Skip to main content
search
Monthly Archives

June 2009

Jun 01
Love0

TAKING A SHORTCUT MIGHT MEAN SACRIFICING SAFETY

By Workplace Safety

On the jobsite, most of us want to complete our work in the shortest amount of time possible. Of course, it’s always great to find new ways to finish your daily tasks at rapid speed. Unfortunately, too many workers sacrifice safety simply so they can wrap up their day more quickly.

When we were children, we often took shortcuts because we just weren’t patient enough to take the extra time to do things the safe way. For example, instead of walking all the way around a yard to get to the gate, a kid might decide to jump the fence instead. This obviously isn’t the safest choice, but the kid decides he’d rather take the risk so he can get where he’s going more quickly and with the least amount of effort.

Even after we reach adulthood, many of us continue to think and act this way. For example, we might decide to cross the street in a high-traffic area instead of taking 30 more seconds to walk down a block to the crosswalk. Crossing a busy street is a dangerous (and illegal) shortcut — but we do it either to save time or because we’re just lazy.

The lesson here is that the shortest or quickest way to accomplish a task is not always the safest way. Generally, the safe way of completing something takes more time and effort. In other words, there are no shortcuts to safety.

Just think about these scenarios:

  • An electrician named John is up on a ladder finishing up a job. He needs to reach a part of the ceiling that’s about four feet to his right to connect one last wire before he’s done for the day. Instead of climbing down, shifting the ladder to the spot where he needs to work and then climbing back up, he decides to take a shortcut to save some time. He stretches his arm as far to the right as he can reach to grab onto the wire. As he reaches over, he loses his balance. He slips and tumbles to the concrete floor below, and the ladder falls on top of him, badly cutting his head. He spends the rest of the night in the ER and ends up with 30 stitches in his forehead.
  • Stacy’s boss asks her to finish up her day chipping some concrete. Stacy isn’t sure where the safety goggles are located, and she doesn’t feel like hunting them down. She knows the job will only take her about an hour, so she gets to work so she can wrap up her day early. As she’s chipping away, a fragment of concrete flies through the air, hits her in the eye and scratches her cornea. Stacy temporarily loses visibility in her right eye and is forced to take two weeks off from work to recover.

Both of these workers knew they were putting themselves at risk by taking these shortcuts. However, they both convinced themselves it was worth the risk because they were in a hurry and ready to get home. In the end, they both ended up hurt — and they actually lost more time than they gained.

When you take shortcuts on the job, you might be able to avoid danger most of the time. But every time you make an unsafe choice to save time, you’re rolling the dice. If you keep taking these gambles, one of these days you’re going to lose. That’s why you should never take shortcuts on the job. It’s always worth a little extra time and effort to do things the right way and the safe way.

Jun 01
Love0

IN TOUGH ECONOMY, CONSUMERS CUT BACK ON HEALTHCARE

By Employment Resources

In addition to anxiety and stress, the toll today’s troubling economy is taking on individual health can be seen in the cutbacks people are making in obtaining health care and prescription drugs. Many people are foregoing medical visits and services, choosing not to fill prescriptions, and dosing filled prescriptions in ways to make them last longer.

Several recent surveys document this worrisome trend:

  • A survey of consumers by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners found that 22% have reduced the number of times they see a doctor as a result of the economy, and 11% have cut back on the number of prescription drugs they take or have adjusted the dosage of their medications to make a prescription last longer.
  • The Kaiser Family Foundation’s first tracking poll for 2009 found that more than half (53%) of Americans say their household has cut back on health care in the past 12 months, due to cost concerns. Steps taken include relying on home remedies and over-the-counter drugs rather than visiting a doctor (35%), delaying seeking needed health care services (27%), skipping a recommended medical test or treatment (23%), not filling a prescription (21%), and cutting pills in half or skipping doses to make a prescription last longer (15%).
  • A survey from Consumer Reports found that nearly 70% of respondents had taken steps to “afford” their prescription drugs over the past year, and 28% did so in a way that had potentially harmful health effects. These measures included failing to fill a prescription (16%), skipping a dose (16%), taking an expired medication (11%), cutting pills in half (10%), and sharing a prescription (4%). Individuals under the age of 65 without prescription drug coverage were most likely to engage in such risky behavior in an attempt to control their costs.

