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Jun 01
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Should Teen Drivers Have Their Own Auto Insurance Policies?

By Personal Perspective

Now that your teen is driving, you need to purchase auto insurance for him or her. That means you need to decide if the family’s newest driver will have an individual auto insurance policy or be added to the family policy. Learn the pros and cons as you make this important decision.

Pros

  1. Teens reduce their future insurance costs when they get an individual policy. By proving that they’re responsible and safe drivers, teens build a track record that can gain them favorable auto, renters and other insurance policy rates in the future.
  1. Building credit is possible with a teen auto insurance policy. Of course, teens have to pay their premiums on time to earn this benefit, but they’ll reap the rewards when they go to rent an apartment or open a credit card in a few years.
  1. Teens have access to several unique auto insurance discounts. Taking a safe driving course, maintaining good grades, holding a steady job and paying premiums on time are four unique discounts that some insurance companies offer to teen drivers.

Cons

  1. Many insurance companies won’t give risky teen drivers an individual policy. Statistically, teens are the most dangerous drivers on the road because they are inexperienced and easily distracted. Remaining on a parent’s policy may be the only insurance option available to teens.
  1. Teen policies are expensive. Insurance companies typically charge higher rates to drivers under 25. Plus, teens can’t take advantage of multi car and multi policy discounts. Because of these factors, teens face high auto insurance costs.
  1. Parental auto insurance rates can increase by hundreds of dollars thanks to teen drivers. Not only does adding another driver and car cause the policy premiums to rise, but any claims also increases insurance premiums.

If your teen really wants his or her own auto insurance policy, shop around for the best rates and coverage. In cases, the higher premium costs for a teen policy provide benefits are a good trade-off for teens and their parents.

Jun 01
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The Importance of Technology Security Training for Employees

By Risk Management Bulletin

Many businesses go to great lengths to secure their physical assets, but often leave gaping holes in their electronic security protocols. While IT administrators can provide some protection, it’s up to the users to keep a network secure. Employers must ensure that employees are trained on avoiding common risks that can compromise technology or cause expensive repairs. Here are some critical security areas that employees should be trained on.

Phishing
Phishing occurs when someone attempts to get employees to click on links to fraudulent websites or to provide or verify personal information. Train employees to never click email links from individuals whom they don’t know. If an email looks questionable, call the person or company sending it to verify that it is really from them. Finally, educate employees to never provide personal company or employee information to anyone. All legitimate requests for personal information must go through an HR representative or company leader.

Viruses
Server-wide antivirus systems provide some protection. However, viruses can still slip by, especially very new ones. Teach employees to never download files from individuals that they don’t know or from websites that are not well-known. Additionally, instruct employees to immediately notify the IT department if their antivirus system catches a virus so that their system can be assessed for additional damage.

Unapproved Software
New software is developed daily and much of it has real business benefits. However, much of the freeware that is available from the Internet isn’t secure. The files themselves can contain viruses or the products can have security holes that allow hackers to access your computer through the software. Businesses should have an approved software list and employees should not install anything not on the list.

Mobile Device Security
Today’s mobile workforce uses phones, laptops and tablets in addition to standard desktop computers. However, these items can also cause security issues. Develop protocols for the types of software and apps that can be installed on these devices and periodically check to ensure employees are adhering to them. Items like laptops and tablets also need functioning antivirus software running on them. Additionally, instruct employees to never connect their personal devices to work devices to prevent the infection of the network.

Thomas Fenner Woods Agency 614-481-4300 Website

 

The Most Common Workplace Injuries Aren’t Major Accidents

When many people think of workplace injuries, something major like a forklift accident comes to mind. However, data shows that the majority of workplace accidents aren’t actually that dramatic. In fact, many of them are everyday occurrences that can happen to anyone. However, these seemingly minor mishaps can still cause significant harm to both employees and the employer.

