Risk Management Bulletin

When it comes time for safety training, differences among employees in your workforce can present a challenge. To ensure effective training, you need to take these factors into account.

• Age. Younger workers might have trouble taking their jobs, including the safety aspects, seriously. Older workers, on the other hand, might feel they already know it all and tune you out. Include ways to make it clear to trainees that this is important to all of them,
• Ability to read and understand English. Many people won’t admit they can’t read or understand English. Be alert to your workers’ ability – or inability – to understand written instructions and to comprehend English. Don’t embarrass them; just make sure that you’re presenting information in a way they can grasp. It might help to involve an additional meeting leader who speaks the workers’ native language.
• Educational level. If your group includes workers with a wide range of educational backgrounds, you need to come up with an approach that gets the message across to the less educated without being so simplistic that it turns off other workers. You might need to use more demonstration and practice than reading and lectures.
• Experience with products, processes, and technology. If workers are relatively inexperienced, take a slow, step-by-step approach and limit each safety meeting to a narrow topic. Experienced workers will more readily understand your references to equipment and procedures, allowing you to focus more on the safety aspects and tie them together. However, they’ll also be more likely to resist changes in the way they do their jobs.
• Tolerance for length and frequency of meetings. How long an attention span do your workers have? How long can they sit still and concentrate? How much can they absorb at once? You’ll have to answer these questions to determine how often you can have safety meetings and how long they can last. The meeting format is also a factor in determining meeting length.
• Extent of prior safety training. The more training workers have received, the easier each subsequent meeting becomes. Once workers understand certain safety basics and incorporate them into their jobs and work styles you can get right to the specifics of your meeting.
• Attitudes toward work and management. If you have some workers who are hostile to you, the company, their jobs, and/or the topic, safety meetings can be stressful. Allow these workers to express their feelings and ask them to try to keep an open mind. Emphasize that their safety is important to you and that these programs will benefit them by making accidents and injuries less likely. It also doesn’t hurt to point out that the same regulations that require companies to provide safety training also require employees to practice the safety methods and practices they’ve been taught on the job.

In the eyes of many people, personal protective equipment (PPE) is workplace safety. A hard hat, steel-toed shoes, and goggles are the most visible symbols of protection. However, these items form only part of a bigger picture.

OSHA’s PPE standards in 29 CFR, 1910.132-138 include general requirements, as well as the rules covering eye and face, respiratory, head, foot, and hand protection. You’ll also find PPE regulations in material safety data sheets, owner/operator manuals, and instructions for specific types of protective gear. Bear in mind that, as much as OSHA stresses the need for PPE, the agency considers it as only the third tier of protection, behind engineering and administrative controls — in other words, a “last resort.”

To help employers assess hazards and select the best protection, we’d recommend taking these steps:

1. Start with a walk-through survey of the area or job. The idea is to identify sources of hazards in categories including impact, penetration, rollover, chemical heat, harmful dust, and optical radiation.
2. Consider the sources. During the walk-through, look for hazard sources, including any machinery or processes in which movement of tools, elements, or particles could occur, or where people could collide with stationary objects. Your review should also seek sources of high temperatures, sharp objects, rolling or pinching objects, and electrical hazards, together with a survey the layout of the work areas.
3. Analyze the data. Evaluate the findings from your walk-through and estimate the potential for injuries. Review each basic hazard in light of the type and level of risk, and the seriousness of a potential injury.
4. Select the protection. OSHA recommends PPE selection procedures that compare the hazards associated with the environment against the capabilities of available PPE. Make sure that equipment ensure a level of protection greater than the minimum required. Users should be fit, instructed on care and use of the PPE, and made aware of warning labels and limitations.
5. Put it in writing. Describe PPE in a written policy signed by upper management and reviewed periodically. At a minimum, your policy should require personnel to wear, care for and store appropriate PPE provided by the employer; set out relevant PPT duties for supervisors; explain the hazard assessment process; and give the location of the original signed forms.

On August 3, 2010, Omar Thornton, a driver for a Connecticut beer distributor, killed eight fellow workers, with no warning, before committing suicide. “Ten seconds before [Thornton] started shooting, if you had asked me, does he look like he’s going to react in any way? I would have said ‘no, he seems calm,’” said, a company vice president wounded by the gunman.

Criminologists call this a classic example of “murder by proxy” — rampages by employees who attack the co-workers, supervisors, and bosses who they blame for their outrage. The message is: “Look who’s doing the firing now.”

According to federal statistics, co-workers or former co-workers kill an average of 63 people per year in U.S. workplaces. These eruptions of violence rarely come with a warning, making them hard to stop.

