Skip to main content
search
Monthly Archives

June 2014

Jun 03
Love0

In Disaster Management, Communication Is Key

By Risk Management Bulletin

From BP and its Gulf oil spill to Paula Deen and her restaurant scandal to GM and its recent recalls, no company is immune from a potential brand-related disaster. Obviously, the scope and nature of these three examples vary, but the overall results with regard to the brand are the same: Loss of trust in the brand and a consequent loss of revenue.

Knowing how to respond to these situations is the key to reducing the chaos that can follow. That means you need a communication plan to calm nerves and let the public know the steps you’re taking to address the issues. If your emergency response plan doesn’t include a plan for communication, it should. Here are a few ideas to help you develop a communication strategy for your business:

Point of contact

First, you need a “point person,” someone who understands your business and can respond to media inquiries and public concerns. A PIO is a good choice for larger companies, but smaller companies without separate media relations staff can appoint someone from their staff to serve the same role. Just be sure the person has a calm personality so they aren’t drawn into defensive arguments.

Method of contact

Develop a list of local and media personnel to contact in case of a disaster, then decide: Would your company issue a press release? Hold a press conference? How would you respond to phone calls, emails or comments on social media sites? What would the general tone be? Also be sure to communicate to employees how they should respond to inquiries about the company in the wake of an event.

Performance measures

Throughout the process, you need to be able to gauge your effectiveness in handling the situation, as well as the ability to change your methods and approach as need to ensure your company is responding appropriately.

The scope of an emergency response plan can vary greatly based on the size of the business and the risks it faces. But no matter what size business you own or operate, a communication plan can play an important role in mitigating loss following a disastrous event.

Jun 03
Love0

What the heck is ERM? And how could it help my business?

By Risk Management Bulletin

ERM, or enterprise risk management, has become increasingly popular in recent years as businesses of all sizes have embraced the comprehensive approach that involves continual input aimed at managing all risks faced by a company. But before you can develop strategies to address emerging risks, you need to build a framework that can provide your company with an overall assessment of its risks and its risk level.

When building an ERM framework for your company, think of it as a powerful viewing platform that lets your business gain an overall appreciation for the risks that must be addressed throughout the entire company. Not sure how to begin? Here are a few guidelines to get your started:

* Appoint a steering committee.
Establishing a committee to oversee the entire process will help your company stay focused on the end goal and it will also help avoid duplication of effort that can wind up costing time and money.

* Assign responsibilities.
Assign the roles and responsibilities of all the key players who will contribute to your ERM plan. To avoid confusion, roles and responsibilities should be clearly defined and written down for review and reference.

* Identify risks and prioritize them.
Ask for input from all your ERM participants to determine which risks are most pressing, and decide the order in which every risk should be addressed before developing mitigation plans.

* Design plans to monitor and report actions and results.

Unless you track your results and outcomes, you won’t know what’s working and what’s not. Have a system in place for regular reporting so all team members can be held accountable.

ERM is a dynamic and ongoing process designed to evolve with your business. To ensure the best outcomes for your business, reviewing your ERM program should be a continuous event that involves stakeholders from all levels. Yes, it’s work — but it can provide tremendous benefits.

Jun 03
Love0

The Changing Face of Risk

By Risk Management Bulletin

During the last five years, companies around the world have become much more interested in investing in their risk management capabilities, according to a report published by management consulting company Accenture. Moreover, these capabilities are being developed in line with business’ growth strategies to help businesses compete more effectively and more efficiently.

Why the increased interest in risk management? The ever-changing shape of the world marketplace is a primary driver. Businesses know that to remain profitable, they need to increase their activity globally, and that means far greater exposure to a far wider range of risks than ever before. What’s more, as businesses grow and operations expand their own borders, the need for a coordinated risk management approach becomes essential. And of course, being active in the electronic space — whether through a company’s own corporate website or through interaction on social sites — means exposure to an entirely different set of risks like fraud and espionage which are only now beginning to be truly appreciated.

But there’s something more: Today’s businesses are embracing greater risks than they were a few years ago when the economy was topsy-turvy. Instead of being reactive when it comes to risk, companies are becoming proactive, the report notes. Now, risk is viewed more as a potential opportunity for growth — a “competitive advantage,” according to the report — and businesses are balancing those opportunities by establishing strong risk management programs both to evaluate risks and to prevent reckless behaviors that could put the company in jeopardy. Managed properly, risk can enable companies to move into new markets more quickly and more successfully, and they can also provide the impetus for undertaking new, profitable ventures.