That consumers have cut back on prescription drug spending is reflected in data from IMS Health, which reports that prescription drug sales in the United States grew only 1.3% in 2008. This is down from the 3.8% sales growth seen in 2007, a figure that was considered low at the time — the lowest growth rate since 1961 — and down from a rate of 8% in 2006.

Although everyone is concerned about getting health care and prescription drug spending under control, no one wants to do that in ways that endanger individual health or lead to the worsening of a chronic condition, requiring added intervention and spending down the road. When it comes to prescription drugs, consumers can stretch their health care dollars by using generics. However, according to Consumer Reports, nearly half of consumers harbor reservations about generics: 27% say generics have different side effects than their name brand counterparts, 22% believe they aren’t as effective, 18% believe they don’t meet the same federal standards, and 16% say they just aren’t safe. These misconceptions must be recognized, battled and corrected if generics are to achieve their potential in aiding prescription drug cost control in a safe and appropriate way.

Jun 01
Love0

CONSUMER-DIRECTED HEALTH PLANS: WHAT’S FACT AND WHAT’S FICTION

By Employment Resources

Though participation in consumer-directed health plans is growing, only a small percentage of employees join these plans, and even fewer set up health savings accounts (HSAs). According to a survey from the Employee Benefit Research Institute, in 2008, 3% of the insured population, or 4.2 million individuals, were enrolled in a consumer-directed health plan, defined as an HSA paired with a high deductible health plan (HDHP). More — 11%, or 13.4 million individuals — were enrolled in an HDHP, and of these, 42% were eligible to contribute to an HSA, but chose not to do so.

Misunderstanding the mechanics of HSAs and ignorance of their potential advantages keep many people who are eligible for an HSA from seriously considering opening an account. Similarly, employees who have a consumer-directed health plan option might see the high deductible feature as offsetting, and not consider other advantages of the plan. If your company offers employees the opportunity to participate in a consumer-directed health plan, or if you are considering making this opportunity available, it’s important that employees understand how these plans work, so those for whom they are appropriate can benefit from this form of health care coverage.

Here’s a quick rundown of a few common consumer-directed health plan and HSA fictions, along with the clarifying facts.

  • Fiction: The only reason an employer implements a consumer-directed health plan is to shift health care costs to employees. Fact: An employer makes an investment in a consumer-directed plan, just as it does with a traditional plan. Though the premium cost might be less for the employer, it is less for the employees’ share, too, and many employees would rather pay less for health care upfront (the premium) and the bulk of their costs at the time of service. Consumer-directed plans really represent an expansion of health plan choices for employees.
  • Fiction: Since they’re paired with a HDHP, HSAs only make sense for individuals who are young and healthy. Fact: An HDHP-HSA pairing provides comprehensive health care coverage at an affordable price for individuals with all sorts of medical needs. Though the HDHP deductible is higher than that found in more traditional plans, the premium is lower as a result. So, even if the account holder must dip into the HSA to pay for expenses that would be covered at an earlier point by a more traditional plan, this must be balanced against the premium savings. Also, as noted below, most preventive care is not subject to the deductible and can be covered at 100% by the HDHP.
  • Fiction: Because of the HDHP high deductible, HSA funds are quickly depleted; even for individuals with only basic health care expenses, an HSA account holder is unlikely to have any funds left to roll over at the end of the year. Fact: For many individuals, the bulk of their medical expenses consists of preventive care, and HDHPs can cover preventive health care expenses at 100% before the deductible. Depending on plan design, such expenses can include well-baby and well-child doctors’ visits and immunizations; adult physical exams and immunizations; and routine adult screenings, such as mammograms, Pap smears, prostate screenings and colonoscopies.
  • Fiction: Unless you can predict your annual health care expenses accurately, you stand a chance of losing the money you contribute to an HSA. Fact: HSA funds that are unused in one year — whether they represent the contributions of the account holder or employer — carry over, and can be used to pay for health care expenses incurred in future years, even in retirement.

Resolving the confusion surrounding these and other consumer-directed health plan misconceptions can help employees better understand and appreciate the potential benefits of participating in these plans.

Jun 01
Love0

WHAT DRIVES THE COST OF A PRESCRIPTION DRUG?

