Several courts have found yet another way for someone to sue contractors.
This term refers to lawsuits against you for alleged failure to exercise proper control over your employers. For example, one of your employees might be accused of injuring others recklessly while driving a truck on company business. A “negligent supervision” suit would claim that you were negligent in hiring this worker because you either failed to discover or ignored the fact that she had a record of reckless driving.
You also have an obligation to supervise your staff. Although you can’t foresee every incident, a court will look at whether you took reasonable steps to identify and guard against potential wrongdoing by your employees: everything from unsafe behavior on the job site to sexual harassment. It’s not only about whether a worker actually committed an offence – it’s about what you did to prevent it.
To head off liability for negligent supervision, we’d recommend that you:
- Set and enforce clear guidelines for interviewing and hiring employees.
- Provide training in conflict resolution and communication. Supervisors need to know when to report certain behaviors and which behaviors to look for, such as verbal abuse, failing to cooperate with supervisors or co-workers .and making inappropriate comments.
- Conduct regular performance evaluations to address specific behavior or job performance changes.
- Provide multiple avenues to receive allegations of misbehavior, and have unbiased managers investigate complaints so that no conflicts of interest exist. Investigate every incidents promptly and take decisive action.
We stand ready to review your company’s exposure to negligent supervision claims – and how your Liability insurance coverage can help protect you. Just give us a call.
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Across the nation, utility lines, tunnels, and structures run under our feet, Each year, excavators strike approximately 700,000 of these underground lines, often triggering potentially fatal accident (from steam, gas, propane, or electricity). A single strike might easily cost a contractor hundreds of thousands, or millions, if the accident leads to an interruption of service that shuts down a factory, hospital, telecommunication lines– even a missile silo.
In most cases, insurance will not cover these losses. To deal with this threat, the Common Ground Alliance coordinates 811 –Call before You Dig, a nationwide phone and online system that contractors can use to notify local utilities so they can “mark out” their facilities before excavation of anything from to a sewer to a subway. These markouts are required under state law.
When you use the call 811.com system, bear in mind that:
- It doesn’t matter where you are – downtown, in the middle of a suburban street, or building a private home.
- Call even if you’re confident that you know where something is buried (for example, if you installed the line); many contractors dig up lines that have just put in.
- Instead of marking the area with wooden stakes – which are all too easy to drive through gas lines – use white paint or “feathers;” even the most shallow excavation can be hazardous.
Remember, failing to contact 811.com before every excavation violates the law – and leaves you wide open to huge liability losses. Don’t take a chance your odds of losing in the Underground Damage Casino!
To learn more, just get in touch with the Construction Insurance Specialists at our agency.
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Unfortunately, a number of erroneous beliefs about worksite safety are widespread in the construction industry.
Here are seven common safety myths – and why they don’t pass the reality check:
- Safety programs ensure worker safety. In practice, this means that binders on a variety of topics (usually regurgitated OSHA standards) end up gathering dust on a back shelf.
- Safety is common sense. Taking risk is a very personal matter. Some people skydive, others bungee jump; some race automobiles, others rock climb.
- Incentive programs improve safety. Because these programs usually reward not having a recordable incident, they benefit workers been lucky enough to avoid accidents – not to mention a natural tendency not to report injuries.
- Progressive punishment ensures safety compliance. The best punishment can do is achieve temporary compliance. Effective policing must be continuous and consistent, with clear consequences.
- Firing noncomplying workers solves safety problems. This is like trying to cure a disease by treating its symptom. Instead, find the error that led to unacceptable behavior and change it.
- Safety training is a leading safety indicator. The sign-in sheet shows only who attended the meeting. For training to work, managers need to test what individual workers learned – or didn’t learn.
- Inspections and audits will uncover most workplace hazards. Inspections provide snapshots of workplace conditions at a given time, rather than an accurate picture of ongoing operations or activities.