This new view of risk management as a driver of strategic planning means businesses need to implement strategies that are responsive and flexible to enable them to evolve as the marketplaces shifts. The bottom line: If you want to remain competitive in the markets of tomorrow, you need to invest in a risk management plan that’s firmly aligned with your business’ goals and needs to ensure a strong and profitable future.

Jun 03
Love0

5 Tips for Retail Risk Management

By Risk Management Bulletin

Retail establishments often operate with some very slim margins, so having a comprehensive and flexible risk management system in place is critical. Here are five steps to help you implement a strong system:

1. Establish a social media policy.
Tapping into social media — and using it correctly — can yield great results for your business by allowing you to communicate directly with your customer base. Protect your brand by establishing a social media policy that helps your employees understand how to consistently communicate with customers, especially when responding to complaints.

2. Consider cloud-based risk management software.
Once relegated to major corporations with deep pockets, today’s cloud-based software options offer flexible user-based pricing that keeps start-up costs lower. And because it’s cloud-based, there’s no need for an in-house IT department.

3. Encourage communication.
Make every effort to break down barriers that can lead to miscommunication, errors and costly duplication of effort. Using a team approach to tackling problems not only helps achieve greater efficiency, but it also helps build strong bonds among employees and management.

4. Document, document, document!
Unfortunately, more and more often, claims wind up being dragged into court. If that happens, you want to be sure you present the strongest case possible. That begins by having good documentation to prove you’ve done your due diligence. Be sure all your policies and procedures are written down, and take copious notes during interactions between your business and the “other” parties.

5. Have a risk triage system in place.
Prioritizing risk management issues is the best way to make sure every concern gets the attention it deserves. When a potential or existing risk is identified, put in on your list in order of importance and review your list frequently to prevent minor incidents from becoming major claims.


Revisit and review your system periodically to make sure it evolves with your business, and to ensure your retail business manages its risks as effectively as possible.

Jun 03
Love0

Slips and Falls: housekeeping and the buddy system

By Workplace Safety

Are slips, trips, and falls on the job a serious problem? According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) slips and falls account for about two hundred thousand injuries with 600 deaths each year. They are a serious problem.

About half of all on the job injuries are due to either overexertion or falls, each at about twenty five percent according to Liberty Mutual. Slips and falls can occur anywhere:

* Liquid spills, like oil or water
* Icy walkways
* Staircases
* Uneven sidewalks and paving
* Steelworkers or roofers
* Tripping on an unsecured area rug
* Changing a light bulb on a step ladder
* Carrying a load with blocked vision

Notice the first four causes involve improper maintenance, the next is improper personal protection equipment, and the last three can be avoided by proper techniques learned through training.

Falls from elevated working platforms are ten percent of all accidents (included in the twenty five for falls). Roofers shingling a house or steel workers wear harnesses and tie off to a stable anchor. The leash diminishes the impact of the fall.

If you need a step ladder to change a light bulb, have a buddy stabilize the ladder. Don’t use the wheeled desk chair.

Walk around your work space. Are the floors level or do trip ledges exist? How about the parking lot? Potholes, cracks, uneven pavement? Sidewalks: any heaving? Are there any dark corners or hallways? Ample landings on stairs?

Are any storage areas or hallways crowded? Extension cords under rugs or across walkways? Eliminate all extension cords, they’re nothing but trouble waiting to happen.

Train your people on proper ladder techniques. Be vigilant regarding proper use of personal protection equipment like harnesses, hard hats and safety eyewear.

Use proper transfer techniques to avoid spills, but clean spills immediately, do your maintenance and housekeeping and ask your insurance company safety professional for ideas and educational training tools.

Jun 03
Love0

Employers Liability – what are your employees bringing home

By Workplace Safety

Employers liability fills gaps in the workers’ compensation standard coverage. For example, suppose an employee is injured due to a defective piece of equipment that their employer manufactured. The employee has a products liability claim, but is also collecting under workers’ compensation. Employers liability coverage steps in and covers the employees products claim in excess of the workers’ compensation payout.

Another extension of workers’ compensation through employers’ liability concerns the families of workers. If a worker transports a toxin or a pathogen back home on their clothing or themselves and exposes their family, employers liability pays the medical bills.

