Businesses in Britain are believed to receive millions of pounds per year in insurance pay-outs – and when you consider everything from covering yourself against accidentally injuring a member of the public to making sure that you can pay legal fees if you get sued, there are clearly lots of eventualities in which insurance might be useful. However, this doesn’t make the high premiums any easier to cope with – and this means that any way to reduce bills is welcome. In the arena of health and safety, for example, there are several steps that you can take to bring down the cost of paying for insurance.

Run drug tests

When you take out insurance, one of the eventualities that you’re protecting yourself against is the risk of one of your workers doing something seriously wrong and causing loss or injury. If any of your employees are taking drugs, though, then the likelihood of this happening is higher – and this means that the likelihood of a claim is also higher. Running drug tests is one way to demonstrate that you have a healthy and focused workforce, and this may reduce your premiums somewhat. Matrix Diagnostics Drug Testing offers on-site screening kits, which shows just how easy it can be to carry out these tests.

Fire safety 

Fire is another major cause of business insurance claims, and it’s often the case that negligence with things such as electrical appliances can lead to a tragedy. By educating all employees on how to use fire blankets and extinguishers, say, you’ll be able to show that your workforce is a responsible one and that your premises are perhaps a little safer than most. Once you’ve run these educational sessions, it’s worth calling your insurance provider to ask them if it affects your premiums. They may even ask for evidence of this when you first take out a policy, so make sure that you keep records of any training days.

Data security

Health and safety also bleeds into other highly insured areas of business. Fires and other preventable safety problems can also destroy important data, which can lead to insurance claims for loss of earnings. If your server is located on site, for example, then a fire could well be disastrous – and the costs of getting back up and running could be huge. By showing your provider that you back up your data on a regular basis using either a specialist business service or simply a mass market version such as Dropbox, they may consider charging you less.

Cutting your insurance bill as a business, then, is easier than it looks. Some of the steps outlined here may seem simple, but they’re actually highly effective strategies for demonstrating to your insurance provider that you’re the sort of responsible business that looks out for its employees and is prepared to take steps to prevent accidents. From running drug tests to making sure that you stick to the correct fire safety procedures, there are plenty of steps that you can take.