Top Workplace Injuries

Each year, the Department of Labor and Bureau Statistics releases the top injuries that resulted in worker’s compensation claims for the previous year. Interestingly, the injuries don’t really change that much from year to year, and they aren’t life-threatening accidents or chemical spills. In fact, most injuries are due to overexertion, falls and accidental trips. In 2014, the top injuries were:

  • Overexertion
  • Falls on same level
  • Being struck by an object or equipment
  • Falls to lower level
  • Other exertions or bodily reactions
  • Roadway incidents involving motorized land vehicle
  • Slipping or tripping without falling
  • Being caught in or compressed by equipment or objects
  • Repetitive motions involving micro-tasks
  • Being struck against an object or equipment

Avoiding Workplace Injuries

Preventing these types of mishaps is a two-fold process. It requires adequate employee training as well as modification of the workplace to reduce or eliminate the chance or injury. With regards to safety training, it’s clear that employees need reminders on the proper way to lift, carry and move objects around the workplace. Back injuries caused by overexertion don’t just happen on the loading dock. They also happen when receptionists attempt to carry supply boxes that are too heavy. Employers should conduct an annual training class that provides tips on preventing these commonplace injuries.

Modifying the Workplace

In most cases, workplace modifications will also need to be made. For example, to prevent slips and falls, modify all not-carpeted areas to include carpet or slip-resistant flooring. Additionally, remove all tripping hazards from working areas, such as unsecured cords and even boxes and work supplies. If inadequate storage results in piles of supplies near walkways, install shelving or another solution to reduce the risk of accidental injury.

Jun 01
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Can you Really Get Sued for Making an Honest Mistake?

By Risk Management Bulletin

Many businesses don’t realize that they face the same risk of a lawsuit as physicians. Just as a patient can sue a doctor for malpractice, a customer can sue a business if a product or service causes harm or does’t live up to their expectations. The truth is that the causes of many lawsuits are honest mistakes or issues that the business owner didn’t even know about. However, the fact remains that if you provide a service or sell a product to a consumer, you are responsible for the outcome. The good news is, that there are insurance products that can protect you in case the worst does happen.

Examples of Lawsuit Causing Mistakes
Honest mistakes that can result in lawsuits are wide ranging and encompass every industry. For example, if a wedding planner books a reception and wedding for the wrong date, the bride may sue for the cost of the rental, the cost to book another rental at a late date and emotional distress.
Another example is when a service is not performed to the client’s expectation. For example, if a website designer does not deliver a website on time, it costs the client business which they can then sue the designer for. Or, if the website doesn’t meet the quality standards the client wanted, they may claim that it damaged their reputation which they may also sue for.

Professional Liability Insurance
Professional Liability insurance is sometimes called Errors and Omissions coverage and can cover either an individual or a company. Businesses pay premiums and receive certain predefined levels of coverage. This coverage pays for things like court costs, settlements and judgment that are associated with any lawsuit brought against the business.

Business At Risk

Lawyers and accountants are two of the major professions that need to have professional liability insurance. However, there are many other types of businesses, and even side businesses, that need it to. These include advertising agencies, commercial printers, web hosting companies, wedding planners and even caterers. Basically, any business that provides a good or a service to consumers for a fee is at risk of being sued. 

Jun 01
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Employee Online Activity Can Make or Break a Business

By Risk Management Bulletin

Social networking is a valuable and cost-effective advertising method for most forward-thinking businesses. However, it can also be a  land mine for lawsuits, damaged reputations and inappropriate sharing. For this reason, business owners must set clear guidelines on how employees are to act online. Here are some areas to cover when training employees on appropriate online behavior.
Avoid Lawsuits

Because social media is an anything-goes type of world, the potential for lawsuit abound. The most dangerous areas involve posting content, images or logos that are copyrighted. Additionally, making  negative comments about a company or individual is likely to draw an accusation of slander. In general, businesses should train employees to avoid referring to other companies or products at all. Focus only on the positive aspects of your own business.
Avoid Damage to the Company Reputation

