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| Off-the-job injuries are your business |
Businesses have made great strides over the years in preventing on-the-job injuries through a variety of methods, including improved equipment and training. But many business owners fail to recognize the impact off-the-job injuries have on their bottom line and that there are some things they can do to prevent them.
The National Safety Council estimates that off-the-job injuries and deaths cost U.S. businesses almost $200 billion a year in lost productivity. In fact, nine out of 10 unintentional injury deaths and two-thirds of disabling injuries occurred off the job in 2005, the council reported. Despite these statistics, many owners and managers are hesitant to try to limit off-the-job injuries. They believe that what employees do on their own time isn't the company's business and that there is little that can be done to prevent injuries that occur off the clock. And while it is true that a business has much less ability to prevent injuries that occur off the job, there are some effective things they can do to help ensure their employees come back for their next shift.
According to the safety council, the five leading causes of death caused by injury in 2005 were car accidents, falls, poisoning, choking and drowning. Many businesses already have programs to help prevent these kinds of accidents on the job, and simple modifications to injury prevention training programs can help workers stay safe at home, too. Adding the Heimlich maneuver to safety training could help prevent choking deaths. And providing the driver training materials many businesses give to those who drive company vehicles to those who don't could help reduce off-the-job car crashes.
These statistics also provide more ammunition for those who promote company wellness programs. Healthy, fit workers are much less likely to be injured in at-home falls -- that is especially true of older employees. Research has consistently shown that an increase in physical activity helps older people avoid falls and recover from them more quickly than they otherwise would. Providing confidential referrals for substance abuse problems is something else that should be considered. The most common type of off-the-job accident is a car accident, and the most common cause of car accidents is alcohol and drug use.
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| Fire season is here, are you ready? |
The National Interagency Fire Center is predicting increased fire danger this summer across much of the Southwest and California, portions of the Great Basin, Northern Rockies, Northwest, Alaska and the Southeast. The center pointed to three primary reasons for the high wildfire potential:
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Drought: It has been a dry winter across large portions of the West and Southeast.
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Early Fire Season Onset: Low snowpack, warmer than normal forecast temperatures, and early snow melt over most of the West will likely dry out trees and cause early growth of grasses.
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Active Grassland Fire Season: Abundant fine fuels across much of the West are expected to grow and die early.
If your business is in an area vulnerable to wildfires there are some things you can do to protect your property.
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The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection recommends that you clear any brush or low-hanging trees within 30 feet of any buildings. They also recommend that you thin any trees or shrubs within 100 feet. This creates a "defensible space" that firefighters can use to protect your property in the event of a fire.
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In wildfires, many buildings catch fire when hot embers land on the roof. This makes your roof the first line of defense in a wildfire. The department recommends that your roof and gutters be clear of leaves or anything that could catch fire. They also say that any trees overhanging your roof should be cut. In the long-term, they also advise those in vulnerable areas to consider installing a fire-resistant roof.
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Some of those who suffered through the recent heavy rains in the Northeast are learning the hard way how important it is to make sure you're fully covered in the event of a disaster. While the storm caused extensive water damage to some homes and businesses, flooding also caused sewage to back up into houses and businesses through drain pipes. These backups not only cause damage that is difficult and expensive to repair, but also create health hazards, according to the Insurance Information Institute, an industry trade group. Worst of all, most flood insurance policies don't cover sewer back-ups unless specific back-up coverage is added to the policy.
"Obtaining an insurance rider on a homeowners or business policy would cover such damage if it occurs," said Loretta Worters, vice president at the trade group. "Sewer backup coverage is available from most insurers for a nominal cost - usually $40-$50 on an annual insurance policy."
Something else to keep in mind is that most businesses and homeowners are responsible for the maintenance and repair of the sewer line that extends from the street into the home or business.
Some tips from the Insurance Information Institute to prevent sewer backups:
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Dispose of Grease Properly: Cooking oil should not be poured down the drain. Washing grease down the drain with hot water can cause significant problems. As the grease cools off, it will solidify causing the line to constrict and eventually clog.
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Dispose of Paper Products Properly: Paper products other than bathroom tissue can cause many problems because they do not deteriorate quickly.
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Replace your line with new plastic pipe: One way to prevent tree roots from entering your line is to replace your line and tap with new plastic pipe. If you still have problems with tree roots growing in your lateral, you may have to have roots cut periodically.
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Install a Backwater Prevention Valve: A backwater valve is a fixture installed into a sewer line, and sometimes into a drain line, in the basement of your home or business to prevent sewer backflows. A properly installed and maintained backwater valve allows sewage to go out, but not to come back in.