By Employment Resources

Prescription drug costs continue to be one of the fastest growing components of total health care costs. According to a 2008 report from the Kaiser Family Foundation, spending in the United States for prescription drugs in 2006 was $216.7 billion, more than five times what it was in 1990. Though spending for prescription drugs was one-third of that for hospitals and half of that for doctors’ services, the annual rate of increase for spending on prescription drugs has exceeded that for these other services in all but one of the last 11 years.

Nearly half (44%) of spending for prescription drugs is paid for by private insurance. Since employers are the principal source of health insurance coverage in the United States, they fund a major portion of the spending for prescription drugs. Therefore, it’s worthwhile for employers to understand the factors that go into the ultimate cost of the prescription drugs that are paid for, in part, by employee benefit plans.

When a new drug is first brought to market, the company that developed it enjoys some patent protection for the drug, which gives that company the exclusive right to sell that drug in the market for a certain period of time. This protection is intended to help pharmaceutical companies recover some of the cost of drug research and development, which can be substantial. By providing patent protection for a period of time, companies are encouraged to take the financial risk associated with new drug development. Only after the patent protection has expired can competitors bring lower-cost generic versions of the same drug to market.

When a company develops a new drug, it decides what price to charge for it, taking into account factors such as the research and development costs associated with the drug; whether other, different drugs with similar therapeutic effects are available; market demand; the current economic and competitive climate; and advertising costs and marketing strategy. While in some other countries governments play an active role in setting the prices for prescription drugs, this is not the case in the United States.

The price a drug manufacturer sets for its product is just the first piece of the equation that determines what the drug ultimately costs at the time it is dispensed to the consumer. Health plans and pharmacy benefits managers (PBMs) will negotiate with pharmaceutical manufacturers for discounts and rebates on their prescription drug products. The success of such negotiations and size of incentives achieved can vary significantly depending on a number of factors, including the utilization volume of the plan/PBM for the manufacturer’s products, placement of the manufacturer’s products on a plan formulary or preferred drug list, etc. Health plans and PBMs also can save costs by trying to achieve savings at the pharmacy level of the prescription drug distribution chain. This can be done by establishing networks of preferred pharmacies that agree to accept an established reimbursement rate in exchange for being included in the network, and by setting up or working with mail-order pharmacies.

Though these factors that establish the price of a prescription drug are out of an employer’s hands, there are things that any company with a prescription drug benefit can do to have some impact on what prescription drugs will ultimately cost the plan. Effective plan designs that encourage the use of generics and other preferred medications and that succeed in getting employees to use preferred and mail-order pharmacies can dramatically lower plan spending on prescription drugs. Working with a PBM or health plan that is proven effective with these strategies can be key in getting the most for your prescription drug dollar.

Jun 01
Love0

TELEPHONE FRAUD: FIGHT BACK!

By Risk Management Bulletin

Phone fraud costs American businesses billions of dollars every year. How much is it costing you?

Although computer hackers might break into telephone systems for thrills, thousands of criminals make a living at it by selling their services to “retailers,” who offer stolen phone-access numbers to drug traffickers or illegal immigrants.

To protect your business against phone fraud, experts recommend taking these basic proactive measures:

  • Adopt a prevention program. Use the security measures that your system provides and change passwords and/or access codes frequently.
  • Block calls to countries where you don’t do business. Most phone thieves are interested in making international calls.
  • Eliminate direct inward system access or remote access systems, which allow employees working remotely to access an outbound line with an 800 number. Issue phone credit cards instead.
  • Review call-accounting reports to identify fraudulent usage. Check for repeated failed password attempts, long calls, calls after certain hours, and other patterns.
  • Secure your voice mailbox and auto-answer attendant system to prevent an inbound caller from getting an outside line via these automated devices. Change passwords to access mailboxes monthly.
  • Discuss security measures with your long-distance phone carrier. The phone company might have informational materials for your staff.
  • Educate all employees about phone fraud. Instruct your switchboard operator not to transfer incoming calls to an outside operator. Make sure that employees working on the road don’t have anyone listening or watching when they read or key in their calling-card number. Tell employees not to give their PIN to any caller (phone companies never call customers to verify a PIN).
  • If you have a PBX system, do a monthly security audit and check authorization codes. Consider buying a PBX protection package that can help you monitor potentially fraudulent activity, such as repeated searches for a dial tone, and can limit your liability for unauthorized calls. You might be eligible for a discount on toll-fraud insurance if you have a PBX security package.
  • Buy Toll Fraud insurance. If you have a PBX security package, you might be eligible for a discount.