Many employees interact on social media the same way that they interact via text message or with their friends. Responses are often off-the-cuff and sometimes off-color or inappropriate. In addition, some people tend to blow things out of proportion online disagreements occur. Businesses must train employees on how to act professionally when using the company’s social media sites. These sites are representing a brand and the company’s reputation must always be protected. Provide examples of how to deal with unhappy clients so that employees are prepared when it happens.
Regulate Employee’s Personal Social Media Sites

Employees with personal social media accounts often want to like, share or post to the walls of their employer’s accounts too. This is actually a good thing and helps generate tremendous marketing for a business. However, business owners must set a strict social media policy that informs employees about what is appropriate and inappropriate for the work sites. For example, a business may not want employees posting to their site if the employee’s profile image is them in a skimpy swimsuit or holding multiple alcoholic beverages. Inform employees that these images are fine for personal use but are not to be displayed in any way on the business site.

 

Jun 01
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Slips and Falls: prevent these most common injuries

By Workplace Safety
The slip, trip, and fall injuries can be prevented; yet, they are among the most common liability claims.
Fifty percent of facility claims can be traced to flooring and maintenance of those floors. If either is improper, slips, trips, and falls occur. Fifteen percent of all accidental fatalities involve slips, trips and falls. Automobile accidents are the number one cause of accidental deaths, slips and falls number two. Become aware.
Walk around your facility, inside and out.
Outside:
1. Check the parking lot and drive areas for potholes, cracks, uneven pavement, concrete heaving or subsidence (sinking) on walkways.
2. Check around curb inlets (stormwater throats). Often the tops do not match the surrounding sidewalks for elevation.
3. Observe the green space, grass and flower beds, for burrows that animals may have dug. Groundhogs can create a terrible trap causing broken legs and sprained ankles with deep holes. Moles and voles too.
4. Look for areas washed by stormwater or sprinkler flow.
5. Are all stairs visible, well lighted and handrails in place?
6. Anywhere people may walk, check for even or level conditions and well-marked stairs.
Inside:
1. Check transition areas between rooms to assure no dramatic steps down or up.
2. Are all hallways and stairs free and clear of debris or storage items?
3. Check all rugs to assure edges are secured to the floor to avoid trip hazards.
4. Generally, are all footpaths free of trip hazards and clutter? Ample room to walk?
5. Kitchens and shop areas: are all spills cleaned up immediately?
6. Are all stairs visible and handrails in place?
Generally look for any materials which could be slipped upon or tripped over inappropriately stored or left in a walkway of any sort.
Repair or replace any defective conditions with proper materials or standard operating procedures.
Slip and fall prevention requires diligence. Daily inspections and awareness should be built into every supervisor’s day to quickly remediate any dangerous condition.
In shops, wash bays, kitchens, or any wet floor surface area, workers and guests should wear non-skid shoes.
Awareness leads to prevention. 

 

Jun 01
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Reinforcing Safety Awareness: Paycheck safety tips to departmental competition

