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Monthly Archives

December 2014

Insurance Tips That Protect All the Priceless Holiday Presents You Receive

By Personal Perspective

Whether you received valuable collectibles or heirloom jewelry, you’ll want to insure these holiday presents. Your homeowners or renters insurance policy may provide coverage for some of your new items, but anything above the existing coverage limit requires a personal articles floater. Consider specific gifts that you’ll want to insure this year.

Jewelry: Your homeowners insurance policy should cover jewelry valued at less than $2,000. However, appraised jewelry that’s more valuable will require a floater.

Furs: From a real fur jacket to a fake fur-trimmed hat, add any furs you receive to your homeowners insurance policy.

Fine Art: Paintings, sculptures, rare books, manuscripts, ornamental collectibles, glasses and antique furniture fall under the fine art category. Record these items and their value on an itemized schedule attached to your insurance policy.

Electronics: Laptops, cameras, TVs and other electronic devices, plus telescopes, video recording equipment and films, are typically included in your existing homeowners or renters insurance policy. If these items are high-end, consider a floater.

Coins or Stamps: Depending on their value, you’ll want to add a floater for new coins or stamps in your collection.

Musical Instruments: List any musical instruments, including sound equipment, on a floater.

China, Crystal or Silverware: List these items on a schedule and include the insurance coverage amount.

Guns: List and describe each gun on a schedule. Include the value.

Sporting Goods: Bicycles, golf equipment, guns and other sporting goods fall under your existing insurance policy unless they’re collectible, rare or expensive.

Tools: Insured under your homeowners or renters policy, your new tools won’t need a floater unless they exceed the value of your existing coverage.

As with everything in your home inventory, record a detailed description, serial number, purchase date, value and picture of your new holiday presents. Store copies of this information with your insurance policy in a fireproof safe and in a secure location other than your home.

Go ahead and enjoy your new holiday presents. Just remember to check with your insurance agent to be sure they’re covered.

Top Identity Protection Tips as you Shop for the Holiday

By Personal Perspective

Like Santa, you’ve probably made a holiday shopping list and checked it twice. Are you paying attention to your identity as you buy presents? If not, consider top identity protection tips this holiday shopping season.

Hide money-related items at home. As many as half of all identity thieves know their victims. So before your holiday guests or home repair personnel enter your home, lock bank statements and important documents as well as your checkbook and spare credit cards in a fireproof safe.

Protect your numbers. When getting cash from the ATM, cover the buttons so no one behind you in line sees what you type. Also, don’t say your credit card or social security number over the phone if anyone is standing nearby and can hear you.

Always keep your credit card in sight. If you’re distracted at the cash register, you give the clerk a chance to slip your credit card into his or her pocket or copy the number.

Travel light. You don’t need a huge purse or bulging wallet as you shop. Instead, carry one or two credit cards and your driver’s license. Your purse, checkbook and other cards can stay locked at home or in the trunk.

Shop secure websites. The website address should start with https:\, and the lock symbol at the bottom right hand corner of the web page should take you to a security certificate that matches the store where you’re shopping.

Save every receipt and analyze every statement. It’s a pain, but you’ll be glad you took the time to store receipts and look over every statement for unfamiliar purchases.

Report discrepancies immediately to the credit card company or bank.

Sign up for identity monitoring. For a few dollars a month, you receive invaluable monitoring of your credit card numbers and accounts.

Whether you shop early or wait until the last minute, your identity remains secure when you follow these safety tips this holiday shopping season. For even more protection, talk to your insurance agent about identity protection insurance today.

Safety Tips for Your Indoor and Outdoor Holiday Lights

By Personal Perspective

Christmas isn’t the same without lights. Strands of sparkling lights can be hazardous, though, if you forget to follow safety tips as you hang, plug in, store and enjoy these holiday essentials.

Buy lights that are safety tested. Lights without an Underwriters Laboratory (UL) tag may be unsafe to plug in and use.

