What is an MVR?

An MVR isn’t just a report; it’s a comprehensive profile that offers insights into an individual’s driving history, revealing details such as license status, traffic violations, and accident reports. More importantly, this data can reveal trends in unsafe driving behavior before it impacts an organization negatively. For this reason, the MVR is a critical tool that is essential for organizations that depend on drivers or require employees to operate vehicles for business purposes.

Why Prioritize MVR?

Risk Management and Safety: Ensuring that only competent and safe drivers are behind the wheel is not just a precaution鈥攊t’s a necessity. The supports that drivers with clean records significantly the risk of accidents, promoting a safer operational environment. Studies have also that the risk of motor vehicle accidents increases by up to 113% when a driver has a history of moving violations or accidents on their MVR. Choosing drivers with a safe driving history lowers an organization鈥檚 risk.

Legal Compliance and Liability: The highlights the legal ramifications of negligent entrustment, where organizations can be held if accidents occur due to employing drivers with poor records. This extends to both company-owned and personal vehicles used for business tasks.

Organizations should also consider the evolution of nuclear verdicts in the commercial auto space, which have implications in liability claims outcomes. According to the , auto accidents accounted for 22.8% of nuclear verdicts between 2010 and 2019 with a mean verdict award of $33.8 million. The cost of nuclear verdict outcomes continues to rise. Additionally, the outlines the of maintaining accurate and updated MVRs to avoid compliance pitfalls and safety hazards for DOT regulated fleets.

Hiring Decisions: Integrating MVR checks into the hiring process is not just about compliance; it’s about smart hiring practices. Hiring employees who exhibit the ideals of an organization鈥檚 safety culture promotes a mutual safe workplace environment and is a factor in employee retention. According to , screening out unsafe drivers is important since they are more likely to cause problems for an organization in the future.

Optimal Timing for MVR Checks

Pre-Employment: MVR checks can help in making and avoiding potential hires that could pose risks. Ensure prospective employees have a clean driving slate before joining your team.

Annually: The also recommends to ensure continuous compliance and safety standards are met.

Continuous Monitoring: Stay ahead of potential risks with on driving records, enhancing your response time to any new violations. A robust MVR monitoring program can decrease motor vehicle crashes by up to .

Strategic Implementation of MVR Checks

Crafting Clear MVR Policies: Develop a robust MVR policy that violations and outlines criteria for evaluation, ensuring it aligns with state-specific regulations provided by the .

Actionable Grading System: Implement a to classify driving records and determine suitable corrective actions, from training to potential termination, ensuring these measures are clear and enforceable. Utilize reputable services for conducting these checks, ensuring comprehensive and accurate reporting.

Integration with Employment Protocols: Seamlessly integrate the outcomes of MVR checks into both hiring processes and ongoing employment evaluations, maintaining a high standard of safety and compliance.

Looking Ahead

For detailed strategies on implementing effective risk management practices in your organization or to learn more about MVR best practices and vendor solutions, visit our Risk Management page, or contact an Agent.

The information provided in this article is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice.  We recommend consulting with an employment attorney to ensure compliance with all applicable laws and to receive legal advice tailored to your specific circumstances.

In nearly every industry and sector, there is potential for error and unforeseen circumstances. It is critical for businesses that are involved in the selling and distributing of products to implement and maintain a product liability program to reduce their company鈥檚 overall risk.

A product liability program is a set of policies and procedures a business puts in place to reduce the risk of product-related injuries and lawsuits. The program should be designed to identify and control hazards, train employees on safe product use, and respond to product-related incidents.

How to Create a Product Liability Program

To create a product liability program, a business should first assess its risk. This involves identifying the types of products it makes or sells, the potential hazards associated with those products, and the likelihood of those hazards causing injuries. The business should also consider the potential costs of product liability claims, including medical expenses, lost wages and legal fees.

Once the business has assessed its risk, it can develop a product liability program to address those risks. The program should include the following elements:

• Hazard identification and control: The business should identify and control any hazards associated with its products. This may involve redesigning products, adding warnings or instructions, or providing training to employees and customers.
• Employee training: The business should train its employees on safe product use. This training should cover the potential hazards associated with the products, as well as the proper procedures for using and maintaining them.
• Incident response: The business should have a plan in place to respond to product-related incidents. A plan should encompass procedures for reporting incidents, investigation, and corrective action.

Product Liability Across Functions

When building a product liability program, the business should also include multiple business functions. This should always include the following departments:

• Engineering: The engineering department should be responsible for identifying and controlling hazards associated with products.
• Manufacturing: The manufacturing department should be responsible for implementing the hazard controls identified by the engineering department. Note, this function may also encompass quality control, if assigned to the manufacturing department.
• Quality Control: The quality control department should be responsible for ensuring that products meet safety standards.
• Sales and Marketing: The sales and marketing department should be responsible for providing customers with accurate information about the risks associated with products.
• Customer Service: The customer service department should be responsible for responding to customer inquiries about product safety.

By including multiple business functions in its product liability program, a business can help to reduce the risk of product-related injuries and lawsuits.