By Workplace Safety
When can you easily communicate safety information to all employees? Why not use the pay stub or in the case of direct deposit payroll, the summary to write a safety tip?
Reinforce the notion that workplace safety is the company’s number one employee benefit. Simple messages regarding wearing proper protective gear or situational awareness remind workers to think safe.
Some suggestions for the safety message:
1. X days since our last on the job injury. Keep up the good work.
2. Case history of a claim that does occur: safety devices used or not, what steps to prevent in future, result of injuries (lost time, medical expenses), and any new procedures.
3. Announce contests or bonus structure for safe operations.
4. Reinforce that the company considers safety an important employee benefit.
5. Safety tip of the week, pay period, or month. For example: use proper safety glasses and procedures during October eye-safety month.
Use the message to promote safe habits and distribute knowledge.
This idea can be used to promote proper maintenance as well. “Let the mechanic know if your backhoe is leaking hydraulic fluid as soon as you notice one drop” might save major repairs later.
Do you have divisions or operational units in your company? Promote safety as competition between or among the groups. Maybe the members of the group with the fewest accidents get new 50″ flat-screens.
Whenever a contest is used to promote safety, give a tangible prize, not money or a meal. That prize will reinforce the safety ethic every time it is seen. Even if the prize is specially logo-ed safety equipment or hard hats, the safety ethic is reinforced.
Positive reinforcement works best. Asking employees to lead more healthy lives is less effective than paying for their healthcare or holding a heart-healthy check up at work. Health and safety are core ethics of your company.
Punishing poor safety performance does nothing to retrain individuals. Certain behaviors should be non-negotiable aspects of the job. Improper equipment or refusal to use protective equipment or procedures should result in dismissal. That employee is a danger to everyone.
Jun 01
Love0

Electricity: some steps to avoid fires and electrocutions

By Workplace Safety
Wires lay in wait inside walls for decades and unless the fuse blows or the circuits break, nobody considers the vintage of wires.
And, like many construction components, electrical service has a vintage.
Builders in the 1970s used aluminum wire, which ultimately proved to be sub par and unsafe, implicated in many fires.
Unfortunately, not all aluminum wiring has been remediated.
If your property was built in or had a major renovation in the 1970s, check for aluminum wires. Pull a cover plate off a wall socket or light switch and check.
Overloaded circuits cause fires. Open your breaker box and feel the breakers. If they are warm to the touch, the circuit is under stress and should be evaluated by a professional electrician.
Change any fuse panel to circuit breakers.
Wiring and cords are factors in half the electrical fires. Check cords for wear and tear of insulation. Do not run cords under rugs; they will abrade and become an ignition source.
Do not use extension cords as a permanent solution to provide electricity to an area or machine. These overload circuits by providing increased demand (electricity must travel extra distance and heat the cord) and extra outlets for plug-ins. Install new wall outlets if needed.
When using extension cords for temporary applications, use grounded plugs. If the cord has any nicks, cuts or is missing the ground prong, discard the cord and replace it with new.
Cut power to outside outlets at the circuit breaker box when maintaining lighting. This specific warning about lighting: just because the light isn’t shining does not mean electricity is not flowing.
A few years ago, an electrician, well-trained with much experience, was electrocuted when the outdoor light timer sent electricity through a line he was splicing while standing on damp soil.
Know the current is off and inaccessible to the circuit on which you’re working. Avoid electrocution by turning off the electricity. Tag out that circuit. Use cutoffs as close to the worksite as possible. And, never work on electrical circuits on wet floors or grass.

 

Jun 01
Love0

Control Visitor Access

By Workplace Safety
Whether you operate a manufacturing company, construction firm, automotive garage, or even a real estate office, you need to control visitor access.
Safety concerns for the visitor have traditionally been first in the minds of business people. You did not want visitors in dangerous shop areas or startling unsuspecting line workers. Now, safety and security for your staff must be considered the first priority.
In the modern day world of single-issue vigilantes and crazed spouses, access must be restricted. Every employee needs to be able to identify other employees or permitted visitors and report all others.
Besides relatively benign unwanted guests like the curious or the misdirected, some individuals are up to non-violent mischief inside your workplace. A glimpse at your operations or process, a hint as to your suppliers, or some other industrial espionage may be the target of the trespasser.
Simple confrontation generally resolves these issues. In larger companies where not everyone knows everybody, uncontrolled visitors have become a workplace threat.
Even a violent threat.
Security is important, vigilance a must.
Visitors should be welcomed by a receiver who either knows the purpose of the visit by prearrangement or discovers the reason quickly and handles the request decisively.
Prearranged meetings require someone to escort the visitor to the correct location and hand off the visitor to the appropriate personnel.
Unsolicited and unexpected visitors must be contained in a secure area before allowing admittance into the main operations area.
Procedures for drop in callers may sound paranoid, but the recent workplace episodic violence suggests caution.
Never allow unknown individuals access to the main working area without proper screening in place. Who are they? Why are they here? Do they know anyone in the office? Are they dressed appropriately for their stated purpose? Do they have identification and contact information?
Everyone should be escorted through the space.
No spouses or significant others should be allowed in without expressed permission from the employee. These relationships can be volatile, and it sounds better as a company policy rather than an individual one.
Employees should report any unknown, unescorted, un-credential-ed individuals to security immediately.

