Does Your Land Surveyor Have Professional Liability and Workers Compensation Insurance?

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Land surveying is a high-risk industry. When a survey crew goes out in the field, they are faced with all kinds of potential dangers, ranging from encounters with wild animals to falling tree limbs, construction site-related accidents, and even natural disasters and flash floods. Exposure to extreme weather may also put workers at risk of frostbite and heat exhaustion. These only scratch the surface of the hazards that land surveying present to unprotected and un-insured workers and working with a company that doesn’t provide ample insurance for their field employees can mean a great deal of liability for your own business. It is for this reason that you should make sure that the land surveyor you are hiring has comprehensive professional liability insurance that also covers workers compensation should the unthinkable happen. There are many different types of insurance policies land surveyors may need, among the most important of which are as follows:

Workers compensation insurance – Workers comp takes care of any medical and lost income expenses for injured workers. This helps make sure that the employee is provided the help and compensation they need so they can recover and get back on their feet quickly. Workers comp insurance also provides protection against legal actions employees may take against employers stemming from their work-related injury. Workers comp insurance policies for land surveyors generally provide medical care, rehabilitation assistance, and lost income coverage—which costs much less than the potential financial loss companies may invite when fighting against a workplace accident case.

Business travel protection – Sending employees out of state for official business purposes requires accident coverage, should something untoward happen in the course of their travel.

Employer’s liability – A land survey company should also secure employer’s liability insurance so their business can be covered should negligent actions on their part as employer inadvertently cause injury or illness to an employee. Employer’s liability protects businesses from legal actions employees may pursue against them.

Third party suits – Accidents don’t only happen within the workplace. Land surveyors are prone to all types of accidents that may happen especially when they are out of the office, such as on the road, while traveling to the survey site. When workers are stricken by accidents on the road, for instance, they may elect to file a third-party suit for added compensation to cover long-term treatment. When this happens, the third party may in turn come for the business, putting it in a defensive position. Coverage for this kind of counter suits is also essential to ensure protection from further damage and loss to the business.

About the Author:

Armando Dupont, a professional land surveyor, started his career in surveying in 1977 and has extensive experience in managing personnel and projects. His experience includes: topographic mapping, boundary surveys and analysis, construction and control surveying, preparation of tract and parcel maps, earth work calculation and quantities, targeting and control for photogrammetric, and land title surveys in accordance with the American Land Title Association and the American Congress on Surveying and Mapping. Mr. DuPont founded Calvada Surveying, Inc. in 1989 and is a licensed Professional Land Surveyor in the State of California.