Our specialists can help you create a comprehensive phone fraud protection program. Just give is a call.

Jun 01
Love0

THE WHY OF DRY EYE SYNDROME

By Risk Management Bulletin

With the coming of summer, more and more workplaces will be turning up their air conditioning — and that might well trigger an outbreak of “dry eye syndrome” (DES) among your employees. The symptoms of DES include redness, itching, extreme sensitivity to light, excessive tearing, and a scratchy or filmy sensation in the eye.

More and more cases have been cropping up in the working population, with the condition becoming so common that it’s easy to ignore. Some 9 million to 10 million Americans have been diagnosed with chronic DES, while millions of others suffer occasional symptoms. The American Academy of Ophthalmology reports a “staggering” increase in DES, with one ophthalmologist treating an average of 10 cases a day, mostly caused by prolonged exposure to air conditioning systems.

The cases are concentrated in specific work environments. Research by the National Women’s Health Research Center shows a strong percentage of cases among accountants, software engineers, executive assistants, and customer service reps — all professions tied to computer screens in air-conditioned offices. This conclusion dovetails with a survey which found that of some 300 workers suffering from DES, more than two in three reported that their work involved extensive computer use in air conditioned (or low humidity heated) workspaces.

However, the problem is also found outside the office, among such groups as long haul truckers and airline flight crews that spend their workdays in confined, highly air-conditioned spaces, with little influx of fresh outside air.

As summer heat forces many of us to spend more time indoors and motivates building engineers to turn up the air conditioning, your workers might be increasingly vulnerable to DES — leading to lost work time and falling productivity. It makes sense to educate employees about this exposure. Let them know that although the symptoms are unpleasant, painful, or frightening, the condition is usually easy to treat. You can also take such preventive measures as varying the temperature and giving workers breaks in areas with the air conditioning turned down.

For guidelines on dealing with DES in the workplace, please get in touch with us.

Jun 01
Love0

SIX WAYS TO DEAL WITH WORKPLACE MOLD

By Risk Management Bulletin

Exposure to mold remains a hot topic in workplace safety and health. Experts recommend these guidelines for handling this widespread exposure:

  • You can’t avoid it! Mold is present on all types of surfaces, and even in the air. Because mold is a living organism (fungus), it’s in a constant state of flux: Growing, reproducing, and dying.
  • Dry out the problem. Because a lack of moisture will limit the growth of mold inside buildings, removing excess water in your facility can eliminate the fungus.
  • Don’t sample from the get-go. This can get expensive if you’re not sure you have a mold problem — and most mold problems require multiple samples. Ask yourself: Can you see mold? Smell it? Do you have a water problem? Are you susceptible to flooding or water damage? What are the seasonal variations of your area? Do you live by a body of water that puts excessive moisture in the air? Do you have a poor or outdated ventilation system in your facility? If you come up with any “yes” answers, talk to an expert about sampling.
  • There are no exposure levels for mold. Because humans are exposed to such immunosuppressive drugs as prednisone and chemotherapy and disorders like diabetes, no permissible exposure levels have been set for mold. There’s no proven correlation between mold exposure and health effects.
  • Don’t waste your time with bleach! Although bleach will kill actively growing fungi, including the spores, the dead spores can still cause an allergic response.
  • Don’t terminate a sick employee because of a mold-related illness. If a worker is convinced that they have a workplace mold allergy and a doctor supports them, it might be more cost-effective to accommodate them. Terminating the employee might leave you wide open to a lawsuit. Because there’s little legislation on mold, a claim can easily get down to a “battle of the experts” that could get pricey. If possible, offer such options as telecommuting to accommodate the worker. If you can’t reach an accommodation, have a competent expert combat the claim and speak to your attorney before terminating them.

Our risk management specialists would be happy to help you develop a mold control program — just give us a call.

Jun 01
Love0

CUSTOMER INFORMATION: PRIVACY, PLEASE!

By Risk Management Bulletin

The most sophisticated security systems can often be breached by rummaging through the company trash for a discarded password. Banks sometimes find customers’ ATM cards with the “secret” PIN code written on the card itself. And how often have you overheard a supposedly “confidential” conversation by someone shouting into their cell phone in public?

