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