Risk Management | Insurance Writer

Tops tips to bulletproof your workers’ compensation program

Last week I presented on ways employers can improve their workers’ compensation program at the Arizona Small Business Association’s annual meeting. Here are the key takeaways for Arizona businesses who have workers’ compensation insurance.

Don’t treat employees as subcontractors. Many businesses, especially in the trades like plumbing or roofing, make this costly error. This is a priority fix both for your employment tax obligations and for covering your employees under workers’ compensation. In Arizona, all you need is one full- or part-time employee (as defined by the IRS or an administrative law judge) to need workers’ compensation insurance.

Tighten injury reporting protocols. Rapid report to your carrier makes a huge difference in workers’ compensation costs. Back injuries are 35% more expensive if not reported within the first week, for example.

Do you have the best agent for your business needs? Does the brokerage or agency offer tools like Modmaster to help you reevaluate your experience modification factor and pinpoint what each injury costs? If not, maybe it’s time to find a new agent.

How’s your safety culture? Safety begins at the top. Employees can’t push safety uphill. Beginning each meeting with a safety report and forming a safety committee of line employees will make a big difference in your organization’s culture.

Where do you need safety training? Can your agent or insurer provide training resources? Spending a little money for training will save you lots of money (and administrative costs) in the long run.

Do you need stronger hiring practices? Spend money pre-hire by using thorough pre-employment physicals, background checks and testing to eliminate undesirable candidates before you hire them.

Do you know who your adjusters are? Ask your carrier for an introduction if you haven’t met them. Skype or phone conferences quarterly can help, or better yet, on-site visits to discuss each loss, will help reduce costs.

Hone in on those claims where employees don’t get better. Work with your carrier to manage these long-term claims. Ask your adjuster to specifically outline their plan of action on the claim.

Do you have a return-to-work program? If not, you run the risk of an employment claim and increase the cost of each of your claims. Never tell an employee, “We can’t take you back until you’re 100%.”

Make your workplace a healthier one! Comorbidities like obesity, diabetes and hypertension drive medical and workers’ compensation costs. There are many vendors that can bring resources to your workplace to help manage health, including your health insurance carrier.

If I can help you improve your workers’ compensation program, call me for a no-obligation consultation today at 602.870.3230.

Cavalcade of Risk posted

For an overview of the latest in risk management trends, read this week’s Cavalcade of Risk.

Tips to avoid a dryer fire

How safe is your dryer? According to the US Fire Administration (USFA), about 2,900 dryer fires occur each year in the United States. These fires caused five deaths, about 100 injuries and over $35 million in property losses annually. While the leading cause of dryer fires is accumulated dust, fiber and lint, the type of exhaust hose you install can greatly reduce your risk of fire.

Using a plastic or vinyl dryer hose can cause fires, according to the USFA. The photo shows in the top half the type of dryer exhaust hose you should use. If you are currently using the bottom type, a plastic hose, replace it immediately. These types of hoses can melt or ignite.

It’s always a good idea to take a few other preventative measures. 1) Clean your lint filter after each cycle. 2) Install a smoke alarm in your laundry room or adjacent to your dryer. 3) Never leave the dryer running when you’re away from home. 4) Never vent your dryer anywhere except directly outdoors. Venting into an attic or soffit is a recipe for fire and violates most local fire codes.

The average cost of a dryer fire if it’s contained to the room of origin ran just under $1,800 in the past few years, according to USFA. However, dryer fires that spread beyond the room of origin had an average cost of just over $49,000. Money is only part of the equation if a dryer fire breaks out in your home, however. Who can put a dollar value on the injury or death of a loved one, or the death of a beloved family pet, should a fire break out?

For further information on dryer safety, visit this link National Fire Protection Association link.

Risk Avoidance and What the Heck is Wrong With People?

I rarely go into Circle Ks or convenience stores or places of that ilk because I’d prefer not to get shot (risk avoidance). However, on the way to a volunteer gig the other day and against my better judgment, I stopped in a Circle K near Interstate 17 in Phoenix to buy a pop (or soda, as some call it). As I walked in, I noticed there was a mop bucket full of black water near the register and that my shoes stuck to the floor as I went to get my pop. As I filled my cup, I noticed a sign that said, “Out of straws.”

At the register I said hello to the cashier and asked the young man if he was holding out and if perhaps he did have a straw. He nearly started crying. He said they ran out of straws earlier in the day and he couldn’t get any from neighboring Circle Ks (franchise issues?). He said that people were so irate that they were dumping their entire sodas on the floor, which he had to clean up.

I asked, “Really, it’s like ‘I hereby dump my soda on the floor in protest because you are out of straws?'” Yes, he responded sadly. He said he had given his two-week notice because he just “just couldn’t take it anymore.”

