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Monthly Archives

October 2015

Worker’s Comp Insurance in Missouri Sees a Fall in Rates

By Workplace Safety

When a company decides to follow the right path for their workers, it can seem like a road that never ends. Taking the time to fully vet employees, train them and ensure safe working conditions takes a lot of energy out of everyone involved. It can seem easier to cut corners, which a lot of companies do despite all of the risks and warnings involved, but Missouri is proving to businesses everywhere exactly what the fruits of taking the extra precautions and doing the right thing can mean.

Governor Nixon announced that 2016 is expected to see a 2.4% loss in worker’s comp claims as compared to 2015. Contracting is where they’re likely to see the biggest drop at 4.9%. Missouri’s earning a well-deserved reputation of having the skilled workers and safe conditions to make a significant difference in their numbers, and their rates are definitely showing their success as compared to their neighboring states. Missouri’s economic growth is sure to be fueled by this change as employer’s pay less for injuries and more for salaries, upgraded equipment and a larger workforce.

Ultimately, the regulation and final decisions comes down to the Division of Workers’ Compensation in the Missouri Department of Labor and Industrial Relations working in tandem with the Department of Insurance. However, with the steady improvements that they’ve seen over 2015, there’s every reason to believe that these rates will become in reality in just a few short months.

Hopefully this piece of news helps to inspire those states with more wide-spread problems to start to rethink their policies and analyze their processes. Besides it being costly and time-consuming to file claims, it also opens up a public relations nightmare if their practices start to result in workers becoming injured on the job. Families and individuals alike rely on these companies to provide them with the income and benefits to lead healthy and productive lives, but too much pressure or a lack of attention to detail can threaten the well-being for everyone involved. Thankfully, Missouri is a strong example of the many benefits of doing things right.

Worker’s Comp in the Digital Age: Uber’s Settlement to Alaskan Drivers

By Workplace Safety

As technology progresses, so too must society. However, technology goes much faster than bureaucracy and with that disconnect comes lots of problems. Uber has developed a platform that allows people to become their own bosses by taking their car out and giving rides to those who need them. It’s typically cheaper and more convenient than a cab, allowing people to simply input what they need into an app and then have a driver come straight to them. But exactly what does all this mean for the drivers in terms of worker’s protection?

Calling someone a contractor rather than an employee allows you to get out of a whole slew of federal requirements regarding fair practices.Uber has slapped that label onto their drivers under the guise that it makes the driver their own C.E.O of their transportation business, but some people are challenging their judgment here. Alaska has ruled that Uber needs to start treating their drivers like employees, meaning (among other things) that if people are injured on the job they’d need to provide worker’s compensation according to state law.

In the light of all the new ways to work, it opens up a myriad of questions as to how people should be treated, and both federal and state governments seem to need to push through the bureaucracy to start making decisions faster due to the immediate nature of technology. Uberpaid $77,900 to the Department of Labor because of their assumptions, and this certainly won’t be the last time something like this comes up.

Erring on the side of caution probably seemed far too costly for Uber, but the time and effort that was put into this settlement was likely not something they could really afford either. The Alaskan drivers who signed up to work for Uber likely had no idea what their rights were, and many of them probably still don’t know. If you’re operating in something of a legal grey matter like Uber is, you need to be aware that all jobs come with their fair share of risks. The money you save today could end up costing you much more down the line.

 

Almost Does Count in Accidents

By Workplace Safety

Human-Resource-Management (1)It’s easy to measure how safe you are in terms of the number of injuries or accidents on a work site or within an office, but the number that is reported doesn’t tell the full story. If you have a number of close calls, then your luck won’t last forever and it’s likely indicative that you policies need to be changed.

Encouraging Communication

You can’t be everywhere at all times, which is why you’ll need people to be entirely honest with you about what they’ve been doing on the job. Employees might assume something was an isolated incident or just a mistake on their end, and those kinds of assumptions could spell trouble for your company. You can’t prevent every incident, but you can start to see patterns emerge when you make it clear that information is valued when it comes to their day-to-day activities. By definition of almost, nothing has happened. It’s easy for us to forget about things that didn’t happen which is another reason why it’s often not reported. So instead of being infuriated by having a team meeting where one person brings it up and then 6 other people agree, work out a way to talk to your people or have an official reporting system about would-be accidents.

