Area business earns accreditation

NEWTON — Skylands Risk Management has been awarded accreditation by the New Jersey Municipal Excess Liability Joint Insurance Fund (MEL).
Risk Managers are licensed insurance agents who are retained by towns and local authorities to advise them on insurance, claims and safety.
The MEL instituted the accreditation program to recognize the MEL’s numerous experienced risk managers and to train new staff. To be accredited by the MEL, a risk manager must complete four all day sessions over a six month period with a total of 28 hours of classroom instruction.
Topics included a wide range of issues including basic risk management, governance of a local governmental entity, operation of a joint insurance fund, New Jersey Workers’ Compensation and Liability law, and the Local Official’s Ethics Act.
The purpose of the MEL’s Accreditation program is to assure that risk managers serving local government meet the highest standards. Professionals who successfully complete the program may use the designation “MEL Accredited Risk Management Consultant.”
The MEL is a unique program because it is owned by its members that comprise almost 65 percent of municipalities and local authorities in New Jersey. The risk managers continue to play an important part in the $3 billion in taxpayer savings achieved by the MEL since the program’s beginning in 1987.