Have you ever considered how much of your customers’ private information might be left lying around the office? Fellow employees, cleaning crews, other customers, and repair people can easily walk by an absent employee’s desk and see confidential information scattered about or left on the computer screen. While you’re spending thousands on software barriers to protect files against hackers, those same files could be sitting open in your office for all to see. And don’t overlook the most obvious and massive security breach in any business — human error

Walk through your office after hours or while employees are at lunch and see for yourself how much information is left openly accessible. For example, you might be surprised by how many employees put their passwords on Post-it notes attached to their computer screen. Sit in the middle of the office (or at the next booth or table at lunch) and listen for how much of your employee’s conversations (and possible confidential customer information) you can overhear.

Then decide what you can do to minimize this risk. Make sure that desktops are clear at night; add password-protected screen savers to your computers (and change the passwords often); and remind employees to be sensitive about what they reveal in public conversations.

It’s far better to clean up this problem now than to have it clean you out later.

If you’d like our risk management professionals to review your information privacy protection plan, just give us a call.

Jun 01
Love0

THE TEN BIGGEST MISTAKES IN HIRING

By Risk Management Bulletin

High turnover, sexual harassment, violence in the workplace, employee theft — when you hire the wrong person, you’re risking a lot of problems. Avoid these common errors:

  1. Failing to Identify Company Needs
    Define requirements for the position in terms of skills, character, competency, and experience. Test the assumption that you need a certain type of employee
  2. Failing to Test Employee Skills
    Unless you assess an applicant’s skills, you’re gambling that they can perform — a bet you might well lose.
  3. Hiring out of Desperation
    Hire in haste — and end with waste. If you can’t hire in a timely manner, bring in a temporary or leased employee, or borrow a worker from another company.
  4. Hiring out of Laziness
    If you don’t like to hire people, outsource this function to a reliable professional third party.
  5. Hiring out of Infatuation
    Just because someone “looks” right for a job doesn’t mean that they will be. To avoid infatuation, use follow-up meetings and joint interviews.
  6. Letting Baggage Get in the Way
    The best and brightest don’t always look and act the way you think they should. Seeking diversity is not only important to placate the EEOC — it’s essential in today’s competitive economy.
  7. Hiring Based on Recommendations
    Just because someone thinks somebody they know is a great worker doesn’t mean they are. Go through the same hiring process with every potential employee.
  8. Blindly Using Internal Promotion
    Promoting solely from within can create inbreeding and stagnation. Fill at least one third of your new positions from the outside.
  9. Skimping on Background and Reference Checks
    Don’t let concern for EEOC and legislative privacy guidelines keep you from investigating backgrounds extensively. Poor hiring decisions are caused by not asking the right questions.
  10. Failing to Recognize a Poor Hiring Decision

Do your best to keep bad hires on their feet by putting them in at least the same position that you found them. Help them with outplacement and a small severance package, so you don’t end up with a bitter ex-employee or, even worse, a lawsuit.

Jun 01
Love0

WORKPLACE SECURITY: THE RULES HAVE CHANGED

By Risk Management Bulletin

Every business needs to maintain a secure workplace. To protect yourself against a wide variety of potential dangers — from armed and deranged employees to the threat of a terrorist act in the post-9/11 environment — means integrating a comprehensive security policy into your daily operations, rather than seeing it as an afterthought.

Business expert and motivational speaker John Di Frances stresses the need for companies to “ruffle complacency feathers [and] realize that catastrophic events are all too possible.” Di Frances advises business to create an “organizational awareness” of security issues by setting procedures to identify and deter everything from maliciously planted computer programs to embezzlement. Training managers to heighten their security awareness should play a key role in this process.

How much are you doing? To assess your readiness, and what your business needs to do to become and remain prepared, use this checklist:

  • Do you have written policies covering employee theft, workplace violence, drug trafficking, and other criminal activities that might occur in the workplace?
  • Do you check references and conduct background checks when hiring new employees?
  • Are employees told to report any strangers they see in the facility or on company property?
  • Are employees instructed never to lend their security badge, keys, access cards, etc. to anyone?
  • Do you use surveillance cameras to monitor high-risk areas of your facility, such as loading docks, warehouses, and outdoor storage areas?
  • Are keys and access codes or cards given only to company employees and only to employees who need them to gain access to their work area(s)?

Security risks aren’t likely to disappear; face this new reality and plan for it!

Our risk management experts would be happy to help you and your employees keep your business safe. Just give us a call.

Close Menu