Keys to Program Success

Once the product liability program has launched, there are important steps to take to ensure it continues to run effectively and efficiently. Consider these tips for creating and maintaining a successful product liability program:

• Ensure the program continues to be tailored to the specific risks of your business.
• Obtain input from all relevant departments when developing and reviewing the program.
• Train employees on the program and ensure that they understand their responsibilities.
• Review the program regularly and make changes as needed.
• Keep records of all product-related incidents and take steps to prevent future incidents.

By following these critical steps, businesses can help to protect themselves and their employees from the possible financial and reputational costs of product liability claims.

The information provided in this article does not, and is not intended to, constitute legal advice; instead, all information, content, and materials contained in this article are for general informational purposes only.聽Further, this information may not constitute the most up-to-date legal or other information.

How Does Errors & Omissions Work?

Errors & omissions (E&O) coverage can help provide valuable protection to manufacturers beyond typical liability coverage by covering a customer鈥檚 financial loss and a policyholder鈥檚 potential legal costs.

Typically added to a general liability policy, E&O extends beyond basic coverage to provide security against financial loss caused by negligence in the design, manufacturing or installation of a product. This helps protect manufacturers from lawsuits alleging they are responsible for financial loss.

An Example Scenario: A manufacturer called Clock Flower designs specialized metal gear components for clocks. One of their clients, a company called Tick Time, discovers that one of their clock brands is not working properly due to a flaw in Clock Flower鈥檚 metal movement gear. Tick Time had to spend considerable resources swapping out the faulty component and, in turn, sues Clock Flower for costs associated with removing and replacing the metal gear related to the design or manufacturing defect. E&O coverage would help indemnify Clock Flower for the costs to defend and resolve Tick Time鈥檚 claims.

How Does Product Recall Work?

A product recall is the action of retrieving a defective or unsafe product from the market. Up to 400 U.S. products by the Consumer Product Safety Commission.

Product recall coverage helps to protect manufacturers from the unexpected risks and financial burden that can be associated with recalling a product from the market. This can include coverage for inspection or testing of products to determine if a product recall is justified, crisis management staffing, packaging and transportation of defective products (and disposal of products that cannot be reused), and reasonable costs to regain customer faith and approval. Sometimes the insurance protection can even help cover the costs for the manufacturer to repair, replace or repurchase the product.

An Example Scenario: A candle manufacturer called Candles Chandlery manufactures a double-wick candle, and suddenly finds out that their candle鈥檚 double wick burns too high, causing the candle to break, and must take steps to recall the product from the marketplace. Product recall coverage can help pay for the costs associated with the recall.

Protection Forged in Partnership
91黑料网 is expanding its focus on the manufacturing industry by investing in our products and people who provide the expertise you rely on to help protect your manufacturing business. Learn more about the unique coverage and technologies to complement your manufacturing programs, including our new products, expanded appetite to provide industry-leading service to more manufacturing businesses, and an increased investment in our expert employees with manufacturing knowledge.

Resources for Policyholders
Refer to our new features covering these products:

• Errors & Omissions
• Product Recall

Now in its 19th year, the month-long campaign has chosen See Yourself in Cyber as its theme. It demonstrates that while cybersecurity may seem like a complex subject, ultimately, it鈥檚 about people. This October will focus on the 鈥減eople鈥� part of cybersecurity, providing information and resources to help educate the public and ensure all individuals and organizations make smart decisions now and in the future.

CISA recommends four easy things people can do right away at work and at home to enhance their security practices:

1. Enable multi-factor authentication
2. Use聽strong passwords
3. Recognize and report phishing
4. Update your software

Visit these resources to learn more about cybersecurity and protect your business today:

On June 4, 2021, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (H.R. 3684), was introduced in the U.S. House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure.聽On November 15, 2021, the bill was passed by U.S. Congress and signed into law. The legislation includes funding for roads, transit, aviation, water, energy, schools, internet, and more, and will have an economic and market impact across industries.
Since its introduction, there has been a lot of information distributed about what is in the bill and what is not. It is helpful to understand the key information contained in the bill and what is to come from it.

Spending Within the Infrastructure Bill
The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act bill has $1.2 trillion in funds to be spent over a five-year period, including $550 billion in new spending and the remainder of the package in pre-approved spending. The breakdown of the allocation of money will be as follows, according to Fortune magazine:

Funds Provided by State
The White House on the bill, including how the funds will be distributed by state.
Large-population states, such as California, Texas and New York, are the largest portions of the package spending, while states with fewer residents, such as Montana and Alaska, are expected to receive the most money per capita. View the chart below for funding details by state.

Next Steps and Industry Impact
Many environmental and industry groups are to discuss the implementation and distribution of the funds. The bill is anticipated to generate jobs in industries such as construction and manufacturing as the country works to modernize its infrastructure and carry out essential projects as outlined in the bill.
In fact, the U.S. government anticipates the bill can help create an average of . This job growth will likely include roles within global supply chain, electric vehicle manufacturing, metals, nuclear power, and chemical plants.
Stayed tuned for future articles as we see how the funds are distributed and executed through the enaction of this law.

Sources:
, Fortune Magazine, July 2021

, CNBC, Aug. 2021

The White House, November 2021
, Time, Aug. 2021