On The Menu: Restaurant Injury Risk Trends in 2023

Welcome to RIMScast. Your host is Justin Smulison, Business Content Manager at RIMS, the Risk and Insurance Management Society.

 

Today’s guest is Matt Zender, Senior Vice President, Workers’ Compensation Strategy at AmTrust. We’ll be looking at a new risk report from AmTrust Financial on “Workers’ Compensation and Injury Trends in the Restaurant Industry.”

 

Injuries were lowest this time last year. Justin and Matt talk about how risk professionals in food retail, restaurant, and hospitality can use this time of year to maintain low injury rates onsite and on the road. They discuss the top three injuries: crushing, mental stress, and fainting, and how COVID-19 influenced the number of injuries. They conclude the discussion with ideas for risk managers to leverage the insights in this report for 2023.

 

Key Takeaways:

[:01] About the RIMS Membership.

[:15] About RIMScast.

[:28] About today’s episode.

[:39] All about upcoming RIMS webinars, workshops, events, and more!

[1:07] About RIMS-CRMP.

[1:21] About RIMS-CRMP-FED.

[1:55] About RISKWORLD 2023 with closing keynote speaker Danica Patrick!

[2:11] About recent RIMScast episodes.

[2:35] About today’s episode with Matt Zender, the SVP for Workers’ Compensation Strategy at AmTrust.

[3:07] Justin welcomes Matt Zender to the podcast!

[3:12] In the AmTrust Financial report on Workers’ Compensation and Injury Trends in the Restaurant Industry, injuries were lowest in the first quarter of last year. How can risk professionals in the food, retail, restaurant, and hospitality industries maintain low injury rates?

[3:56] Why do claims go up over the holidays?

[4:15] In the first quarter lull, restaurant operators often do insurance planning. They’re often too busy the rest of the year with their operations on the road to plan insurance.

[5:17] Why AmTrust wanted to put the report out during the first quarter lull.

[5:27] Restaurants are doing more delivery than ever.

[5:45] Why COVID-19 was a force multiplier for restaurant operators.

[6:26] How is the way we consume food changing in the U.S. and how have meal delivery services enabled these changes?

[7:10] About the top three injuries mentioned in the report: crushing, up 89%, mental stress, up 71%, and fainting, up 61%.

[7:47] About crushing of body parts from machinery or from boxes stacked too high.

[9:41] Why has mental stress become more widespread?

[10:52] About our changing relationships with our jobs. There is physical conditioning needed for working a restaurant job after months of not working.

[12:26] How fainting claims sometimes relate to mental stress claims.

[13:21] RIMS plug time! Sponsor a weekly or dedicated episode of RIMScast! Contact us at pd@rims.org. Register for RISKWORLD 2023, and workshops before RISKWORLD.

[14:23] Justin revisits his interview with Josh Linkner, highlighting why live events are so critical, with the demand for human connection in this era of remote and hybrid work.

[16:15] Decreases and increases in claims reported relate in part to reductions and growth in the workforce. Economic forces were at play as well.

[17:21] Have mental stress claims changed since 2019? How claims tie in with the relationship with employers.

[18:30] How can restaurant owners and franchisees leverage the report? Matt asks you to think about what separates you from others. How are you protecting your employees?

[20:57] Matt tells you how to use your size to your advantage.

[21:43] How risk managers can leverage insights in this episode from Matt and the AmTrust report “Workers’ Compensation and Injury Trends in the Restaurant Industry.”

[22:17] AmTrust issued this report two years ago and again, after COVID-19, in the hope that franchise and restaurant owners will use the insights to drive better behaviors.

[23:35] The report appendix includes all sorts of injury prevention tips!

[23:58] You can download the 11-page report as a PDF file from AmTrustfinancial.com.

[24:43] Justin thanks Matt for joining us on RIMScast.

[24:55] You can find the link for the report below. Sponsor a RIMScast episode to reach a global audience! Justin shares other RIMS offers including a transitional membership!

 

Mentioned in this Episode:

RISKWORLD 2023 — April 30‒May 3 in Atlanta, Georgia! Public registration is open!

Riskworld: In-Person Workshops April 29‒30 | Save 30% on pre-conference workshops when you register to attend RISKWORLD!

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The 2022 AmTrust Restaurant Risk Report

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Related RIMScast Episodes:

“Riskworld Keynote Johnny C. Taylor, Jr., SHRM President and CEO” (2023)

“Innovation and Improvisation with RISKWORLD Keynote Josh Linkner” (2023)

“Checking In: Hotel Risk Management with AHLA President & CEO Chip Rogers” (2022)

“Franchise Risks in 2022 with Karen Agostinho of Five Guys Enterprises”

“RIMS 2022 President Patrick Sterling: Insight into 2022 Risks and Looking Beyond the Pandemic”

“How One Franchisee Navigated Restaurant & Food Retail Sector Risks in 2020”

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RIMS Publications, Content, and Links:

RIMS Membership — Whether you are a new member or need to transition, be a part of the global risk management community!

RIMS Virtual Workshops

On-Demand Webinars

RIMS Advisory Services — Ask a Peer

Risk Management Magazine

Risk Management Monitor

RIMS Risk Leaders Series

RIMS-Certified Risk Management Professional (RIMS-CRMP)

RIMS-CRMP Stories — New interview featuring LA RIMS President Scott Ritto!

Spencer Educational Foundation

RIMS DEI Council

RIMS Path to the Boardroom

 

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Follow up with Our Guest:

Matt Zender
AmTrust Financial

 

Tweetables (For Social Media Use):

 

“At AmTrust, we write more restaurants than anybody and it’s a space that we really do enjoy. But we know that restaurant operators wear a lot of hats. To expect that they’re going to be able to think about insurance all the time is not realistic.” — Matt Zender

 

“Restaurants always see turnover. It’s part of what they are used to. The amount of turnover they saw through the pandemic was obviously greater than perhaps they had ever seen. So you had a lot of newer employees.” — Matt Zender

 

“You have, perhaps, some folks reaching different priorities in their life. Things that maybe they felt that they couldn’t prioritize before, … and then, all of a sudden, through COVID-19, they realized that they had some opportunities to rethink some of this.” — Matt Zender

 

“If you’re a franchise operator, and you’ve got 14 different stores under your control, what have you done commonly throughout those 14 to help protect your employees?” — Matt Zender

 

“We published it a couple of years ago and then we refreshed it, and in the refresh, we didn’t just want to show the same data because so much had changed because of COVID-19, which is why we took a different sort of cut at it. … We wanted to share the insights.” — Matt Zender