To reduce the risk of on-the-job attacks, especially in cases where employees are about to be terminated, we’d recommend that companies of all sizes implement a violence protection plan that includes these steps:

• Plan meetings to fire employees carefully, taking into account the location and the number of people present. If there’s any potential for violence (for example if the employee has a violent past), do the interview off site, have the worker escorted to and from the room, and evaluate the need for having a security guard or an off-duty police officer present.
• In extreme cases, consider using such security measures as body searches or metal detectors; however, bear in mind that these steps can backfire by inflaming the situation.
• Avoid angering the employee unnecessarily. Choose your words carefully to convey empathy, not sympathy, and acknowledge that the worker is highly stressed.
• Train your employees to recognize such signs of potential violence in co-workers as verbal threats, temper tantrums, or a display of weapons in the workplace.

However, regardless of warning signs and security measures, experts say there’s little that managers can do to stop a determined gunman. “The only way to guarantee you never become a victim of a workplace shooting is to be self employed,” notes Jim Francis of T&M Protection Resources, a New York-based security firm.

Your workers need to take their safety responsibilities seriously – and realize that fooling around on the job can be dangerous. To get your message across, we’d recommend that you stress these essential points.

• Horseplay and fooling around are the opposites of safe, responsible work. According to the dictionary: Horseplay means rough fun. Fooling around means doing foolish, useless things – and a fool is a person with little or no judgment or common sense.
• Workplace rules ban horseplay because it’s dangerous. Although horseplay is usually a friendly, physical way to let off steam, this type of fooling around doesn’t belong on the job because it means that you’re not concentrating on your work. Directing your horseplay at others is even more dangerous; they’re not expecting the distraction and could easily have an accident, such as falling into a moving machine part, slipping on the floor, or dropping a tool.
• Horseplay creates unnecessary risks. When you indulge in horseplay, you can’t stay alert to hazards and follow safety rules. For example, running, chasing, or pushing can cause slips, trips, falls, and other accidents. Throwing tools might stab someone with a sharp edge or cause an injury. Fooling around with PPE can expose you or another worker to a hazardous substance. Speeding or stunt driving with a forklift can cause it to tip over or hit people or objects. Jokes like “hiding” someone’s PPE, dropping your half of a load, turning out lights, etc., aren’t funny – they’re dangerous.
• Take your job, your responsibilities, and safety seriously. Failure to follow safety rules is dangerous, for you and for others. Think how bad you would feel if your horseplay injured or sickened someone else – perhaps seriously. Don’t indulge in horseplay, accuse those who won’t go along with it of having “no sense of humor,” or allow other people to engage you in horseplay.

Disasters during the past decade – such as flooding in the Midwest, oil spills in the Gulf Coast, and wildfires in California – have cost hundreds of billions of dollars. Insurance will play a vital role in helping your businesses recover from a disaster, if you manage your claims properly by following these guidelines:

• Protect internal conversations. Consulting with your counsel on the nuances of your claim should keep confidential information from becoming public knowledge. However, bear in mind that most states do not protect the confidentiality of communications between and you and your accountant or broker.
• Follow procedural requirements. Your policy requires you to alert your carrier within a reasonable time after a loss and provide a “proof of loss” within a certain period. Seek to extend the proof-of-loss date until after the claim is adjusted.
• Don’t overlook less-obvious coverage. A typical property policy includes coverage for property damage, extra expense, accounts receivable, leasehold interest, rental value, royalties, demolition of buildings or structures, decontamination costs, fire extinguishing expenses, interruption by civil authority, and debris removal.
• Document actual losses. Keep detailed records of all property damage and costs of repairing or replacing damaged property. For Business Interruption claims, preserve historical sales data and document all repairs and other financial hardships resulting from the disaster.
• Don’t short-change your coverage when measuring losses. You might be able to measure your loss based not on what the business would have made if there had been no disaster, but on what it would have made if there had been increased demand for its goods or services after the loss and it had been able to conduct business.
• Work closely with your insurer. Striking the proper balance between legitimate requests for substantiation of a loss and endless demands for more information requires good-faith activity on both sides, as well as an effective working relationship.
• Keep your right to pursue legal action. Many policies require that any suit be filed within one year (sometimes two years) of “inception” of the loss. However, because it’s sometimes unclear which state’s law governs this issue or how a policy is interpreted, don’t assume that the law where the insurer is based or where the loss occurs will apply.

When you file a claim, our risk management professionals would be happy to provide advice. Just contact us by phone or e-mail.

Your safety committee should have employees eager to serve it, and management responsive to its recommendations.

However, there might be a significant gap between what you’d like to achieve and the committee you see today.