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| Cost of risk continues to fall |
The total cost of insuring risk across the insurance industry was down in 2006, despite some sharp increases in catastrophe-exposed coastal regions, according to the Risk and Insurance Management Society. The average total cost of risk fell by 9.2 percent for all survey participants, though there was wide variation. Much of the decline seen throughout the industry was offset to a large measure by continued costs associated with Hurricane Katrina and Rita in the Gulf Coast region. The industry also used the lessons it learned in those catastrophes to re-evaluate the cost of a major earthquake in California, which also pushed costs up.
But outside of those areas, prices have continued to fall as they have for much of the last three years.
Workers compensation led the way as costs fell again in 2006, driven substantially by reform measures in several large states.
"Falling insurance costs continue to be driven by rapidly accumulating policyholders' surplus, the measure of 'supply' in the insurance 'supply and demand' equation," said David Bradford, editor-in-chief of Advisen, which helped collect and analyze the data. "The insurance industry recorded a profit in 2005, in spite of record catastrophe losses, which further fueled competition in 2006, leading to a sharp decrease in total cost of risk. Absent unusually severe natural catastrophe losses, accumulating surplus should continue to exert downward pressure on insurance costs in 2007."
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| Expanding waistlines, shrinking profits |
Workers' expanding waistlines can be bad for your bottom line, a new study from Duke University Medical Center shows. Duke found that obese workers filed twice as many workers compensation claims, had seven times higher medical costs from those claims and lost 13 times more days of work from work injury or work illness than did non-obese workers.
"We all know obesity is bad for the individual, but it isn't solely a personal medical problem -- it spills over into the workplace and has concrete economic costs," said Truls Ostbye, a professor of community and family medicine at Duke University.
The study focused on more than 11,000 university employees -- from administrative assistants to groundskeepers -- that the researchers said represent a broad range of those in the workforce at large.
"Given the strong link between obesity and workers' compensation costs, maintaining healthy weight is not only important to workers but should also be a high priority for employers," Ostbye said. "Work-based programs designed to target healthful eating and physical activity should be developed and then evaluated as part of a strategy to make all workplaces healthier and safer."
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| Business briefs: Tornados in Jersey |
It turns out, the Great Plains is getting a bad rap. While the "Tornado Alley" gets more tornados, surprisingly, catastrophe modeling shows that New Jersey tops the list of the states with the highest average expected insured losses per 1,000 square miles from tornado and related weather events, followed by Connecticut, Massachusetts, Ohio and Rhode Island. Tornadoes have occurred in all 50 states; however, the high average loss rates in those five states are affected heavily by insured property values in addition to the frequency of the storms, according to a report from A.M. Best Co.
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| Business briefs: Rolling the dice in Vegas |
Parking your car in Las Vegas is a gamble you might not want to take. A recent report by the National Insurance Crime Bureau showed the metropolitan area that includes Sin City has the highest per capita number of car thefts in the United States. More than 22,000 cars were stolen there in 2005. That is 1,310 thefts for every 100,000 residents -- almost 30 percent more than the runner up area, Stockton, Calif. Outside of Las Vegas, five of the top 10 metropolitan areas for car theft were found in California's Central Valley, and all of the top 10 were in the Western states of California, Nevada, Arizona or Washington. But if you're looking for a safe place to leave your car, there is no safer place than State College, Penn. The home of Penn State University recorded only 59 thefts in 2005, about 42 thefts per 100,000 residents.
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| Business briefs: D&O demand grows |
There was a huge spike in demand for directors and officers liability insurance among potential board members of both public and private companies last year, according to the D&O Liability 2006 Survey on Insurance Purchasing and Claims Trends conducted by Towers Perrin. More than 66 percent of respondents reported receiving inquiries, up 16 percent from 2005. And more and more of that coverage is coming in the form of Side-A policies. Side-A coverage provides directors and officers with personal liability protection when the company can't or won't cover them. "For the first time, a study is confirming a significant change in how companies are protecting directors and officers from personal liability," said Michael Turk, a senior consultant with Towers Perrin. "While Side A-only coverage has been growing in popularity over the last few years, we now have data to show just how prevalent the coverage has become."
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| Business briefs: Accident response fee ban |
The Indiana General Assembly has passed a ban on charging accident response fees. Pending the governor's signature, it will make Indiana the first state in the country to have such a law. The fees are charged to motorists by some municipalities when firefighters or police responded to an accident. Since insurers often don't cover the fees, drivers were sometimes left with mysterious bills that could come to several hundred dollars. Insurers and some consumer groups have come out against the fees, saying that emergency response should be covered by ordinary taxes and that such fees discourage people from reporting accidents and might even encourage drivers to leave the scene of an accident. "Hoosiers pay property taxes and other taxes to pay for these basic services," Insurance Institute of Indiana President Steve Williams said. "These vendors push some towns to bill their citizens again. This is not appropriate."
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