Every construction firm needs to evaluate its safety systems, practices, and procedures critically, challenge the status quo where needed – and take decisive action.
Our agency’s professionals would be happy to offer their advice at any time, free of charge.
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With so many demands on their time, many business owners find it difficult to learn enough about their insurance programs.
You’ve probably found yourself asking questions such as:
- Do I have the right coverages to protect my business from financial loss?
- Do I have any exposures to loss that aren’t covered and should be?
- Exactly what am I buying?
- Am I getting the best value for my premium dollar?
As insurance professionals, we help you answer these questions because we:
- Offer policies providing protection against a wide variety of risks that can threaten your business – everything from Accounts Receivable and Business Interruption through Employment Practices Liability and Glass Insurance to Theft coverage and Workers Compensation.
- Recommend an insurance company (from among the quality carriers that we represent) that will provide quality protection.
- Make it a point to learn how your business works so that we can pinpoint potential sources of loss.
- Design a program that minimizes the impact of these losses (incidentally, we don’t always recommend insurance).
- Provide comprehensive protect that’s tailored to your needs – and your pocketbook.
- Work with you to make sure that your coverage stays updated as your business grows.
In short, we take over one phase of your business for you, and work with you to accomplish your first goal – protecting your profits.
To help us help you make sure that your business insurance makes business sense, please feel free to get in touch with our agency’s professional at any time.
We’re here to serve.
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The use of narcotics in treating injured workers faces heavy scrutiny today – and for good reason. The latest National Council on Compensation Insurance, Inc. (NCCI) Annual Issues Symposium found that:
- The average cost of narcotics per Workers Comp claim rose from $39 in 2003 to $59 in 2011. This is a rate of 0.79 narcotic prescriptions per claim, up from 0.56 in 2003 – a 14% increase in eight years.
- More than 5% percent of Comp claims that resulted in at least one prescription for if anymedication included five or more narcotics prescriptions.
To curb the prescribing of narcotics for your injured employees, start by choosing the right Workers Comp physician.
In most states, businesses have the legal right to designate the physician that injured employees must use. To find a physician in your area who is board certified in Occupational Medicine, go to http://www.acoem.org/. If none is available, look for a doctor who takes patients on Workers Compensation. In many cases, urgent care clinics make great partners. Once you find a physician, talk to him or her about your business, discuss your return-to-work program and the types of transitional jobs you offer – and ask about their attitude toward prescribing narcotics.
Even if state law prohibits you from requiring injured workers to see a specific physician, you can still suggest that they do so. For example, you might say, “Doctor Joan at Acme Urgent Care has treated many of your co-workers and they’ve gotten better quickly.”
Selecting a doctor who doesn’t dispense drugs and only prescribes narcotics when they’re are absolutely necessary can go far to help injured employees get back to work and be healthy and productive as swiftly as possible – while keeping your Workers Comp costs under control.
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If you held your last fire or emergency evacuation drill more than six months ago, it’s time to think about staging another. Careful planning and evaluation can help you get the most out of these exercises, enhancing your employee’s chances of a safe evacuation.
Bear in mind that unannounced drills give you an idea of how workers might actually react in an emergency situation. On the other hand, announcing drills offer them the opportunity to prepare for and practice specific skill sets they would need.
Before a fire emergency arises, workers need to know:
- How to activate the appropriate alarm system(s).
- How and when to contact the fire department.
- What to do before they evacuate—such as shutting down equipment.
- Their role in the evacuation. For example, they might need to assist disabled co-workers, help contractors or visitors on the premises, bring essential items such as visitor logs that can be used to verify that everyone is out of the building, provide first aid for injured co-workers, or act to prevent or minimize hazardous chemical releases.
- How to evacuate their work area by at least two routes.
- The locations of stairwells (workers should not use elevators to evacuate).
- Places to avoid – such as hazardous materials storage areas.
- Assembly points outside the building.
After the drill, evaluate the exercise to determine which problems need addressing.
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