So here’s the scoop: you were “lucky” enough to receive this Industrial Code Rule (ICR) 59 notification from the New York Comp Insurance Rating Board (NYCIRB) because your firm has:

• • An annual payroll of $800,000 or greater; and


• • A Workers' Compensation Experience Modification Rating (EMR) of 1.20 or greater

Who makes these rules you ask? That would be New York State. The rule requiring a mandatory safety consultation if the aforementioned criteria are met was signed into law back in the 90’s. Not much we can do about that, it’s about as close to being written in stone as anything can be. But what we CAN do is control how your outcome plays out.

The first thing you have to do is hire a Safety Consultant who is Certified by the NYSDOL to perform a Safety and Loss Prevention evaluation within 30 days of receiving the letter from the NYCIRB. Fortunately for you, Gotham Safety & Loss Prevention specializes in these types of evaulations and has Certified Safety Consultants on staff to provide this service to you.

Here's a breakdown of what has to happen, as per the law:

• • Opening Conference (to capture administrative information required for the 21-page Final Report to the DOL, review the process, discuss compliance deadlines, etc.)


• • Physical Survey of Workplace (we ofer a range of flexible options to ensure that there is no interruption of your day-to-day operations)


• • Review of Company Safety Documents (not all companies will have these documents)


• • Final Report Generation (21-page document to be submitted to the NYSDOL and your Workers' Comp Insurance Carrier)


• • Closing Conference (to review report findings and submission details, discuss upcoming deadlines, etc.)

Overwhelmed yet? Don't be! You're in good hands if you select us as your New York State Certified Consultant. We're going to work closely with you to make sure all of the above gets handled with minimum time and effort on your end. Just sit back and let us do the heavy lifting. But we know what you're thinking: "This all sounds great Gotham, but there's no such thing as a free lunch. What are your services going to run us?" Great question! Next section please...

The all-important question...just how much will this whole process run your firm? The honest truth is that it depends on the size of your company, number of locations you have, and what type of safety plans you have in place, if any. We'd be more than happy to provide you with an accurate quote in exchange for some details about your company. Give us a call at 516.882.6061, email us at info@GothamSafetyNY.com, or visit our "Contact" page for other ways to connect with us to discuss pricing.

It's worth mentioning that most other firms who claim to do these Code Rule 59 evaluations will fall into two categories:

Category 1: The Nickel and Dimers - these are the consultants that will nickel and dime you for everything under the sun including report writing time, travel expenses, and other items that will end up leaving you with a bill that is impossible to predict. The final cost to you when using a consultant like this will undoubtedly balloon to something that is way above market value.

Category 2: The Price Promoters and World Promisers - these are the consultants who advertise their pricing ahead of time with absolutely no knowledge of your business or operations other than your company name. They will also likely make promises that they are “no-nonsense” and never charge additional fees for anything (again, all of this usually coming in the form of a solicitation without any knowledge of your business). These types of consultants are a major red flag and should be avoided at all costs, as many of them frequently have their reports rejected by the NYSDOL and leave you needing to find an alternative consultant and go through the entire process again!

At Gotham Safety & Loss Prevention, we have successfully helped THOUSANDS of clients just like you successfully complete the Code Rule 59 process and not one of our reports has ever been rejected by the NYSDOL. Once we have more information about your business we will provide you with a fair and competitive price as a lump sum and will NEVER charge extra for travel time and other miscellaneous “expenses”.

Go ahead and do abosolutely nothing about the letter you received if you wish, but there are some pretty nasty penalties in place for firms who refuse to comply. There will be penalties if:

• • You fail to arrange for a consultation and evaluation; or


• • You fail to take the remedial action(s) recommended by your Consultant’s report

The above actions must be taken within the proper timeframes, and you have 1 month from the date that appears on the letter you received to select a Certified Consultant. The penalty is a 5% surcharge to your manual rate premium for the next policy period. Your insurer will charge this to your Workers’ Compensation insurance policy. The penalty is cumulative and increases by 5% for each year of non-compliance.

Your next step should be to contact the professionals at Gotham Safety & Loss Prevention to help you formulate a gameplan to get in compliance. Give us a call today at 516.882.6061, email us at info@GothamSafetyNY.com, or visit our Contact page and let us be the ones you call on to save your day!

For more information on the ICR 59 process, click HERE. For a list of frequently asked questions (FAQ), click HERE.