To get your committee from here to there, consider these tips:

Right size
Experts suggest a committee of six to 10 members in a company of fewer than 200 employees, with a six to 12 member committee for businesses with 200 to 1,000 employees. Larger businesses or those with various shifts and/or locations, should consider having multiple committees. If you have more than one committee, encouraging members to attend one another’s meetings will ensure “cross-pollination” of best practices and information.

Right people
Choose active, productive employees who work well in groups, are comfortable speaking out, and are accessible to their colleagues. One of the most important roles of a member is to serve as a vehicle for rank-and-file employees to express their concerns about working conditions. Some experts recommend having the members elect the head of the committee. Corporate safety managers may participate on committees or serve as advisors, but should not lead the group. To keep the committee fresh, rotate its members. A one-year appointment is usually long enough to let members get something done without burning out.

Right tasks
Although the purpose and activities of committees vary, their tasks generally include:

• Accident investigations
• Safety inspection
• Behavioral observations
• Review of equipment to leased or purchased for safety controls
• Hazard identification
• Reporting problems or concerns to management and/or maintenance
• Recommending corrective actions
• Monitoring new policies and procedures
• Communicating safety and health information and updates to employees
• Participating in safety training
• Developing and managing incentive programs
• Serving as role models for safe practices

Right results
Ultimately, you won’t find the right formula on any list. A strong, purposeful safety committee should take inspiration from management’s belief in its work, and have members who want to improve the safety and health of their co-workers.

About three in four drug or alcohol abusers have jobs – and they don’t leave their problems at the door when they arrive at work!

According to OSHA, an effective drug-free workplace program should have five components:

1. A Drug-Free Workplace Policy. Your policy should include a stated purpose or rationale, a clear description of prohibited behaviors, and an explanation of the consequences of violating the policy
2. Supervisor Training. Have your supervisors trained in understanding the policy and its implications, recognizing and dealing with employees who have substance-related performance problems, and referring these employees to available assistance. Make supervisors responsible for monitoring employee performance, staying alert to performance problems, and enforcing the policy.
3. Employee Education. Effective education addresses company-specific details about the policy and program, together with general information about the nature of substance abuse; its impact on work, health, and personal life; and types of available assistance. You can provide education through safety meetings and training sessions, home mailings, workplace displays, brown-bag lunches, guest speakers, seminars, and new-hire orientation sessions.
4. Workplace Assistance. Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs) offer an alternative to dismissal and minimize the employer’s legal vulnerability by demonstrating efforts to support substance-abusing workers who need help. EAPs provide counseling and referrals, plus other services such as supervisor training and employee education. If you don’t offer these services, maintain a resource file from which employees can access information about community-based resources, treatment programs, and help lines
5. Drug Testing. The most common test is urinalysis. Other types are the breath-alcohol test, blood test, hair analysis, and saliva or sweat tests. Reasons for testing include pre-employment screenings, reasonable suspicions of use, post-accident, return-to-duty, random, and periodic tests. Private employers have latitude in implementing testing, unless they’re subject to federal regulations (for example, the U.S. Department of Transportation drug-testing rules for employees in safety-sensitive situations). Many employers use testing guidelines by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).

Finally, bear in mind that creating and implementing a successful drug-testing program takes time and patience!

Although Workers Comp policies go by the official name of “Workers Compensation and Employers Liability,” it’s easy to overlook the “Employers Liability’ coverage, which protects your business against liability arising from physical injury and occupational illness claims that Workers Comp doesn’t cover. The Employers Liability section resembles a Commercial General Liability (CGL) policy, defending the employer against claims and paying the employee, dependents, or others in cases of employer negligence.

Consider these types of claims:

• Action-Over: Let’s assume that Curbside Concrete’s employee is injured in an accident while driving a company mixer and sues the other driver, who then sues Curbside, arguing that a defect in its truck caused the accident. Employees who use tools are especially prone to filing claims of this type: the employee sues the manufacturer of a tool that injured them on the job. The manufacturer then counter-sues the employer for negligence in failing to supervise the employees on the safe use of its tool.
• Loss of Consortium: A seriously injured or dead employee might have a relative or spouse who sues the firm for the resulting loss of normal relations with the disabled or deceased companion. This absence can affect a son or daughter with a mother or father who can no longer fulfill the proper role of a parent, as well as someone whose spouse’s sexual function has diminished.
• Consequential Bodily Injury: A worker’s injury has an adverse on one of their relatives. For example, after Joe suffers an injury on the job, his sister must now quit her job to drive him to the occupational therapist every day.
• Dual Capacity: A firm faces a suit beyond its role as the injured worker’s employer. Mike, the building maintenance worker, is injured while installing a basketball hoop in the company gym by a drill manufactured by his employer, Dynamic Drill, Inc. He files a suit against Dynamic as creator of the tool, not as the employer. A dual capacity claim allows Mike to circumvent the prohibition under Workers Compensation law against suing his employer.