Inspect lights and plug them in before hanging them. This visual assessment exposes fire hazards like cracked, loose or broken bulbs and frayed, chewed or broken cords. It also lets you replace burnt out bulbs and ensure all the bulbs are the same wattage. After repairing any problems, plug in the lights to ensure the bulbs work and the strands work properly.

Separate indoor and outdoor lights. Strands designed for indoor use should not be hung outdoors because their thin insulation is easily damaged when exposed to cold, wet outdoor conditions.

Hang lights with insulated hooks. Staples, tacks or nails can pierce the strands and cause dangerous electrical shorts and increase the fire risk.

Use extension cords properly. Plug no more than three strands of lights into each extension cord, lay rather than coil extension cords and use only outdoor certified extension cords for your outdoor lights. If the cords feel hot, unplug the lights for a while to reduce fire risk.

Turn off lights before you go to bed or leave the house. Otherwise, the hot lights could start a fire, and you will be asleep or away from home and unable to intervene.

Water the tree regularly. A dry tree and hot lights are an unsafe combination.

Store lights properly to prevent damage and simplify decorating next year. Instead of stuffing them in a box, carefully wind the light strands, secure them with twist ties and store them in plastic bags. Alternatively, wrap the strands around a paper towel tube and thread the ends through the tube’s hollow center.

Hanging lights is a fun and festive holiday tradition. With these safety tips, you have peace of mind as you enjoy your sparkling home all season.

Is Your Vehicle Ready for Winter Weather?

By Personal Perspective

If winter temperatures plummet in your neck of the woods, prep your car now. Several procedures protect your vehicle and help it run properly all winter.

Check the tire tread. In most states, it must be at least 2/32-inches, which you can measure by placing a penny in the tire – adequate tread will cover part of Lincoln’s head. However, because your vehicle’s ability to stop on slippery surfaces decreases when the tread reaches 4/32″, consider replacing worn tires with all-weather tires for better traction.

Change the windshield wipers. These two pieces of equipment clear snow, ice and debris from your windshield. To work properly, they must be free from rips and wear.

Charge the battery. With full juice, your battery’s ready to start no matter how low the temperature falls. Clean the terminals and double check that the battery’s secure, too.

Fill the fluids. Antifreeze, windshield washer, transmission and brake fluid assist your vehicle in running smoothly. Fill these fluids to the recommended level as you prep your vehicle for winter.

Keep your vehicle fueled at all times. You never know when you’ll become stuck in traffic or a snow drift, and you’ll be thankful for a full gas tank in those situations.

Stock an emergency kit. A few supplies assist you in flagging help and staying safe in almost any weather. They include:

  • A small shovel
  • Traction material like kitty litter or sand
  • Flares
  • Fire extinguisher
  • Blanket
  • Charged cellphone
  • Flashlight and extra batteries
  • First aid kit
  • Water and non-perishable food like energy bars or nuts
  • Small amount of cash for fuel or other emergencies

Update your auto insurance. From fender benders to hail damage, adequate insurance gives you peace of mind and ensures you have financial resources to fix your vehicle.

Don’t let winter weather keep you at home. Follow these tips and prepare your vehicle now.

Is Your SMB Ready for Wearable Technology?

By Risk Management Bulletin

It may seem like the stuff of a James Bond movie, but today’s wearable tech – from Google Glass to belts that keep you sitting up straight to bracelets that keep your fitness goals on track — is about more than staying connected and tech-savvy: It can also pose serious cybersecurity risks to your company. The sales and use of wearable tech is expected to grow by leaps and bounds during the next few years, so taking steps now to be sure your company is prepared just makes good sense. Here’s what you need to know about developing an agile BYOx (“bring your own everything) policy for your SMB:

 