Proper Follow-Up

It’s quite possible that workers are requesting changes that aren’t possible on a short-term basis or ones that are too costly for the company to consider right now. You’ll need to think of the proper work-around solution that can minimize the chances of something else happening. This can be as simple as having one team member assist another during difficult tasks as an extra pair of hands may do the job. There also is something to be said for having your best people on the job, as some can utilize their skill sets more. If you do have an employee who can consistently perform a difficult task whereas others seem to think they may be hurt at some point, then you should find how to use everyone’s strengths to the company’s advantage.

 

Fall Fire Safety Tips for Business Owners

By Risk Management Bulletin

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Fall’s cooler temperatures are a welcome relief after summer’s scorching days. However, those lower digits also increase fire hazards in the workplace. Some of these hazards are created by employers, while others are created by employees. No matter the cause, business owners should assess their fire risk and take action to prevent a disaster.

Employers
Some workplace areas and items pose a fire hazard. It is the responsibility of business owners to inspect these areas regularly.
  • Flammable Materials– Employers must carefully and regularly examine areas that contain flammable items such as fuel, chemicals, wood, packing materials and even flour and sugar. These areas must not contain anything that can create a spark, such as electrical equipment, heaters or water heaters.
  • Sources of Ignition– All items that can create a spark or flame must be inspected annually. This includes the main heating system as well as industrial equipment that gets hot or creates a flame. Proper maintenance and cleaning will prevent these items from malfunctioning and becoming fire hazards.
Employees
In other cases, employees bring fire hazards to the workplace. Employers must play a prominent role in regulating these items.
  • Space Heaters- One of the biggest safety hazards created by employees is the use of space heaters. Cold-natured employees often rush to plug in their space heaters at the first sign of lower temperatures. However, many of these heaters are old and have not been properly maintained or cleaned, which presents a fire hazard. Additionally, employees don’t consider that the heater is placed too close to a trash can or other area with paper and flammable objects. Employers should ban space heaters for safety purposes or purchase them for the company and instruct employees on their proper use.
  • Smoking Paraphernalia– Even when smoking is not allowed on a worksite, employees often have cigarettes, matches and lighters in their lockers or on their person. These flammable items can ignite if they come into contact with heat or if a lighter is accidentally lit. Businesses should formulate and enforce rules prohibiting smoking paraphernalia from being brought onto the work premise.

 

Preventing Workplace Hearing Damage Due to Noise Pollution

By Risk Management Bulletin

Ringing-Ears-Loud-Music2Many types of businesses expose employees to damaging levels of noise pollution while they are at work. Surprisingly, many of the noises that cause hearing loss are not the loud uncomfortable ones that most people think of. Instead, they fall into the category of mid-level decibels and continue for long periods of time. As a result, hearing loss often occurs gradually, without workers even realizing it until it is too late. However, there are many precautions that employers can take to protect employees and reduce the level of hearing damage that occurs in the workplace.

Common Sources of Noise Pollution
Some noises, such as jackhammers and jet engines, are obviously loud enough to cause hearing damage. However, other sounds such as heavy trucks and a crowded bar or night club can also reach damaging levels. In general, a business should take action to protect their employee’s hearing if any of the following circumstances apply to their business.
  • Noises are loud enough to be disruptive, such as busy street traffic or a vacuum cleaner, and last for most of the workday.
  • Employees must elevate their voices in order to heard, even when standing close to each other.
  • Employees use power tools or machinery for more than 30 minutes a day
  • Your business operates in one of the following industries: construction, demolition, road repair, woodworking, plastics processing, engineering, manufacturing, fabrication or foundries.
Preventing Hearing Damage
Businesses that operate in noisy environments can protect their employees through training, providing protective gear and changing workplace equipment. Some ways to reduce hearing loss in the workplace include the following:
  • Installing quieter equipment or switching to a process that doesn’t require the equipment
  • Installing screens, barriers, enclosures and absorbent materials in the workplace to act as a sound dampener and reduce the level of noise that workers are exposed to
  • Implementing policies that limit the amount of time that workers spend in noisy areas or using noisy equipment
  • Issuing proper hearing protection to employees who work in noise-prone areas and training them on the proper usage

 

Do Safety Drills Work?

