Risk Management Bulletin

Workplace fires and explosions kill 200 American workers and injure more than 5,000 a year, at a cost of $2.3 billion. The expanded use of space heaters during the winter season increases the danger of fire. To help keep employees safe, any business that’s required to have fire extinguishers on the premises and needs to evacuate people during a fire or other emergency must have an Emergency Action Plan (EAP) that meets specific OSHA standards. Required elements in an EAP include but are not limited to:

• Evacuation procedures and emergency escape route assignments.
• Procedures to be followed by employees who remain to operate critical plant operations before they evacuate.
• Procedures to account for all employees after an emergency evacuation has been completed.
• Rescue and medical duties for employees who are to perform them.
• Means of reporting fires and other emergencies.
• Names or job titles of persons to contact for further information or explanation of duties under the plan.

Businesses can also implement a workplace Fire Prevention Plan (FPP) that describes the onsite fuel sources (hazardous or other materials) that could trigger or help spread a fire, as well as the building systems, such as fixed fire extinguishing systems and alarms in place to control the ignition or spread of a fire. At a minimum, your FPP should include:

• A list of all major fire hazards, handling and storage procedures for hazardous materials, potential ignition sources, and the type of fire protection equipment needed to control them.
• Procedures to curb accumulations of flammable and combustible waste materials.
• Maintenance of safeguards on heat-producing equipment to prevent the accidental ignition of combustible materials.
• The name or job title of employees responsible for controlling fuel source hazards and maintaining equipment to prevent or control ignition or fires.

Employers required to have an EAP or FPP must provide emergency preparation and response training for employees. Even if you’re not required to prepare such plans, it makes sense to develop and enforce them.

To help keep your workers safe on the road — and reduce the risk exposure when they’re driving on company business, we’d recommend having them use these guidelines developed by the professional driver/editors at Edmonds.com:

1. Avoid the fast lane. Using the center or right lane on multi-lane roads gives drivers more escape routes if a problem arises that requires quick lane changes or pulling onto the shoulder. Most highway accidents occur in the left lane. Also, drivers are most conspicuous to law enforcement if they’re in this lane.
2. Keep scanning the area ahead. Instead of just staring at the car ahead, watch the traffic in front of that car as well. This increases your chance of seeing a problem while you still have enough time to react to it.
3. Beware of blind spots. Adjust your side and rearview mirrors to provide a seamless panoramic scene of the view behind you. But don’t rely solely on them. You should also look directly into the lanes beside you to avoid overlooking something left undetected by the mirrors. Also consider potential blind spots affecting other drivers, particularly truckers.
4. Get “racecar driver control” of the wheel. Maintain control of the wheel by moving your seat close enough to the steering wheel so that, with your arm outstretched and your back against the seat, your wrist can rest on the top of the wheel. This will keep your arms from tiring easily and put you in the best position to manage last-minute evasive maneuvers.
5. Place your hands at 9 and 3. Instead of the typical way people drive, with one hand at 12 o’clock or both hands at the bottom of the steering wheel, use the 9 o’clock and 3 o’clock positions. This leads to better vehicle control, especially if you have to maneuver quickly to avoid a potential crash.
6. Judge drivers by their cars. Cars with body damage or dirty windows could indicate an inattentive driver behind the wheel. Also, a car that’s drifting in its lane might mean the driver is tired, drunk, or on the phone. Steer clear.
7. Know thy vehicle. Get in touch with your inner car. Pay attention to how it reacts in certain situations. Become familiar with the limits of your brakes and tires. How long does it take to stop when you apply maximum pressure? How much grip do your tires have? If you replaced your car’s original tires with a cheap set, you’ve probably reduced braking and handling capability.
8. Keep your vehicle in shape. Follow the manufacturer’s recommended maintenance schedule to ensure that the vehicle will accelerate, stop, and steer when you need it. “Getting another 1,000 miles out of old tires” just isn’t worth it.
9. Nighttime might not be the right time. Traveling at night can help you avoid congestion on the roads, but it can also be a hazardous proposition. At night, you’re more tired, your field of vision is decreased, and you might have to deal with joyriding teens and drunks. If you’re out late, drive extra defensively after midnight when people leave bars and parties.
10. Consider high-performance training. Going to a high-performance driving school can be a great way to improve your driving skills. Understanding how to make your car do what you want it to do in emergency situations could save your life.

According to OSHA, workplace fires kill about 200 workers and injure another 5,000 persons each year. In a typical recent year, more than 75,000 workplace fires caused more than $2 billion worth of damage.