  • Consider banning them — but do so at your own peril. Many employees consider wearables an important part of their lives, especially those that help them maintain healthy habits. Banning them can take a toll on morale. Plus, some wearables have been shown to increase worker productivity and satisfaction, so an across-the-board-ban could be doing your business more harm than good.
  • Specify which wearables may and may not be used. Be sure to craft this policy carefully to cover all possibilities and update it frequently as technology evolves. Make employees aware of any changes as they occur.
  • Educate employees on why you’re establishing a policy. Many employees may not recognize the risks wearable technology can pose — for instance, accidentally (and illegally) recording or transmitting sensitive company-related data when connecting to the Internet. Many devices can serve — intentionally or unintentionally — as surveillance equipment, relaying movements and activities via video or audio to a central hub which could be hacked into.
  • Create a separate network specifically for wearables. This requires a cash outlay to develop the network and purchase and install equipment, and it also relies on the employees to use the correct network while at work.
  • Track everything. Implementing a media access control (MAC) system lets you keep track of everything that’s connected and all data that’s being transmitted. Let employees know ahead of time when such a system is being implemented to avoid potential privacy issues (e.g., lawsuits) down the road.

 

Whatever steps you take, make sure the system you use is easy to abide by and keep your employees educated and up to date.

4 Cheap Tips for Better Digital Security

By Risk Management Bulletin

It’s been a year since the notorious Target data breach, and there have been several more since then. If you’re worried about your company’s online security, here are four important tips that can be implemented right now without breaking the bank:

 

  1. Enable two-factor authentication (2FA). This relatively simple approach takes security a step beyond usernames and passwords, employing multi-digit authentication codes or pass phrases to gain access to specific documents or programs. Some programs, like Google’s Authenticator, use special codes sent to your mobile phone to provide that added layer. There are other services as well, or you may choose to have your IT manager implement a system unique to your company.
  2. Consider online security a business problem rather than strictly an IT issue. To effectively combat hacking threats, all levels of business need to be brought in to address the problem. Even if you use a cloud service with a stellar reputation for security, that still doesn’t mean you can just forget about cybersecurity risks. Employ the same actions to cybersecurity as you do in other aspects of your business, identifying risks and developing responsive solutions — and do it on a regular basis.
  3. Dedicate one computer to sensitive functions like financial transactions. By using just one computer (or several, depending on your needs) only for sensitive data transmission, you can more easily monitor what information potential hackers have access to. Make sure employees know not to use that computer for any other functions to increase security.
  4. Restrict the data that’s on the network. If your company handles sensitive data, is there a reason that data needs to be on systems that are connected to the Internet? If not, keeping it on computers that aren’t network-enabled prevents hackers from ever gaining access to it.

 

Most importantly, make cybersecurity a part of your regular conversations during meetings with staff, company executives and board members. The more you talk about your cybersecurity risks, the more likely you are to prevent hacking and find real solutions that work.

Healthy Rewards: The Benefits of a Custom Wellness Program

By Risk Management Bulletin

Looking for a way to keep insurance costs down? Making sure your employees are as healthy as possible is a good place to start. And for many companies, that means establishing a wellness program in addition to their health plan.

What’s the difference? While health plans focus primarily on care of disease, wellness plans are squarely focused on preventing disease — and their concomitant healthcare costs. Given the skyrocketing costs of healthcare, incorporating a wellness program can be a smart financial move for many companies. In fact, studies have found that on average, healthcare costs can be reduced by more than $3 for every $1 spent on wellness programs. And while it used to be that wellness plans were only offered by major companies, many insurance carriers now offer plans that are affordable for small businesses too.

Most carriers offer some flexibility in the level of wellness benefits they provide, but most plans include:

  • health education
  • screening for specific risks such as high blood pressure and high cholesterol
  • nutrition counseling
  • fitness programs
  • stop-smoking programs
  • health club membership subsidies

Wellness programs have also been associated with a decrease in both workers compensation and disability claims as well as lower rates of worker absenteeism.

