members of the Louisiana Restaurant Association. The manual outlines the 10 components of a working safety program as required by the Louisiana Department of Labor Office of Workers Compensation. Topics covered include: Kitchen Safety, Fire Protection, Ladder Safety, Back Care, First Aid and Emergency Preparedness, just to name a few. Safety meeting topics and signature sheets are also included in the manual.

Safety Information/Literature

Safety and health-related posters and pamphlets are available to all LRA/SIF members free of charge. Posters and pamphlets are available on preventing slip and fall injuries, proper lifting techniques and robbery prevention just to name a few. Thousands of safety equipment brochures are also available on products from slip-resistant shoes to safety ladders.