By Business Protection Bulletin

safety drillRemember when you were in school and they’d run fire drills? Everyone would walk out of the classroom single-file, alarms blaring over the intercom, and then you’d all just stand out in the soccer field for ten, twenty minutes while the teachers counted heads.

Were these drills really of any use? Did they ever save any lives? Or were they just a way to break up the monotony of schoolwork and let the teachers step outside for a smoke?

Well, hiding under your desk like a Cold War kid isn’t going to shield you from an atomic blast, but believe it or not, safety drilling really can help, when you’re practicing a reasonable response to a realistic threat. Here’s what you need to know about safety drills.

  • It’s more of a troubleshoot than a practice run. The truth is that a drill isn’t really about learning how to get out of the building safely. Most of us already know how to get up and walk out of a door. It’s more of a dry-run evacuation to find out where you might find a jammed escape door or a faulty smoke alarm on your way out the building. Run enough drills and you may be able to bring those issues down to zero, as these numbers from Stanford Law show.
  • What you learn during a safety drill might help other people run safer workplaces. The concept of the fire drill started with a tragic fire at Chicago’s Our Lady of the Angels School in 1958. The fire department was called, but given the wrong address. People were trapped inside, unable to find a nearby exit. The lessons learned through this tragedy were used to completely reinvent fire safety across the country, and the tradition has continued, using safety drills to trouble shoot and change regulation across the board.
  • We’re still learning. The fear of school shootings has led many to wonder if it’s a good idea to sound an alarm and get everyone in one place where a shooter might have easier access. So far, nobody has a perfect answer to this question.

 

Overworked and At-Risk

By Business Protection Bulletin
6a00d83451f4a069e201538f64d522970b-320wiA study at Occupational & Environmental Medicine has turned up some interesting, if not quite surprising conclusions. The study began by poring over extensive data from sources like the Center for Disease Control, in order to classify five types of exposure:
  • Extended weekly hours.
  • Extended daily hours.
  • Overtime.
  • Extended commute.
  • Overtime or extended hours.
We could fill five or ten pages talking about how they calculated the risks and came to their conclusions, and you can go ahead and read the study and the source data if that interests you, but it breaks down like this: Those who work under a high level of exposure in any of these categories tend to suffer workplace injury at double the rate of those who do not.
The study suggests an injury rate of one in ten for high-exposure employees, and one in twenty for low-exposure employees.

In other words, no matter how hard you work to make your workplace safe, by overworking your employees, you’re automatically doubling your risk.

Here are a few ideas to keep your employees safe and your risk factors low:

  •  Try to avoid hiring people who will need to commute an hour or more in order to get to work every day. It may be disappointing to let the perfect candidate go simply because they live a little too far away, but not as disappointing as losing that employee to injury for a month because they’re spending so much time on the road every day that they don’t have time for a good night’s sleep.
  • Save overtime for Fridays. Nobody’s going to be as alert as you need them to be doing two twelve hour days in a row.
  • Hire enough people. Having one person do the job of two sounds like a great idea until you look at what an injury is going to cost you when they’re staying late every day to handle the extra work.
In short: a well-rested employee is an alert employee, and an alert employee is less at-risk for injury on the job. This may not be the most surprising revelation, but now we have the numbers to see exactly how exhaustion plays into workplace safety.

Simplify Your Safety Procedures

By Business Protection Bulletin

911It has been said that the wheels of bureaucracy turn slowly in order to prevent overzealous government officials from passing any crazy law they want. It can be frustrating, but our government has those checks and balances in place to ensure that lawmakers have time for extensive deliberation before putting any plan into action.

