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 A
Success Story
Jim Presmanes, risk manager for Atlanta-based Haverty Furniture,
views Liberty
Mutual’s service team as an extension of his own department. “With
more
than 100 showrooms in 68 cities across 14 states, it’s
critical that we partner every
day with our insurer on everything from general liability insurance
to workers
compensation,” he said.
Havertys® and Liberty Mutual built their relationship over
25 years to the point
where Liberty participates in most risk management-related
meetings and decisions.
Such a relationship, Presmanes said, is critical to the success
of a low-margin business
like furniture retailing. “A seemingly minor general
liability claim, like
scratching a customer’s hardwood floor when delivering
furniture, may not sound
like a strategic risk, but it may dissuade that customer, not
to mention his or
her friends and neighbors, from future purchases at a Havertys
showroom. How
well we handle that claim is critically important to our bottom
line.”
Like any risk manager, the prevention of major workers compensation
claims is
always top of mind for Presmanes. He cites a success story
involving distribution
center stockpickers – forklifts that raise employees
25 feet into the air to retrieve
merchandise. “A routine Liberty Mutual safety audit revealed
that some of our
stockpicker operators weren’t wearing their safety tethers,” he
said. “That was a
wake-up call for us.”
Using Managing Vital Performance™, a Liberty Mutual process
that measures
safety performance with a goal of improved employee behavior
in critical work
areas, and with the solid backing of senior management, Havertys
has successfully
controlled falls from stockpickers, saving an estimated $600,000
since 1997.
Today, Havertys and Liberty Mutual are automating the audit
process using one of several applications on Liberty’s web-based portal, which
allows the two companies
to jointly address safety and health issues.
Havertys’ commitment to a safe workplace is evident from
the 31 percent decline
in its total accident frequency rate since 1996, a result that
Presmanes attributes,
to a great extent, to his company’s long-term relationship
with Liberty
Liberty Focus
Our most successful business-to-business
relationships – both for Liberty and our customers
– are long-term partnerships built on
a foundation of trust. Only through a shared commitment to safety over long periods
of time can we do the best job in managing a
customer’s insurance costs while helping to
create a safe work environment.
The backbone of these relationships is our
team approach to customer service. Our sales,
underwriting, claims and loss prevention professionals
proactively use consistent, proven
processes and efficient, effective technology to
reduce a customer’s overall cost of risk. These
experts understand your business, develop
creative solutions and consistently deliver what
they promise.
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"If there’s one thing that makes this relationship
successful, it’s
the day-to-day, in-the-trenches cooperation between Haverty
and Liberty Mutual.”
Jim Presmanes, Assistant Vice
President, Risk Management and Insurance, Haverty Furniture
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