This scenario is little known and rarely claimed, however, for more than just monetary reasons, it’s good to control this potential exposure.

The first step requires reviewing any material safety data sheets (MSDS) for chemicals and supplies that may be transportable by simple contact to clothes, through respiration or on skin or hair.

Can any of these products cause allergic reactions or are they known for anaphylaxis reactions?

Step two: if any pathway is possible, contain that product to your work space.

Step three is to set up work zones, decontamination zones and clean areas for employees to enter, dress and store personal items, and clean-up after work. Use a buddy system to be sure all potentially affected areas are decontaminated properly and completely.

Unfortunately, you cannot control the health of all the people your employees contact, or even their families. Some common cleaners and relatively benign chemicals can cause serious distress in sensitive people.

Employers liability has historically been a rare claim; however, as more people suffer allergies, reactions to chemicals, or just gain knowledge of their personal environment, these claims promise to become more frequent.

Controlling these exposures now will reduce future costs. There are virtually no statutes of limitations for claims. Besides, you don’t want to make kids sick, and they are the most sensitive to low doses.

 
Jun 03
Love0

Proper Lifting and High Storage: management that pays for itself

By Workplace Safety

Proper lifting technique begins with proper delivery and storage. Plan incoming deliveries when enough labor is available to assist without straining. According to Liberty Mutual’s five year study, overexertion is the number one cause of on the job injuries. We can manage and do better.

Check supplies in, and then put them where they belong. By storing materials quickly, hallways, loading docks, and work areas stay uncrowded. And, employees know where to store and find supplies.

Muscle pulls can occur with relatively light weights. To reduce the frequency of these pulls, try to organize storage so a minimum of reaching high or bending low is required, especially with heavier objects.

Store twenty pound objects at waist height. Any object weighing more than twenty pounds should be stored where hand trucks can be used to move the objects. Do not store objects higher than five feet. People should not reach over their heads to retrieve an object. Reaching risks dropping a load on the employees head.

Sounds like you need more storage space? First, try disposing of all that top shelf long-term stuff. Everyone in business has a certain amount of clutter that accumulates over the years. It’s similar to the attack or garage. Space tends to fill up with stuff. Clean it out. Psychologically, it will make you feel leaner as a company.

Do not overcrowd storage areas. Overcrowding promotes two bad hazards. Trips and falls occur more frequently in overstuffed storage areas. Unusual twisting and bending of the torso occurs more frequently in disorganized or overcrowded storage.

Design and designate storage space so adequate supplies or materials can be on hand without employees needing to twist, turn, strain or trip and fall to get them. Organized, safe storage promotes more professionalism. People tend to maintain inventory as they find it. Safety is the result of proper planning and implementation of storage management.

Jun 03
Love0

A Safe Workplace is the Number One Employee Benefit

By Workplace Safety

You don’t think of safety as an employee benefit? Reconsider it.

Health insurance provides medical care in the event of disease or injury off the job. Workers’ compensation covers post injury and illness medical costs on the job. Short-term and long-term disability reacts to injury or illness off the job.

Employers now add gym memberships and preventative medicine as benefits.

Why not preventative measures for on the job injuries as a benefit? Get your employees home safe after each shift. Great benefit for their families and themselves.

How do you institute a safety policy as a benefit?

1. Make a corporate-wide decision that safety is a core ethic. Top management must embrace and lead the effort.

2. Safety meetings do not require time wasting. Create brief topics, under five minutes, that can be incorporated in every shift meeting. For example, proper use of protective eyewear – leave it on, or how to fit a hard hat.

3. Reducing the number of injuries on the job is a cost savings. Having a well known safety record, or more important a safety ethic, helps attract the best professional employees. Just as a wellness benefit attracts quality help, a safety record or effort invites serious workers to apply.

4. Reducing the severity of claims, think protective eyewear, saves the company a fortune. Consider that insurance companies view injury frequency as more vital than injury severity in predicting costs. Safety awareness decreases frequency, proper equipment and techniques decrease severity. Invest wisely in safety.

5. Communicate the human value of safety to your employees. Tell them how much money you spend on safety every year. In fact if you are not doing so, communicate to each employee how much all their benefits cost you. How much is their hidden paycheck.

Safety is the number one benefit you can offer. Believe it to your core and live it

Close Menu