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Business Owners Package Policy

8 Key Considerations for a Builder’s Risk Policy ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

8 Key Considerations for a Builder's Risk Policy ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​As owner of the new manufacturing facility building project, Thyme Manufacturing Co, Inc. has recently hired the project’s general contractor – Perkins Construction, Inc. In addition to developing the minimum insurance requirements to be used with Perkins Construction and its subcontractors, as Thyme’s newly appointed director of risk management, Jennifer is also responsible for arranging the insurance for the building during the course of its construction. This “course of construction” insurance is commonly known as builder’s risk insurance.

Thyme’s legal counsel has used the American Institute of Architects (AIA) construction contract documents with Perkins Construction – including the 2007 A201™ General Conditions of Construction.1 Of particular interest to Jennifer is Article 11.3 entitled “Property Insurance” – as this section will serve as Jennifer’s starting point to determine Thyme’sminimum builder’s risk insurance requirements.

Who Purchases Builder’s Risk?
Because of its market clout Perkins may be able to obtain the builder’s risk insurance for the benefit of Thyme at either a lower cost or with better coverage terms – charging any premium for the insurance back to Thyme. While the option of having the general contractor purchase the builder’s risk is permitted under the AIA A201™- 2007, Thyme opts to purchase the builder’s risk coverage itself. Thyme’s owner Justin concludes that Thyme should control the builder’s risk insurance because the new facility represents such a large investment by Thyme – Justin directs Jennifer to purchase builder’s risk insurance directly.

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How to Onboard and Train Employees into a Safety Culture

How to Onboard and Train Employees into a Safety CultureOnce you attract and hire qualified job candidates to your open positions, having an onboarding and training process can help employees work safely and effectively. A continuous onboarding program will help orient employees not only to the functional details of employment, such as appropriate safety procedures, but also to the safety culture of the organization.

Employee retention strategies, such as onboarding and training programs, can also help protect the considerable time and expense invested in recruiting and hiring new employees. According to the Institute for Research on Labor and Employment (IRLE) at the University of California at Berkeley, the costs of replacing an employee are approximately 9% of an employee’s annual wage. In addition to any lost productivity and institutional knowledge, those costs include recruitment, selection, the costs of learning on the job and any separation costs.Read More »How to Onboard and Train Employees into a Safety Culture

Insurance for Apartments

Insurance for High Hazard Apartments and CondosCalifornia recently passed legislation that prohibits insurance carriers from considering level or source of income of residential-tenants in the underwriting evaluation of apartment risks.
Therefore, admitted insurance carriers will no longer approve, issue or renew an apartment policy (insurance for apartments) based on information related to a tenant’s level or source of income, including receipt of government subsidies. In the same time, many policyholders are considered to be higher hazard and thus can’t get a decent insurance protection. For example, a high hazard operations for an apartment building would include:Read More »Insurance for Apartments

Anatomy Of Effective Craigslist Advertising

Your_ad_on_CraigslistWhen it comes to affordable advertising, your local Craigslist site has the potential to give you plenty of bang for your buck. In fact, many service oriented businesses depend almost entirely on the classified site for business. It’s free, it’s easy to update, and, for many businesses, it works for generating leads.
Like all aspects of your overall advertising plan, Craigslist marketing requires some forethought and strategy. That said, it shouldn’t be very time-consuming if done correctly: you can spend as low as 15 minutes a week on your Craigslist campaign.

Anatomy Of Effective Craigslist Advertising

Your Craigslist advertisement should include the following:Read More »Anatomy Of Effective Craigslist Advertising

Commercial Kitchen Fire Safety

commercial grade kitchen equipmentOperation of a commercial grade kitchen, many safety considerations should be addressed, including food safety, employee and volunteer safety, and fire safety. This blog post addresses the specific issues associated with providing adequate fire safety for your kitchen.

Commercial cooking operations are defined as kitchens that have cooking equipment that produce grease and grease laden vapors. This includes flat grills, char broilers and deep fat fryers. The typical residential range (electric or gas) would not be considered a grease producing appliance. Other equipment, such as ovens, microwaves and steam kettles also fall into the non-grease producing appliance category. The following is information regarding two of the most common types of equipment that produce grease and/or grease laden vapors.

Deep Fat Fryers

Deep fat fryers are a major cause of kitchen fires. Oil can splash and easily come into contact with an open flame from an adjacent piece of cooking equipment, such as a gas-fired range top. A 18-inch clearance must be maintained between the deep fat fryer and the open flame cooking equipment. If a 18-inch clearance is not possible, a vertical steel barrier extending 12 inches above the top of the deep fat fryer or open flame appliance(s) can be used as an alternative means of protection.Read More »Commercial Kitchen Fire Safety

Tips for avoiding slip, trip and fall accidents

Slips, trips and falls are a leading cause of injury for businesses and workplaces. Employees and other parties on your premises – visitors, customers, vendors, contractors and subcontractors – could be at risk for this type of accident or injury.

It is a common misconception that slip and fall injuries “just happen” and that there is little that can be done to prevent them. Years of experience show that proper slip, trip and fall prevention can help in reducing the number of injuries and in reducing loss costs.

Slips-Trips-Falls

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Preparing your business for potential holiday hazards

prepare businessMenorahs and Christmas trees light up Main Streets across America during the holidays, but there are risks associated with these decorations. Risk management professionals and insurance agents can help business owners understand how to keep their stores festive yet hazard free during the holidays.

The holidays usually bring several things to a small business – more foot traffic, celebratory decorations and additional staff to help with boosted sales.  However, with added customers and distractions, slips and trips are never far away. So when getting into the holiday spirit, you should make safety a priority.Read More »Preparing your business for potential holiday hazards

Ladder safety best practices

Ladder SafetyLadder safety should start before even stepping foot on one. The improper use of a ladder, or using an object other than a ladder to reach an item, can result in serious injury due to over – reaching or falling. Statistics suggest that workers are more likely to abuse and misuse ladders rather than use them correctly in the workplace.

There are a number of factors that must be considered when working with ladders, and following key practices of ladder safety can help prevent a potential injury.Read More »Ladder safety best practices

Get Liability Insurance for Holiday Lights

Whether you are a main street business owner in Buffalo, N.Y.’s or small cafe in San Francisco, CA don’t wait for the city threatening to pull the plug on a holiday tradition. You better not take your chances and plug holiday light displays into street light poles unless you hire licensed electricians to do the work and take out liability insurance of at least $1 million. Putting up festive holiday lights is a tradition for owners of the shops, restaurants and other businesses along the U.S. Many of us string the lights in trees and plug them into sockets on… Read More »Get Liability Insurance for Holiday Lights

New is Well Forgotten Old

California Woman Sues McDonald’s Over Coffee Burns. She says she suffered second-degree burns when she spilled hot coffee on her lap at the drive-up window of a McDonald’s has filed suit against the fast-food chain. The Fresno Bee reported she seeks more than $2 million in damages. If a settlement isn’t reached, her lawyer said they plan to present their case to a Fresno jury. In 1992, a similar case made national headlines. A New Mexico woman who said she was burned by McDonald’s coffee was awarded $2.9 million.