Slips, trips, and falls (STFs) in the workplace are all too common – and a single accident can cost you thousands in medical payments and lost productivity.
To help businesses reduce STFs, Brian Roberts, Director of Workers Compensation and Ergonomics for CNA Insurance, has developed this six-point strategy, based on Japanese workplace practices:
- Sort. Organize and straighten the workplace to make sure that aisles and walkways are free of trip and fall hazards.
- Set in order. Analyze the efficiency of motion and workflow on the job (for example, review employee walking patterns and chart the results).
- Shine. Eliminate all forms of contamination – such as dirt, fluids, or liquids – that could cause bone-breaking slips. This includes assessing floor surfaces for wear and pitting, and “transition points” (from concrete to tile, tile to carpet, carpet to marble, etc.) and eliminate or alter them. Make sure that you have the right floor cleaning products and that your maintenance staff understands how to use them properly, if they have limited English skills.
- Standardize. Organize the workplace by prominent postings of such “visual management” tools as signs and warnings of potential STF hazards.
- Keep lights clean. Dusty and dirty lights obscure lighting conditions, which increases the risk of STFs.
- Sustain. Maintain the progress that you’ve achieved through the other strategies in order to make these improvements systemic and long-lasting.
Scurich Insurance Services safety management experts would be happy to recommend expert who can help you create – and maintain – an “STF-free workplace.” Feel free to get in touch with us at any time
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Last summer “Gangnam Style” became a viral sensation.
This summer that sensation might have been a “Monkey Style” burger — if only it existed.
An Internet hoax targeting devotees of In-N-Out Burger fooled more than a few customers and even mainstream news outlets this week, despite the restaurant’s insistence that there is no such thing as “Monkey Style” — a burger jammed with grilled onions and french fries.
The hoax, which first appeared on Foodbeast, got mentioned on some blogs, on a newspaper website and even garnered a tweet and photograph from an ESPN and ABC News reporter who declared that the fictional burger appears on In-N-Out’s “secret menu.”
“In-N-Out new secret menu order: Monkey Style (animal style fries in a burger pic.twitter.com/Kqbok4WL6i (H/T @jordynhall4, @foodbeast),” reporter Darren Rovell wrote.
But, there’s no such thing.
So how does one cook up a media frenzy?
It began at 8:51 a.m. on Friday. Foodbeast’s Elie Ayrouth wrote
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If your business rents an office, store, warehouse, or other commercial premises, you’re responsible for any property you use or store there, as well any damage you cause to the rented property. Commercial Renters insurance (also known as Business or Commercial Property coverage) will repay you if your equipment or stock is stolen or damaged, or if you damage the premises inadvertently.
Some Commercial Renters policies also provide limited protection for possessions of your employees on premises. You might also want to buy additional coverage for flood damage, and/or glass windows and displays, as well as Business Interruption insurance (which will reimburse you if fire or theft keeps you from operating).
The premium depends on the risk factors facing your business. For example, the risk of fire depends upon how the premises you’re renting is constructed, whether it has a sprinkler system, and its distance from the nearest fire station. If you rent in a high-crime area or have particularly valuable or desirable inventory or equipment, you’ll pay a higher premium.
You can reduce the premium by increasing your deductible and/or installing fire and theft alarms and other safety devices.
When insuring equipment and inventory, you can choose either replacement cost or present value coverage. Replacement cost, which is more expensive, will reimburse you for the full cost of buying new items. Present value reduces your reimbursement by calculating depreciation based on the age of the property.
If you run a home business from a rented dwelling, see if your Renters insurance covers property and liability for business activities. Although most policies don’t include this, you can obtain coverage through a policy rider.
To learn more, just give us a call at any time.
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The ammonium nitrate fertilizer plant in West, Texas that exploded last April had only $1 million in Liability insurance, which could cover as little as one percent of the estimated damage from the blast.
What’s more, according to an attorney for Adair Grain, Inc., which owns the West Fertilizer Co. the company did not carry Excess or Umbrella coverage.
The explosion occurred on April 17, killing 15 people (including 10 first responders), and injuring more than 200 others The blast, which left a 90-foot wide crater and registered on the Richter earthquake scale,, damaged or destroyed more than 150 buildings up to nearly 40 blocks away. A spokeswoman from the state insurance department estimated that damage could cost tens of millions of dollars, adding that other sources have pegged potential losses as high as $100 million.
At least six lawsuits representing hundreds of plaintiffs have been filed against the company and its owner. One of the plaintiffs’ attorneys, Randy Roberts, says that even though he was “floored” by the low level of West Fertilizer’s Liability coverage, “It’s not uncommon to see very serious operations [in Texas] conducted with minimum insurance or, in fact, no insurance.”
He expects that Adair will ask a judge to divide the $1 million in Liability coverage among the plaintiffs, and then file for bankruptcy – after which attorneys will look to see if other companies can be held liable for the explosion. “I don’t see the million taking care of even my three clients, much less the hundreds of people that need to be taken of,” says Roberts.
This disaster reinforces the need to make sure that you carry enough Liability coverage to protect your business against a worst-case scenario. As always, our Scurich Insurance Services Representatives are standing by ready to help.
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Photo Credit: Wally Skalij, Los Angeles Times
WASHINGTON — U.S. senators headed home for a Fourth of July recess without passing a bill that would prevent interest rates from doubling on student loans next week, leading to a ramp-up of political finger-pointing.
Last year, Democrats used the looming increase in the cost of student loans to great political effect, pressuring Republicans in an election year and rallying young voters in support of President Obama‘s campaign.
Now, as a temporary extension of discounted interest rates is set to lapse, Democrats are at odds with one another over the issue, with the party’s leaders privately grumbling about a White House proposal nearer to Republicans’ solution than their own.
So Republicans are happily turning the political heat on Democrats.
“Interest rates on student loans are about to double because the president and Senate Democrats won’t resolve this impasse,” said House Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio).
The divide among Democrats was evident in dueling press conferences Thursday.
In one, a bipartisan group detailed what they called a compromise plan that would bridge differences in market-based plans passed by the House, proposed by Senate Republicans and initially offered by Obama in his budget.
This article was not created by Scurich Insurance. This article was taken from www.latimes.com written by Michael Memoli.
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