These workplace occurrences are not far-fetched. Our risk management professionals would be happy to provide a thorough review of your Workers Comp policy to make sure that you have the protection you need.

The focus on energy conservation has been making our buildings get tighter and tighter, allowing less and less air exchange. This can result in “Sick Building Syndrome,” with pollutants trapped inside the building causing such symptoms as sensory irritation of the eyes, nose, throat; neurotoxic or general health problems; skin irritation; nonspecific hypersensitivity reactions; and odor and taste sensations.

Causes include flaws in heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems. contaminants produced by out gassing some types of building materials, volatile organic compounds (VOC), molds, improper exhaust ventilation of ozone, light industrial chemicals used within, or fresh-air intake location /inadequate air filtration). Three major pollutants –formaldehyde, benzene, and trichloroethylene – are used in building materials, cleaning products, paint, adhesives, varnishes, and oils found in homes and workplaces throughout the nation.

If you’re looking for an inexpensive and easy way to improve indoor air quality, look no further than the common houseplant, says a study by NASA and the Associated Landscape Contractors of America (ALCA) on improving indoor air quality. NASA was looking for ways to purify the air in space stations. However, the study turned out to have some down-to-earth applications: houseplants not only brighten the environment in homes and workplaces, but also have the ability to cleanse indoor air and remove harmful pollutants.

So how could a little houseplant get rid of these nasty, dangerous air contaminants when sophisticated, powerful HVAC systems can’t seem to manage the job? The answer: To survive, houseplants use a process called photosynthesis that produces food from carbon dioxide and hydrogen, converting energy from light absorbed by chlorophyll in the plant’s leaves. Carbon dioxide and hydrogen, of course, are readily available in air. Because houseplants are so good at absorbing these gases, at the same time they also absorb other gases – including harmful indoor air pollutants!

Plant photosynthesis does us another big favor by releasing a waste product that we need to survive – oxygen. So having plants around not only removes pollutants, but refreshes indoor air with regular infusions of oxygen.

The NASA/ALCA study also found that some houseplants were better than others at removing specific pollutants. For example, bamboo palm, peace lily, golden pathos, red-edged dracaena, and spider plant were good at filtering out formaldehyde. Peace lily, English ivy, and bamboo palm worked best for removing benzene from indoor air, while peace lily and bamboo palm worked well for filtering trichloroethylene.

Slips, trips, and falls (STFs) kill more than 21,000 Americans a year — more than from electrocution, drowning, and firearms incidents combined — at a cost of $60 billion to $80 billion (including medical bills, litigation, and insurance claims). They’re the leading cause of emergency room visits, nursing home admissions, and accidental deaths.

Across industries and across the years, STFs continue to be among the leading causes of workplace injury. According to OSHA, they account for the majority of general industry accidents (including back injuries, sprains and strains, contusions, and fractures) and 15% of all accidental deaths. The opportunities for workplace STFs are too numerous to mention. Slippery walking and working surfaces, leaks, debris left in walkways, uneven floors, protruding nails, bunched floor mats, and uneven step risers are among dozens of dangers your workers face.

Your employees know that falling is a hazard. However, knowledge alone isn’t enough to keep them on their feet. You need a program that identifies the problem, implements focused solutions, and monitors the results. To ensure that you’re doing all you should to keep your people on their feet, take these and other steps:

• If you have wet or oily processes, maintain drainage and provide false floors, platforms, nonsolid mats, or other dry places where possible.
• Use nonskid waxes and grit-coated surfaces in slippery areas.
• Require slip-resistant footwear.
• Clean up spills immediately.
• Use smart housekeeping strategies, such as cleaning one side of a walkway at a time.
• Provide floor plugs so that power cords don’t run across pathways.
• Keep aisles and passageways clear at all times.
• Reinstall or stretch carpets that bulge or have become bunched.
• Provide good lighting for all halls and stairwells, especially at night.
• Provide proper handrails and slip-resistant stair treads.
• Train workers to use handrails, avoid undue speed, and maintain a clear view of the stairs ahead of them.

Focus on employee awareness and participation in your STF program. For example, BJF Healthcare (St. Louis, MO) started to see the benefits of its STF efforts once it found ways to get employees to become actively involved. To encourage participation, BJF ran a “Get a Grip on Your Slips” campaign during which employees called a hotline to report what they had don to prevent themselves or a co-worker from falling. By calling the hotline, employees automatically became eligible for a drawing for a prize. The company’s “Save Yourself a Trip” program motivated employees to come up with anti-trip and fall strategies and to share them with co-workers.