This is the opposite of what you want when it comes to workplace safety. When it comes to implementing safety procedures, responding to emergencies, and training your employees, speed is of the utmost importance. You don’t want to find yourself in a situation where something has caught on fire and nobody knows whose job it is to call 911.
Here are some points to keep in mind when developing your safety plan to ensure fast, informed response to emergency situations:
  • Emergency response is first priority. Whoever is on the scene of an accident should generally be the person to call 911 and/or the on-site medical staff, and then brief everyone else on the situation. In some companies you might have a designated person, a security officer, a foreman, etc. who will make the call, but the more people you need to contact before making the call, the worse the situation is going to get.
  • Emergency equipment should be immediately accessible. A first aid box mounted on the wall is a good start. Don’t keep your bandages and smelling salts in a locked desk drawer somewhere on the third floor, make sure that employees are never more than a short walk away from fire extinguishers, first-aid, and the means to contact first responders.
  • Brief all new employees immediately. If you schedule someone’s safety briefing for a week after they start working, you might create a situation where they’re left desperately asking their co-workers where you keep the band-aids or how to find the emergency exits. Extensive training can be scheduled as and when is convenient, but new employees should be given a basic-yet-comprehensive safety briefing on the morning of their first day.
A basic rule of thumb: try to make sure that, should something happen, nobody ever needs to ask anybody else “Well, now what do we do?” Keep your safety procedures simple and straightforward so that your people can move quickly in an emergency, and so that they’re never confused about how to keep their work environment safe.

 

What’s the Worst That Could Happen When You’re Inadequately Insured?

By Business Protection Bulletin

4335907588_d94d02fa8b_zThe point in time when you didn’t need insurance for your business was when it was just you, on a laptop, in your garage, and you hadn’t even launched your first product yet. As soon as you’ve seen any sort of success in your industry, liability, lititgiousness and the random chance of bad luck can all come into play and topple what you’ve worked so hard to build. Here are some numbers you need to know, via surveys courtesy of YouGov and private insurance companies:
  • 60% of those polled agreed that it was important to insure stock and equipment, while only 40% said that insuring key personnel would be equally important. This, in spite of the fact that 77% of those surveyed said that their businesses would see a major impact were a key employee to be unable to show up for work for six months or longer.
  • 66% of businesses lack business interruption insurance.
  • Only one in five small businesses polled have a disaster recovery plan in place, even though small businesses tend to be the ones most impacted by disaster. Over half of the businesses polled said it could take them three months or longer to recover from a disaster, should they be able to recover at all.
  • 38% claimed that they didn’t think it was important to have a disaster plan in place at all.
If you want a “worst case scenario” example of what can happen without the proper insurance, consider how many businesses were wiped off the market permanently by Hurricane Katrina.
Your Hurricane Katrina might not be a natural disaster, but a car accident that puts a key employee out of commission for the better half of a year. The principle remains the same: you need to be insured against anything from which you cannot easily recover. This is important for big businesses, and several times as important for small and medium businesses.

 

Hurricane Preparedness: Not Just for Coastal Regions

By Risk Management Bulletin

Hurricane season runs from June 1st to November 30th, so just because fall temperatures have Hurricane_Hugo_1989_sept_21_1844Zarrived doesn’t mean that the threat is over. Hurricanes and tropical storms obviously affect businesses in coastal areas the most. However, they can also have a negative impact on those in other areas of the country. No matter where they are located, businesses must have a contingency plan to deal with the fallout of a hurricane.

Coastal Regions

Businesses in coastal regions should find out whether they are located in an evacuation zone or a contingency zone, which are most impacted by storms. Businesses in either of these zones need a storm preparedness plan that clearly spells out when they will close and how employees will be notified. Next, make a list of staff members who can assist with boarding up windows and doors, anchoring outbuildings, turning off utilities and other hurricane preparation tasks. Business owners must also decide whether to elevate expensive equipment to prevent water damage or to simply move it to a safer location.

Businesses must also prepare for outages even when a hurricane or tropical storm does not cause an evacuation. High winds and fallen trees can result in the loss of power and water for a short period. Back-up generators and an ample supply of bottled water should be kept on hand in case this occurs.

Non-Coastal Regions

Businesses located in non-coastal areas often think they are safe from the devastating effects of a hurricane. While they may not suffer the physical damage associated with these storms, they can still suffer a devastating impact on their business. Businesses must consider whether their manufacturers and suppliers are located in areas near the coast. If so, a hurricane may shut down operations for a short period or cause permanent damage to the supplier’s equipment or facilities. Additionally, delivery services via air and ground may temporarily suspend operations to avoid going through hurricane affected areas. Businesses nationwide must have a backup plan to ensure that their business continues to run as normal and reduce the impact that the hurricane has on their own bottom line.