Your organization relies heavily on its members and its volunteers. Whether you’re hosting bingo night, a bake sale, a food drive or other community event, you need volunteers to plan, organize, work and clean up the event for it to be a success.

While aiming for safety and security at your Lodge, your volunteers can still be injured during their duties. To protect your Lodge from assuming liability for the costs associated with volunteer injuries, it is crucial to have all volunteers sign a waiver before their assistance.

The Importance of Getting Signed Volunteer Waivers for Lodges

A volunteer waiver protects your Lodge from liability in the event of an incident involving any of your volunteers.

While you may feel uncomfortable asking long-term volunteers to sign a waiver, Lodges can’t be expected to […]

Protecting your organization from internal and external theft is an important risk management tactic to reduce loss and claims.

Theft may rise as inflation and prices rise, and fraternal organizations become a target for thieves hoping to grab cash, food, alcohol and other valuables.

Even in times of economic stability, theft remains a significant risk for fraternal organizations. Follow these tips for protecting your organization from internal and external theft.

Protecting Your Organization from Internal Theft

While you hope the most upstanding citizens are part of your organization, it is always best to err on the side of caution by reducing temptation and implementing policies and procedures.

• Select the right employees and volunteers. Conduct reference and background checks on applicants before hiring. Be consistent and make sure that if you screen one candidate […]
  

Just as your fraternal organization faces cyber liability risks, so do your members.

In fact, the Senate passed the Fraud and Scam Reduction Act in 2021 to create an advisory group to educate consumers about scams, improve industry fraud-prevention training, develop better ways to stop scams before they happen and expand fraud prevention research.

And certain citizens may be impacted more than others. According to The Special Committee on Aging, the total impact of scams and other financial abuses that affect older adults is largely underreported but studies estimate the costs to be in the billions.

To protect your senior members, it’s important to understand your cyber liability risks and know how to protect against them.

Common cyber risks your members may face

While […]

As a fraternal organization operating in today’s digitally connected world, your Lodge faces several cyber liability risks. Typically, most fraternal organizations do not consider themselves at risk for a cyber attack and have failed to take measures to secure their systems and data, making them an even bigger target.

To protect your organization, it’s important to understand your cyber liability risks and know how to protect against them.

Common cyber risks Lodges face

You may think a cyber criminal would be uninterested in your organization, however, many Lodges store valuable information, including:

• Organizational data
• Social media accounts
• Personal data of members and employees, including Social Security numbers
• Credit card information and more

Consider these cyber attacks your organization could face:

1. Wire fraud—A scheme to defraud or obtain money based on false representation or […]
   

Without a strong culture of safety in place at your organization, unsafe conditions can go uncorrected or unnoticed. Volunteers and members may not feel comfortable raising safety-related concerns and the risk of serious injuries may increase.

To make your Lodge safer, it is important to take a proactive approach before incidents occur.

With the right plan in place, you can help prevent injuries, illnesses and deaths at your organization, as well as the suffering and financial hardship these events can cause for members and their families.

According to OSHA, safety and health programs are helpful in a multitude of ways and can:

• Prevent injuries and illnesses
• Improve compliance with laws and regulations
• Reduce liability costs
• Engage members
• Enhance social responsibility goals
• Increase productivity and enhance overall organizational operations

Creating a Culture of […]

When alcohol is served, your organization needs proper insurance to protect against the risks and liability associated with alcohol. Depending on the type of event, whether your Lodge is hosting or renting its buildings, you will need different insurance coverage.

Read on to understand the differences between liquor liability insurance, host liquor liability insurance and special event coverage.

Understanding Liquor Liability insurance

Liquor liability insurance is coverage for organizations that sell or serve alcohol. These policies provide coverage for legal expenses, which include things like defense costs, settlements, judgments or damages when an intoxicated person sustains an injury or causes property damage.

Common liquor liability claims can include:

• Serving alcohol to a minor
• Overserving a patron
• Bodily injury, death or property damage caused by a patron that was served at your organization

Understanding Host […]

It’s hard to make an accurate prediction of the outcome when a liability claim first comes to your attention. Some incidents resolve simply, while others do not. However, for organizations that delay the reporting of a claim to their insurer, the outcome is almost always worse than it otherwise could have been with prompt reporting.

The timing of a liability claim resulting from an alleged mistake, accident or injury is often inconvenient. But the importance of prompt claims reporting cannot be overstated. The longer you wait, the more difficult, costly and stressful it may be to resolve. Here is how early claim reporting can help minimize your exposure.

Why Every Day Counts When You Have a Claim

When an incident that could result in a legal liability claim happens, every day counts. […]

If you have projects scheduled for your organization this year, it’s important to have hand tool safety practices in place when power tools are in operation.

Whether you’re building garden beds, volunteering in the community, designing parade floats or fixing things up around the Lodge, power tools can expose your organization to many potential safety hazards.

Make sure your organization’s leaders and members work together to establish safety practices to reduce the chance of an accident. Start by encouraging members and volunteers to follow these hand safety tips around power tools:

Hand Tool Safety for Members and Volunteers

1. Beware of pinch points—Avoid placing your hands and fingers where they can get trapped or caught. If there is a chance for it to happen, sooner or later it will.

2. Expect the unexpected—Be […]
   

When someone gets hurt at your organization, workers’ compensation or volunteer accident coverage is often adept at delivering timely coverage. However, in today’s world, a comprehensive approach to your members and volunteers’ health is crucial.

There are many reasons members and volunteers may experience depression after an injury, including:

• Social isolation
• Challenges performing everyday tasks
• Financial stress
• Chronic pain and more

The COVID-19 pandemic maybe be exacerbating mental health issues. The Centers for Disease Control & Prevention revealed that since the pandemic began, the following percentages of U.S. adults have reported:

• Anxiety and depression symptoms—31%
• Trauma/stressor-related disorder symptoms—26%
• Started or increased substance use—13%
• Seriously considering suicide—11%

While you may consider a members’ and volunteers’ physical needs a priority in a workers’ compensation or volunteer accident claim, it is important […]