St. Paul Travelers Commemorates Its Century of Safety Services; Delivering Risk Control for Changing Customer Needs for 100 Years

SAINT PAUL, Minn.--April 19, 2004----St. Paul Travelers today initiates a celebration of its one hundred years of providing safety services to customers. The company formed the country's first formal corps of safety engineers in 1904 to focus primarily on inspections associated with employer's liability insurance, boiler, elevator and auto safety.

Bob Brody, Sr. Vice President of Risk Control for St. Paul Travelers said, "We're very proud of this milestone. Building on history, rather than being confined by it, has allowed us to capitalize on our experience and understanding of market needs. Changing market needs caused us to expand the boundaries of how we operated, and to develop technical proficiency and partnerships with diverse lines of our business."

With the passage of the first Worker's Compensation laws in 1911, engineers increasingly focused on machinery safeguarding and accident prevention. As the company added other lines of coverage to its offerings, the "all lines" safety engineers evolved into a specialized staff that excelled at evaluating exposures in connection with worker's compensation, property, general liability, automobile, products liability, inland marine, and crime, as well as other coverages.

Areas of specialization continued to expand as the company addressed the risk control needs of more specialty markets - gas & oil; technology; construction; and public sector entities. Today St. Paul Travelers continues its longstanding tradition of helping prevent the things that cause injuries, death and property loss.

Notable changes in the course of 100 years include the following:

-- From 38 employees in 1905, St. Paul Travelers' Risk Control's staff grew to over 800 consultants.

-- A single chemist, hired in 1907, was the first employee of the Chemical Lab. His primary job was to analyze boiler feed water and make recommendations to insureds on chemical treatment to be used. Today's Industrial Hygiene & Forensics laboratory, located in Windsor, Conn., occupies a 40,000 sq. ft. facility containing over 3000 pieces of equipment and employing 40 chemists, instrument technicians, industrial hygienists, forensics engineers and support staff.

-- In 1912, four primary specialty departments focused on the physical aspects of safety and property protection. Today's Risk Control staff includes 14 specialty departments - with dedicated industry specialists and a wide range of property and casualty specialists - ready to assist customers in addressing complex risk management and safety challenges.

"What hasn't changed," said Mr. Brody, "is our philosophy concerning the value of accident prevention. Leaders of today's St. Paul Travelers continue to recognize the important contribution that Risk Control makes in risk evaluation and selection, and in helping customers prevent accidents. In 1905 our slogan was "An Accident Prevented is a Benefaction - An Accident Compensated, An Apology." Today it's "Believing that an investment in safety is an investment in your future."

About St. Paul Travelers

St. Paul Travelers is a leading provider of commercial property-liability insurance and asset management services. Under the Travelers brand, the company is also a leading underwriter of homeowners and auto insurance through independent agents. For more information, visit www.stpaultravelers.com.