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July is Eye Injury Prevention Month

Did you know that an estimated 1,000 eye injuries occur in American workplaces every day? The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) found that almost 70 percent of the eye injuries studied occur from falling or flying objects, or sparks striking the eye. The BLS also reports that approximately three out of every five workers injured were either not wearing eye protection at the time of the accident or wearing the wrong kind of eye protection for the job. Become our customer with Travelers Insurance Companies and gain access to exclusive Risk Control portal which has a variety of resources, including technical… Read More »July is Eye Injury Prevention Month

Report: New Emerging Risks

Report New Emerging RisksSwiss Re has released a report – ”New emerging risk insights,” which is based on the reinsurer’s SONAR process, described as a “unique tool which uses Swiss Re’s internal risk management expertise to observe and evaluate new and emerging risks.”

Some of the other emerging risks examined in the SONAR report includes the following:

  • Cloud computing security
  • Contagious emerging market crisis
  • Eurozone crisis leading to deflation
  • Short-termism of macro-policy measures
  • Air pollution as mortality driver
  • Concussion crisis in sports
  • Democratisation of genetic testing
  • Digital slander
  • E-cigarettes
  • Financial consumer protection regulation
  • From closed to open business models
  • Food and water safety: trade-offs with growthRead More »Report: New Emerging Risks

Swimming Pool Insurance and Risk Management Guide

Summer is just around the corner. Weather permitted and people are rushing to swimming pools for fun, workout, recreation. If your facility manages swimming pool (including HOAs), take a moment to review this guide as using swimming pools and spas involves a certain amount of risk. You do not want an accident to spoil the good times patrons have come to expect. Fortunately, most accidents can be prevented, but it takes a great deal of responsibility and diligence on your part.Managing a swimming facility is complex, so this guide is not intended to provide all the answers regarding swimming pool… Read More »Swimming Pool Insurance and Risk Management Guide

How to Reduce Liabilities and Lower Health Plan Expenses for Public Entities

Public Entities Struggle to Meet Obligations
From the local to the state level, the days when governments could hike taxes to raise needed funds are mostly a memory. In the wake of the Great Recession, entities from school districts to cities and counties continue to struggle, and governments are finding it difficult to ask more from a shrinking tax base. In this environment, almost three dozen municipalities haved filed for bankruptcy since 2010. The latest filing was the largest.

In late February, officials in Detroit detailed a plan to exit the largest municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history, looking to restructure $18 billion in debt. According to The Wall Street Journal, employee and retiree pension and healthcare obligations accounted for about $7 billion of that debt — almost 40 percent of the city’s total. Short of bailing on these obligations —The Journal estimates Detroit’s public employees will have to settle for as little as 30 percent of what was initially promised — there are still ways to survive in this environment.Read More »How to Reduce Liabilities and Lower Health Plan Expenses for Public Entities

Office Ergonomics – Working Comfortably

Introduction

Office ergonomicsOffice ergonomic improvements involve the application of basic workplace principles to address a worker’s discomfort, chronic pain or repetitive motion injuries. Good ergonomics does not always mean obtaining new furniture and equipment. A large part of ergonomics and comfort involves workstation organization, equipment orientation and work habits. This bulletin reviews equipment and materials that typically are used in a computer workstation and provides suggestions to minimize the risk of injuries.
Musculoskeletal disorders such as tendonitis and carpal tunnel syndrome can result from improperly positioned equipment that creates stressful working postures. Symptoms can include pain and swelling, numbness and tingling (hands “falling asleep”), loss of muscle strength, and reduced range of joint motion. If you have any of these symptoms, report them to your supervisor as soon as possible. If these symptoms are not treated early, they may result in discomfort in the affected area, chronic pain or injury.

Chair

Chairs can be crucial in preventing back pain, as well as in improving employee performance in office work. As the majority of office workers spend most of their time sitting, a properly designed and adjustable chair is critical.