Fires are the most common type of emergency for most companies – and many fires start out small enough to be put out with a portable fire extinguisher. But that doesn’t necessarily mean that all employees need to know how to use extinguishers. According to OSHA, if a fire breaks out; companies have three basic choices for employees: (1) All employees must evacuate the building immediately when they hear a fire alarm, or (2) certain designated and trained employees are authorized to fight fires with portable extinguishers, while all others are required to evacuate immediately, or (3) all employees are authorized to fight fires with portable extinguishers.

You need to decide if you want to provide fire extinguishers for employees to use. This decision might not be easy: while it’s obviously helpful if employees know how to put out small fires, this also exposes them to a higher level of danger than if they’re simply required to evacuate. Moreover, employers that want employees to fight small fires can’t just mount a few fire extinguishers and leave it at that – they’ll need to meet the OSHA compliance standard on Portable Fire Extinguishers (29 CFR 1910.157), which include:

• Minimum distances for distribution of fire extinguishers throughout the workplace (for example, no more than 75 feet of travel distance to the nearest Class A extinguisher)
• Requirements for regular visual inspections, maintenance, and testing
• Education and training for employees in how to use fire extinguishers.

What kind of training will you need? Although OSHA training requirements aren’t very specific, they call for a program that “familiarizes employees with the general principles of fire extinguisher use,” while informing them about the hazards of fighting small fires. For companies that designate only certain (rather than all) employees for fire fighting, training should be more in-depth and include the use of various kinds of equipment that are appropriate for the workplace. After employers provide training, they must renew it at least once a year and document the process.

For more information on implementing your workplace fire-fighting policy, just contact any of our risk management professionals.

If not, you could well have a problem. For the past several years, more and more states and cities have limited or banned drivers’ use of cell phones. Says the Web site DrivingLaws.org, “Although employer responsibility isn’t specifically defined in the cell phone legislation, there have been an increasing number of lawsuits relating to employer responsibility regarding mobile cell-phone use [by] employees.” With motor vehicle accidents the leading cause of work-related injuries, using cell phones and other communications devices behind the wheel ups the ante for litigation in case of death or injury, and other third-party claims against businesses. For example, if an employee has a traffic accident using a cell phone while driving on company business, you could face legal liability. What’s more, drivers injured while driving and telephoning on company time will generally be eligible for Workers Compensation benefits.

The first step in dealing with this exposure is to create and implement a cell-phone use policy for employees driving company vehicles. Although such a policy doesn’t completely protect you from legal responsibility for accidents or injuries that could occur while workers were using a company-owned vehicle, it demonstrates your forethought and responsibility.

This plan should provide guidelines for:

• Training. Provide training or instruction manuals so that employees know the features of their cell phone
• Safety. Remind employees not to dial or talk when driving conditions are hazardous, to keep conversations short, to tell the other person that the employee is calling while driving, and to turn off cell phones whenever they pump gas or use jumper cables.
• Making calls. Discourage cell-phone use behind the wheel and require drivers to stop when dialing their cell phones?
• Voice mail/caller ID. Make sure that drivers have these features on their cell phones so they can resist answering the phone while driving
• Accident/injury reports. Require employees to report any accidents or injuries resulting from cell-phone use phone while driving.
• Discipline. Punish workers who violate these safety rules or local or state laws about using cell phones behind the wheel.

For help in creating, or revamping, your company’s cell phone use policy, feel free to get in touch with our risk management professionals. Remember, “an ounce of prevention …”

Although cutting back on the insurance component of your risk management program might seem to make sense In today’s troubled economy, an uninsured or underinsured loss could easily cost you dollars for every penny you’d “save.”. Here are five ways to stretch your insurance dollar without having to compromise on coverage:

1. Take an inventory of your business property and determine its value. Then decide what kind of protection and level of coverage you need. Don’t buy insurance to protect against highly unlikely risks, but don’t hide unusual risks from your agent. Be sure to keep the inventory in a safe, off-premises place.
2. If you find a package or standard policy to cover your needs, go with it. In most cases, it’s less expensive to add riders than to get a custom policy. Also, if a dispute develops, ambiguities in a package or standard policy might be interpreted in your favor against the insurer. The same might not hold true for a custom policy.
3. An inexpensive policy might not be preferable and could be more expensive in the long run if the coverage is inadequate. Check to see what and who is covered and isn’t covered. You should also verify the long-term, multiyear financial stability of the insurance company that you’re considering.
4. Choose a higher deductible or self-insured retainer and know the differences between them, including cost differences. The higher the deductible or self-insured retainer, the lower your premiums. The total cost of Liability insurance will also depend on how much coverage you place in each of three types of policies: General or Basic, Umbrella, and Excess. Understand the differences among these policies and allocate your coverage amounts among them to maximize your coverage and minimize your cost.
5. Find a trade group or professional employer organization policy. Trade organizations can, and often do, negotiate good rates and better insurance terms for their members.

