One bad year doesn't just raise your premium. It can take you off the bid list.
Your EMR follows you into every prequalification packet. A number above what a GC or public agency allows doesn't just cost more -- it can keep you from bidding the job at all.
How EMR actually moves the numbers
Typical EMR ceiling to prequalify for many large and public-sector projects
1.00 -- above it, a contractor can be disqualified from bidding outright
[Experience Modification Rate: Construction Safety Guide]Premium impact of a worse-than-average EMR
Roughly proportional -- a 1.20 EMR has been cited at about a 20% premium increase over baseline
[Experience Modification Rate: Construction Safety Guide]Premium impact of a better-than-average EMR
Cuts the other way too -- a 0.80 EMR has been cited at about a 20% reduction
[Experience Modification Rate: Construction Safety Guide]An EMR isn't just an insurance-renewal number -- it's one of the first things a general contractor or public agency checks before you're even allowed to submit a bid. A documentation gap that turns one incident into a bigger claim, or a pattern of citations that pushes your EMR over the line most prequalification packets set, can quietly close off work you never got the chance to compete for.
Safety Talk TV won't change your EMR by itself, but a documented, consistent training program is one of the few levers a contractor fully controls -- and it's exactly the kind of record an insurance broker or risk manager wants to see walking into a renewal conversation, or a GC wants to see in a prequalification file.