Features of a good chair:

1. Seat pan adjusts up and down quickly and easily. The chair height is correct when the entire sole of the foot can rest on the floor or footrest and the back of the knee is slightly higher than the seat of the chair.
2. Seat pan should be slightly concave with a softly padded, rounded or “waterfall” front edge. Select alternate seat pan and seat back sizes for large or small employees.
3. Seat back easily adjusts forward and back and up and down, with full lumbar contour. The fullest part of the contour should be positioned in the small of the back, near the waistline.
4. Chair arms adjust up and down and in and out from body. Position chair arms so they support forearms in and near the sides, with elbows only slightly forward from the hipbones. If both features are not an option, eliminate armrests.
5. Five legs or casters for stable support.Read More »Office Ergonomics – Working Comfortably

Meat Tenderizer Safety

Meat Tenderizer SafetyA meat tenderizer is used in nearly every grocery store, and when used properly, they are safe and reliable. But when a machine is in poor repair, or when the built-in safety devices are removed or circumvented, the result is all too often catastrophic. Over the years we have observed a number of situations where tenderizers have been rigged or modified to operate without the protective guard in place.
Read More »Meat Tenderizer Safety

Small Businesses Must Prep for Flu Season

For small businesses, productivity and operations can be negatively affected by the flu as employees stay home, or are urged to stay home, to limit the threat of spreading flu to others. In order to help reduce the potential spread of the flu virus and maintain business operations, small business owners should develop a comprehensive flu contingency plan before the start of flu season to minimize the impact of illness on their bottom lines.

Below are five elements to consider:

1. Educate employees on steps to help reduce the spread of the flu.

Small businesses should develop a short document that educates employees on how the flu virus is spread and circulate it widely. Below are a few items to include:

  • Flu viruses spread in respiratory droplets through person-to-person or other close contact.
  • Cover your mouth and nose when you sneeze or cough to help prevent spreading of the virus.
  • If you are around people who are sick, avoid close contact to reduce the chance of getting their illness.
  • Keep your hands clean, washing them regularly with soap and water for at least 20 seconds.
  • Avoid touching your eyes, nose or mouth because they are entry points into your body for germs.

Read More »Small Businesses Must Prep for Flu Season

Achieving Risk Management Excellence

2014 Risk Management ExcellenceAs we are advancing in 2014, it is a good time to pause for a minute and evaluate the effectiveness of our programs. With the myriad of tasks that comprise the risk management function, contract review and insurance certificate monitoring are often a large consumer of time and resources. Be on the cutting edge and take a diligent yet pragmatic approach to balancing compliance enforcement with the resources available to monitor it.

First, don’t outsource the certificate management to a 3rd party. We have been dealing with multiple companies like Compliance Depot and it is usually a quite negative experience: sometimes I feel like there is a robot sitting on the other side of the line and follows very strict but obsolete rules. In my opinion, you won’t gain much by paying for such services. Instead, some organizations can go decades without ever tendering a liability claim to a contractor’s insurer. Given these statistics, justifying certificate monitoring costs can be daunting. Though, the cost of such a claim, if it were to happen, can be tremendous and could instantaneously justify the expenditures. How can you deal with this challenge?Read More »Achieving Risk Management Excellence

Introduction to Business Continuity Planning

Each year, businesses and organizations are affected by man-made and natural events and disasters. Market competition and the fast pace of business demands that companies be prepared to respond to these events to help prevent or reduce business interruption and loss. These events run the gamut from fires, explosions, weather-related and other natural disasters to man-made events, including terrorism, data theft, cyber attacks on computer systems and networks, extended power outages and critical equipment breakdown. Major events can cause extensive disruption and damage to business and business operations. In a highly competitive, global economy, the inability of organizations to respond quickly and continuously to an adverse event could mean that consumers, clients and customers go elsewhere. Loss of customers, market share, and extended down times can result in your businesses never reopening. The importance of business continuity planning, that is, a continuous process and plan to identify the impacts of events and potential losses and ensure viable recovery strategies and continuity of services, cannot be overstated.

An organization’s business continuity plan should be an integral part of its operating strategy and part of its overall business planning process. It is not a “one-shot” project or one-time activity. Rather, it is an integral part of an effective business strategy. It requires a pre-defined, thoughtful approach and planning ahead. A well-executed and practiced business continuity plan is not only intended to help organizations recover and return to operations as quickly as possible. It also can be an important defense in reducing the overall impact on its business.
This guide is a high-level introduction to core business continuity planning concepts. Companies should tailor their own plan to their particular situation and needs.

Read More »Introduction to Business Continuity Planning

Top 10 Corporate Risks in 2014

corporate risksBusiness interruption (BI) and supply chain, natural catastrophes and fire/explosion top the list of company risks in 2014, according to the 3rd Annual Allianz Risk Barometer, which surveyed over 400 corporate insurance experts from 33 countries.

The survey highlights the increasing complexity of business risks, including a combination of new technological, economic and regulatory related risks, potentially creating a systemic threat for businesses and suggests that companies can respond to these growing challenges through stronger internal controls, combined with a holistic approach to risk management.

Read More »Top 10 Corporate Risks in 2014