Our risk management specialists would be happy to advise you on tailoring a cost-effective protection plan to your needs. Just give us a call.

According to the U.S. Commerce Department, employee crime costs American businesses as much as $40 billion a year — that’s “billion with a ‘B’.”

To help prevent a fox from getting into your henhouse, a leading risk management group recommends these guidelines:

• Screen job candidates. You might discover that a potential employee was fired from another job for stealing. A thorough background check can give you hard evidence when doing an interview. Look for discrepancies between what the candidate says and what’s on paper; too many differences will point to a problem.
• Reduce the temptation to steal. Be careful when making operational changes. The thief might become quite familiar with the change and believe that they have specialized and private information to use to their advantage. To avoid this danger, let everyone know about new procedures. Also, lock and bar all windows in warehouses or storerooms, create employee sign-ins in these areas, and never leave anything lying around to be picked up easily.
• Protect monetary assets. Thieves sometimes write checks to ghost employees or vendors and use the money for their own finances. Separating accounts payable from accounts receivable will reduce the chances of such a fiasco. Also, if Jim in sales never, ever takes a vacation, something might be amiss; he could be snooping around or doing something besides genuine hard work.
• Schedule periodic audits. If this isn’t possible, have an outside party review accounting and bookkeeping practices.
• Create a zero-tolerance policy. Potential in-house thieves won’t be as inclined to steal if they know they’re risking their job.
• Investigate suspected fraud. The Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (www.acfe.org) offers expertise in this field.

For an in-depth review and analysis of your in-house security systems, please feel fee to contact our risk management specialists.

In the aftermath of storms, flooding, or wildfires , thousands of small-business owners are being hit with the bills for salvaging their building or the business itself, because they didn’t carry enough (or the right type of) coverage. In some cases, the culprit was ignorance; the owners might not have realized that a policy didn’t cover certain hazards. In others, a difficult economic climate created cash flow problems that led businesses to forgo the cost of insurance.

For example, you might not think your business needs insurance against flood damage. However, no matter where you’re located, if a small stream near your business swells up after an unusually long period of rain and water pours in, coverage through the federal National Flood Insurance Program will pick up the tab. For more information, visit the program’s Website, www.Floodsmart.gov.

Similarly, a standard policy probably won’t cover earthquake damage – and quakes are by no means limited to California. The largest temblor in U.S. history was centered near New Madrid, Missouri in 1812, causing damage in half a dozen states, ringing church bells on the East Coast, and re-routing a section of the Mississippi River.

You buy Property insurance to protect your business against losses from such perils as wind, rain, and hail. But do you have Business Owners Policy (BOP), which combines Property coverage, together with Business Interruption insurance – which will pick up the tab for operating expenses and lost profit if your business is shut down for an extended period. That can include salaries and employee benefits, rent and line-of-credit payments. It doesn’t have to be a natural disaster that shuts down the business; even losses stemming from a power outage can be covered.

Some small companies should carry special policies because of the kind of business they’re in. For example, a heavily damaged bed and breakfast that would need to restore its quaint ambience by purchasing antiques would probably need additional “guaranteed replacement” coverage.

Our risk management professionals would be happy to help you develop a comprehensive program to protect your business. Just call or e-mail us.

THE 10 COMMANDMENTS OF CELL PHONE SAFETY Cell phones and navigation devices allow drivers to stay connected and find their destinations, making them indispensable – especially for salespeople, repair personnel, and other employees who drive on the job.

However, using cell phones behind the wheel also creates liabilities – and the toll can be heavy. “Distracted driving” is the fourth most serious vehicle safety issue, according to the Network of Employers for Traffic Safety. With motor vehicle accidents the leading cause of work-related injuries, the use of cell phones and other high-tech devices by employees driving on the job leaves your business wide open to workers compensation exposures, lawsuits for deaths and injuries, and other third-party claims.

