Voluntary Workers Personal Accident Insurance

If you’re like many community organisations, it’s likely that your volunteers are the life-blood of your operation, working tirelessly to ensure your success.

In a typical community organisation, there are multiple categories of volunteers. Some are members of the Board of Directors, some work in the office, some work with clients and some work on special projects or perform other short-term assignments. Each volunteer category brings with it risk management issues and challenges. What would happen if a volunteer has an accident while working for you? Who will compensate them for injuries sustained?

Volunteers may not be eligible for cover under Workers’ Compensation, so it’s vital that you ensure they are otherwise protected, both for medical expenses and other financial loss that may occur as a result of injury (for example due to an inability to perform their paid job).

It’s a fact of life that accidents can and do happen. With Voluntary Workers Personal Accident Insurance, you can rest assured that your volunteers will be protected if the unexpected occurs. Everyone wants to volunteer in a safe environment, so the cover you hold for your volunteers will become a point of pride for your program and can be a good “selling point” when recruiting new volunteers.

Let’s consider two scenarios, both involving a volunteer who trips over while carrying boxes at your organisation’s office. The volunteer breaks their leg and cracks several ribs, requiring a trip to hospital.

In scenario one, your organisation does not hold Voluntary Workers Personal Accident Insurance. The volunteer does not have their own personal health insurance either. You are left in the difficult position of deciding if your organisation can afford to offer to pay his out-of-pocket medical expenses. With a broken leg, the volunteer is unable to work at his paid job as a restaurant waiter. He has no savings or alternative source of income and is left in a highly troubling financial situation.

In scenario two, your organisation does hold Voluntary Workers Personal Accident Insurance. Under your insurance plan, he receives a lump sum compensation for his broken leg as well as weekly benefits for two months until he is able to return to work at his paid restaurant job. He also has the majority of his medical expenses covered. While the volunteer’s accident is extremely inconvenient for him, both your organisation and the volunteer are left in a much better position financially. Once healed, he also returns to volunteer work at your organisation, where he has always been a valued member of the volunteering team.

It’s easy to see the beneficial difference that Voluntary Workers Personal Accident Insurance can make.