Encouraging employee buy-in

Because wellness programs are typically voluntary, providing incentives can be a great motivator to get employees to participate. Incentives might include promotional items like t-shirts or lunch bags, as well as more costly items like gift cards to local businesses or online retailers. You might also consider a tiered reward program based on the level of participation or consider implementing a contest with different prize levels. Even with the cost of incentives added in, wellness programs still offer significant savings when compared to the relative costs of healthcare services and losses due to employee illness.

And of course, there’s another benefit: Adding a wellness program is an important step in maintaining employee morale. To learn more about wellness programs, contact your insurance rep today.

Crash Course in Reputation Management for 2015

By Risk Management Bulletin

When it comes to managing risk, reputation management often falls of the radar. But making sure your company promotes a positive, engaged image is critical to building your brand and reducing risks. Here are a half dozen tips to implement in the New Year:

 

  1. Don’t let your social presence wither. Many businesses make the mistake of simply establishing account at social sites and then never — or rarely — maintaining them. In the meantime, visitors may be saying things about your company that need to be addressed. Visiting on a regular basis — at least daily — prevents potential damage from going too far.
  2. Watch what you say. Likewise, when you do post, make sure the person posting uses proper etiquette to avoid saying something that could get your company into legal trouble, either by making untrue or unfounded claims or being rude to posters. Establish a social policy that spells out precisely how to respond in different situations, such as when a customer makes a complaint.
  3. Don’t argue. When a customer does complain, online, in person or on the phone, don’t engage in an argument; instead, be humble and apologize to defuse the initial anger. Then focus on what simple things you can do to make it right.
  4. Protect your execs’ reps. If you’re serious about your company’s rep, you probably search for it online regularly to see what people are saying. That’s a good policy to use for your business execs as well. Make sure your execs take part in positive activities that benefit the community, then talk about it on blogs and social sites. You might even consider buying eponymous domain names — for instance, “johndoe.com” or “johndoe.net.”
  5. Start — and regularly update — a blog. Blogs are incredibly powerful marketing tools that allow you to proactively and strategically position your brand. Just be sure to keep it updated regularly.
  6. Show gratitude. Use your social accounts to say “thanks” to customers or offer incentives for purchase. Stay engaged in your community — locally and online — and be positive. And take some words of advice from your mom: If you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all.

Top 5 Reasons for Workplace Injuries

By Workplace Safety

Employers, did you know that 73.9 percent of all workplace injuries and fatalities relate to only five preventable reasons? According to a 2010 survey, these reasons, and they’re part of the total of the cost is:

Overexertion
These injuries occur from lifting too much, pushing, holding, pulling, holding, and holding. Of the total paid for workman’s compensation (WC) claims, 26.8 percent of the costs, totaling $13.61 billion were the cost for these types of incidents.

The best way to protect your employees from overexertion injuries. Assign more than one person or give proper tools for these kinds of tasks. The initial costs of this equipment have a great ROI through lowering workers’ compensation premiums. In some instances, these solutions cannot be used; when that is the case, make sure your employees have the right training on the best techniques to do these tasks.

Fall on Same Level

This is the second most frequent cause of injury to employees in offices, on construction sites, in factories and on oil rigs. In other words, they are ubiquitous in every industry imaginable. These “trip and fall” accidents account for 16.9 percent of costs paid out by WC and equals $8.61 billion.

Most of these accidents are entirely preventable. Make sure that the exterior of your property, including parking lots have no uneven concrete, potholes, or cracks. For your business interior, start a policy of good housekeeping. Files and desk drawers are always shut when not in use, extension cords do not cause tripping hazards by crossing aisles or doorways, keep carpets in good repair, immediately clean up spills and liquids, and use anti-skid flooring where possible. When hard surface floors are wet from cleaning or liquid spills, post warning signs until the removal of the hazard .