To lessen liability and help reduce accidents, it makes sense to adopt a policy on driver use of cell phones that includes these guidelines:

1. Use a headset while driving or pull over to use a hand-held cell phone.
2. Keep the phone where it’s easy to see and easy to reach.
3. Plan any calls you’ll need to make before you begin to drive; enter numbers into your speed-dialing feature.
4. Do manual dialing only when the vehicle is stopped.
5. If possible, make your calls when stopped at a stop sign, red light, or when you are otherwise stationary.
6. If possible, ask a passenger to make the call or at least dial the number for you.
7. Never take notes or look up phone numbers while driving.
8. Suspend a conversation during hazardous circumstances — for example, in heavy traffic, when maneuvering around a hazard, or in severe weather conditions.
9. While talking, keep your head up and your eyes on the road and check the side and rearview mirrors. frequently.
10. Let voice mail pick up your calls when it’s inconvenient or unsafe to answer the cell phone.

We’ve all heard the expression “24/7”and we’re likely to be hearing it more often as more countries move toward 24-hour societies. But shift work (shifts outside of the traditional 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. workday) brings with it a variety of problems for businesses: a higher rate of injuries, accidents and health-related problems; increased employee absenteeism and substance abuse; more production errors, etc. – all of which boost your insurance costs and slash your bottom line.

The good news: You can reduce or eliminate many of these problems by providing effective shift work training. “Worker lifestyle training provides measurable benefits for the company, its employees, and their families,” notes a 2007 report from Circadian Workforce Solutions. “In addition to improved alertness levels, health, and quality of life, such training can also reduce accidents, decrease legal liability, and reduce overall operating costs.” These programs can also help curb turnover; a Circadian survey found that shift training cut turnover rates by more than 4% — and replacing a single employee cost survey respondents from $12,000 to $60,000.

An effective worker lifestyle program should show your employees how to get enough rest off the job by following these guidelines:

• Always go to bed at the same time, preferably as soon as possible after work.
• Sleep in a dark, quiet room. Use room-darkening shades or drapes and turn off the phone. If people or traffic noises disturb them, try using earplugs or turning on a fan that covers the noise.
• Eat balanced, nutritious meals. Eat only light snacks before bed. Avoid food that’s heavy, rich, or spicy. Also try to stop drinking alcohol or caffeine or smoking a few hours before going to bed.
• Exercise regularly, although not in the two hours before trying to sleep. Avoid sleeping pills. In case of insomnia, consult a physician.

To maximize safety during working hours, have your employees:

• Turn on all lights in their work area and in hallways, stairways, bathrooms, etc.
• Replace or report any burned-out bulbs promptly.
• Make sure that they have adequate task lighting. If they can’t see their equipment controls, read container labels, or have similar problems, have them alert their supervisor.
• Be sure that all work areas are ventilated, and report any ventilation systems that aren’t working properly.

Every year several hundred thousand workers suffer on-the-job falls – many of them related to slipping accidents. Weather-related slips and falls are especially common during winter. Weather-related slips, trips, and falls become a serious hazard, as snowy conditions often make for wet or icy surfaces outdoors. Even wet leaves or mud can create treacherous walking conditions. And spills and leaks indoors can always lead to slips and falls anytime during the year.

Although slips and falls usually aren’t fatal, they can cause broken bones and back injuries. If an employee suffers a slip or fall injury, it could cost you lost workdays, not to mention workers’ compensation, and other medical expenses. If a visitor is injured, you could face an expensive lawsuit. To prevent or reduce slip-ups on your property, in winter and throughout the year, we’d recommend that you:

• Focus on awareness training. Short safety meetings in every department will get people thinking about slipping hazards-and taking precautions to prevent falls.
• Create a slip-free zone … inside and out. Inside, remind employees to clean up spills, drips, and leaks immediately (even a little coffee spill on the floor can cause an injury). Make sure maintenance personnel and other employees put up signs or barriers to warn people when floors are wet, slippery, or otherwise hazardous. And be sure that on wet days, somebody is assigned to put down mats near entryways to help keep floors dry. Outside, see that slippery spots are sanded or salted immediately. Encourage employees to wear sensible shoes with nonskid soles. Also remind them to wipe their feet when they come in, and to walk slowly and take smaller steps on wet or slippery surfaces.
• Encourage employees to report slippery conditions. Make sure that they know how, and to whom, to report any slipping hazards they can’t clean up effectively inside. Make it easy for them to report any slipping hazards they notice outside, on walkways, in parking lots, or anywhere else on your property; that way, maintenance can get to the scene quickly and remove the hazard before an employee or visitor slips and falls. (As a matter of course, stress that every employee must fix or report any hazardous condition that they find at your facility.)