 

Jun 01
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The Latest in Cyber Liability

By Business Protection Bulletin
What happens when an ethical tautology collides with a business imperative? Cyber liability.
Business must keep confidential information regarding clients, customers, and casual prospects secure from unauthorized use and publication.
Business must also engage in web-related activities, even something as benign as email, in the twenty-first century. A website or an email opens a portal to your business. Unguarded, this portal becomes a virtual interstate.
Communications companies, large retailers, and financial companies have paid tens of millions of dollar fines for breaches in security.
Medium and small companies share this risk if they have an internet footprint.
Cyber and Privacy Insurance coverage is complex. The most comprehensive stand-alone forms cost a minimum of ten thousand dollars in premium, which prices the coverage out of the small to medium size business budget.
Risk management offers some solutions to the problem. Engage an expert webmaster and risk manager to implement:
– Hold harmless agreements, shifting the responsibility to users
– Insurance requirements of third party vendors involved with your site
– Screen your interface users carefully
Currently, risk avoidance, although immediately pricey, is your best long-term solution to reducing your risks. Let the hackers move on to a less guarded site, or a more lucrative target.
The insurance aspect of protection requires expertise because forms and coverage differ dramatically among the carriers. Your professional risk manager can determine:
– Which policy contains the fewest or least costly exclusions to your normal operations
– Any exceptions to those exclusions which may provide coverage
– The adequacy of Cyber coverage contained in package policies
– How much coverage (policy limits) is enough
– Does your company have an exposure to bodily injury or property damage due to cyber liability? Machine software tampering causing malfunction, for example.
Cyber liability insurance is still in its infancy. Privacy, particularly for personal financial and health data, must be maintained. The web opens a door to that private data. Business needs vigilance and creative thinking to shut down this paradox.

 

Jun 01
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Business Interruption: what’s the correct form to use

By Business Protection Bulletin
Time element insurances provide the income which would be derived from assets which are no longer available for production due to an insured loss.
Two main forms of business interruption insurance are:
1. Loss of Income
2. Extra Expense
The difference between the two is the financial approach. Is the impact of loss derived from lower income or greater expense to achieve current income?
If the loss can be mitigated by spending marginally more overhead money, extra expense insurance will be cost effective. If any loss of vital assets means months of recovery with no commercial activity possible, loss of income is the correct approach.
The deep and long-lasting nature of the current recession offers opportunities to revisit business interruption insurance strategies.
Two scenarios are now commonplace:
1. The economic situation has created decreased demand, and thereby sales, so the business is over-insured and burdened with too much premium.
2. The economic condition has eliminated competition, and thereby increased sales, which leaves your firm under-insured and ill prepared for a loss.
Given the last decade, predicting your company’s financial future is a difficult task. Some thought provoking questions to ask your team:
1. Are we introducing new products into or withdrawing old ones from the market which will significantly impact expenses or incomes?
2. Have competitors entered or left your market in significant numbers?
3. Is your traditional product or service list doing well in the economy?
4. Is your supply chain adversely affected by the economy? This question is particularly relevant to contingent business interruption if a sole provider were to burn down.
5. Is your company making money now?
6. Would you significantly change operations if a major insured loss were to occur?
Review your time sensitive coverage today. The market demands attention to this detail. Using the above guideline will help you choose wisely between extra expense and loss of income.

 

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