Bodily Reaction

These are accidents from injuries that stem from bending, reaching, standing, climbing, slips and trips without falling, and sitting. They make up 11.4 percent of workers’ compensation claims at an annual cost of $5.78 billion.

The best way to cut bodily reaction injuries is by getting rid of environmental factors that cause them. For instance, replace desk chairs with ergonomically correct ones, make sure work areas are kept neat and tools that are not in use are properly stored. Employers can encourage healthy lifestyles by offering free or reduced gym memberships. Train employees to avoid situations with prolonged time with unnatural posture.

Fall to Lower Level

This, the number four reason for WC claims and usually involves workers at construction sites. These accidents make up 10 percent of all claims and cost $5.12 billion.

Prevention of these accidents not only prevent injuries, but also deaths. Keep ladders and scaffolding in good working order. When they are not, do not allow their use until repaired. Frequent inspections and regularly scheduled maintenance are key to accident prevention. Supply workers with fall protection equipment when possible.

Struck by Objects

This group of injuries is responsible for 8 percent of total worker’s comp claims. The amount attributable to these incidents are $4.10 billion.

While the plurality of these accidents is also construction site injuries, there are some easy ways to mitigate their numbers. In offices and warehouse do not stack items so that are prone to falling. On construction sites, personal protection equipment such as hard hats, safety glasses or goggles and face shields help cut injuries by falling objects. Train workers to never work beneath heavy construction equipment while it is working such as hoists or cranes. Instruct employees to always wear their seatbelt while driving on company business.

Part of your worker’s compensation premium comes from your company’s experience in managing these and other risks. Each year, as part of your annual insurance checkup with your business insurance advisor, look over your WC rating and look for claims for similar accidents. Take corrective action, tell your carrier of those actions and have your advisor get WC quotes in states that do not make you buy into a state-run plan.

Office Safety

By Workplace Safety

Like any other workplace, proper precautions and ongoing safety inspections in offices are an excellent way to protect employees and visitors. Eliminating or mitigating most office safety hazards is easy by the correct design for jobs and workplaces and understanding the differences among people and tasks. Make sure that there is adequate temperature control, humidity control and exhaust systems to keep a comfortable environment.

The Need for an Office Safety Plan
Companies with several worker’s filing compensation claim or claims from visitors for accidents are likely facing increases in their monthly premiums for these insurances. When management and staff work together the workplace is safer for workers and visitors. Safety plans include items such as:

Who is Responsible? Everyone is!
Management offers training for all employees in:

  • Emergency procedures
  • Electrical Safety
  • Office ergonomics
  • Insure all office equipment is in good and safe working condition
  • Make sure that proper storage for office supplies has easy access and adequate space

Office Staff Responsibilities

  • Tell management about any safety problems at once.
  • Report equipment that needs repair – never attempt the repair on your own.
  • Keep a well maintained office environment

Be On the Lookout (BOLO)
Electrical Safety
Electrical safety is a major issue in office space. Improperly maintained or used electrical equipment is often a fire hazard or tripping hazard. Common issues in offices include:

  • Use of extension cords that are a tripping hazard
  • No part of an extension cord has frays, cuts, kinks or knots
  • Make sure cords are not running through doorways so that closing doors frays the wires

Noise Hazards
Noise hazards are more common than most people believe. It is more than an annoyance. High noise levels can lead to permanent loss of hearing and deafness. To avoid disturbing levels of noise:

Buy the quietest equipment possible.
Maintain it so that it remains quiet
Place loud equipment as far from conversation areas as possible.
Isolate noise sources. Use barriers, buffers or acoustically treated material.

Housekeeping
Poorly performed housekeeping is often the cause of fires, employee injuries, and injuries to guests. Aisles within the office cannot have obstructions. When not in use all drawers are kept closes. Damaged furniture, especially chairs and drawers that cannot close need fast attention.

Management encourages employees to report all unsafe conditions and when a report comes, takes prompt action to fix the problem.