Dealing with Risk on the Job

Unless you’re an heir and can afford to lounge around all day, you may have one near-constant reality in your adult life: work. Your job, and your long-term career, plays a huge role in your life. Your sense of purpose and productivity will stem in a large part from your work life. Your work also has a great deal to do with your self-confidence, the people you meet, and the shape of your overall life and identity. The good and the bad of your daily life will, in a large part, stem from your job.

However, at the risk of being cynical, we can say that the number one reason that most people need a job is to make money. Financial security is the goal of most kinds of work. That makes one reality about work tricky. In addition to being the source of your financial security, your work is also a major source of personal and financial risk.

Risky Business

What may seem a bit paradoxical makes more sense the longer one thinks about it. First, there are the simple personal risks. Even if your work environment is safe, the sheer amount of time that you spend there can make it a good location for an eventual accident, injury, or other personal misfortune. Then there are financial risks. An injury can cost you in terms of lost income and opportunities, of course, and there are also ways to suffer financially without suffering physically. Small business owners might find that a break-in cuts into their bottom line, doctors can be served with malpractice suits, and almost every sort of professional faces some sort of financial risk related to their job.

The key to a financially secure career, then, isn’t just about working hard and building a great career. It’s also about protecting that hard work and that carefully built career from the risks that surround us on the job.

Protecting Yourself from Accidents and Injuries

Fortunately, there are safety nets to help us when accidents and injuries hurt us on the job. Workers’ compensation programs and other government-mandated safety nets afford at least a little bit of protection. And the law can work to our advantage, too: for instance, a trucker injured in a motor vehicle accident can reach out to commercial truck accident lawyers. Personal injury lawsuits and lawsuits related to workers’ compensation can help us put our lives back together after a bad accident.

We can also protect ourselves before the fact. Insurance policies can be a big help: it pays to protect your vehicles, business assets, and even yourself with various types of policies. A life insurance policy can be very important for workers who support families: it will pay out in the event of your death, helping your family maintain their quality of life after you’re gone. You should also, of course, work carefully to save money. Having cash in an emergency fund can be a lifesaver after a sudden accident.

Protecting Your Business Financially

Professionals and business owners don’t just have to worry about personal risk on the job–they also must worry about risks associated with the financial realities of having a valuable career. The more impressive your career, the more you must protect: from your business space to your reputation, everything about your career is important to your financial stability.

Make sure to keep yourself insured. Your business space, vehicles, and other key aspects should have complete coverage. Speak to a lawyer about organizing your business or, if you are an employee, speak to lawyers and financial planners about protecting your assets.

There is no shortage of risk in the working world, but that doesn’t mean that you must live (and work) in fear. Take the necessary steps to protect your hard work, and then keep building. You have a great deal of success ahead of you.