Double-click to add text
Follow Brint Walker on LinkedIn
July 2026
By July, most pallet manufacturers know whether they're on track to meet production goals. Orders are coming in, lumber prices have settled into a pattern, and employees have found their rhythm.
But here's a question I encourage every pallet owner to ask around the middle of the year:
"What is my business telling me about risk?"
After working with pallet manufacturers over the years, I've found that the most successful companies don't wait until their insurance renewal to think about safety and workers' compensation. They use the first six months of the year as a report card. Every workers' compensation claim, OSHA citation, near miss, equipment breakdown, and safety improvement provides valuable information about where the business is headed.
The goal isn't simply to count accidents. The goal is to identify patterns before they become expensive habits.
One owner told me years ago, "I wasn't worried about the claim itself. I was worried about why it happened."
That's exactly the right question. Instead of simply reviewing your loss runs, spend time looking for trends.
Are several injuries occurring in the same department? Are new employees getting hurt more often than experienced workers? Do claims happen on the same shift? Are forklift incidents becoming more common? Are hand injuries increasing around one particular machine?
Those answers often tell you where your next claim is coming from unless something changes. As OSHA reminds employers, providing a safe workplace is an ongoing responsibility. Every accident and every near miss deserves a root-cause investigation.
Before your insurance company asks questions at renewal time, ask yourself a few:
Have our workers' compensation claims increased this year, and what have we done to prevent another one?
Have we investigated every near miss—not just every injury?
If our insurance carrier walked through our plant tomorrow, what concerns would they identify?
What one improvement could we make before year-end that would have the biggest impact on safety and insurance costs?
If you can't answer those questions confidently, you've identified where your attention should be focused during the second half of the year.
Workers' compensation affects much more than insurance premiums. Injuries disrupt production schedules, increase overtime, hurt morale, and can influence how customers view your operation. Your Experience Modification Rate, or EMR, is more than an insurance number—it's another measure of how effectively your company manages risk.
I've found that pallet companies with the best long-term insurance results usually have several practices in common. They report injuries promptly, investigate every incident while memories are fresh, stay in contact with injured employees throughout the recovery process, and maintain return-to-work programs whenever medically appropriate.
Those practices not only help control claim costs but also demonstrate to employees that management genuinely cares about their well-being.
Sometimes the biggest improvements come from relatively small changes.
One pallet manufacturer noticed several shoulder injuries involving employees manually stacking finished pallets. Instead of accepting those injuries as "part of the job," management installed lift-assist equipment, retrained employees on proper lifting techniques, and improved work procedures. Within months, lifting injuries declined while productivity improved.
The investment was relatively small, but the reduction in risk was significant because the company paid attention to what its operations were telling it.
One thing I've learned from working with pallet manufacturers is that the companies with the lowest long-term insurance costs usually aren't the companies that never have accidents. They're the companies that learn from every accident.
Remember that every claim tells a story. Every near miss offers a lesson. Every safety improvement strengthens your business.
As you begin the second half of the year, don't just ask whether production is on schedule. Ask whether your risk management efforts are keeping pace.
A mid-year review isn't about satisfying OSHA or preparing for an insurance renewal. It's about protecting your employees, improving your operation, and preserving profitability.
Follow Brint Walker on LinkedIn