Wow. Not having a straw for a Big Gulp? Not a rage-o-meter offense, in my humble opinion. Which leads me to today’s topic: “What the heck is wrong with people?” That young man, so traumatized by the day’s events that he quit his job, is a human being. He’s someone’s son, he’s a grandchild, and he’s a human being with feelings. Have we swung so low that we’re willing to dump our sugary sodas on the floor and our rage onto a poor cashier in a convenience store?

Don’t get me wrong. I know that everyone, me included, acts badly from time to time. We lose our temper in traffic, we snap at someone who may only be trying to help us, or we hang up in frustration on a customer-support person. However, for people to stoop this low, to “make a statement” that makes no statement other than they desperately need anger management, to me is simply beyond comprehension.

I have nothing deep and philosophical to say about this except it makes me much more aware that my behavior has consequences. It also reminds me that this type of bad behavior means we as risk management professionals will always have jobs.

I am so grateful that I don’t carry useless, non-specific rage over an imaginary victim status. When a store is out of straws, it isn’t a personal affront to me or an assault by the universe to make my life harder. Apparently, though, that rage is present in and acted on by many. And that, my friends, is exactly why I stay out of convenience stores. That and Milk Duds. But that’s another story.

Talent Management a Top Concern for the Nation’s Insurers

By 2020, an astounding 40 percent of the workforce will be our Millennials, born between 1976 and 2001. Is your organization ready?

Did you know that by 2014, Forbes predicts that 36 percent of the workforce will be comprised of Millennials? And by 2020, an astounding 40 percent of the workforce will be our Millennials, born between 1976 and 2001. Is your organization ready?

Yesterday I attended a Society of Insurance Trainers & Educators gathering in Scottsdale hosted by Markel. We discussed the current generation of Millennials entering the workforce and taking their places in many of the nation’s insurance internships. Where are we going to get this talent? I think the question that is perhaps more important is this: Once we recruit them, how do we manage them for their long-term growth and their long-term retention in the organization?

Here are a few facts we know about our Millennials.

More than high salaries, Millennials want to find careers that “make a difference.” Our industry has failed to capitalize on the fact that as an industry, we pump billions into the economy to restore people’s lives, allow businesses to grow and expand, and to promote worthwhile charities. Maybe we should strongly consider improving our image through our marketing efforts.
Millennials are the most chauffeured, tutored, scheduled and micromanaged generation in history. They are not, by and large, risk takers. You know that hovering manager who drives the self-directed Baby Boomer employees crazy (and often out the door)? Why not place that manager in charge of your new hires and interns? Mills want and need more reinforcement as opposed to Boomers, who generally want to be shown a desk and left alone.
As Millennials graduate from college, they are often swimming in debt. Let’s show Mills a career path with income factors they can tie to specific achievements, for example earning an Associate in Claims or the CPCU designation. This type of debt can be harrowing and worrying for so many millenials, that’s why some may turn to CreditAssociates to help them get out of this crushing time.
According to Pew Research Center, our Millennials are the most college-educated generation in US history. Holding a college degree, or even an advanced degree, does not necessarily mean that all those young people possess the skills to succeed in the insurance industry. Don’t be surprised when you must invest in teaching skills you assume a Millennial would have learned in college, like critical thinking or how to use a spreadsheet.
Millennials will be your biggest brand ambassadors. We need to encourage their responsible dialogue on social media, not discourage it or suppress it in the workplace. Almost one-quarter of Millennials factor their job choice on the hiring organization’s social media policies, according to the Forbes article.
Millennials will assume supervisory and management positions much more quickly than did we Boomers. Therefore, it is critical that we hire for leadership attributes: integrity, communication skills, self-confidence, a sense of humor, creativity and critical-thinking skills, to list just a few.

If you are concerned about where the insurance industry will find its next generation of talent, take heart. The industry has begun to seriously address this problem. (We’re never first to the scene of a fire, are we?) Let’s keep talking, but more importantly, let’s begin to change the perceptions of our industry to attract and retain that next generation.

Cavalcade of Risk #205

There’s a lot of great news and advice from the risk management front in this edition of the Cavalcade of Risk.

new-risk-manager400 — Risk management tips

There’s a lot of great news and advice from the risk management front in this edition of the Cavalcade of Risk. Let’s begin by evaluating the risk that your employer-provided health insurance may soon be a thing of the past. InsureBlog’s Nate Ogden evaluates Ezekial Emmanuel’s dire predictions.

When it comes to worker health and safety, Julie Ferguson of Workers’ Comp Insider says that it may be time to shake up the film industry again. According to Ms. Ferguson, it is no more acceptable for film employers to try to play fast and loose with worker lives than it is for coal mining, manufacturing, or any other industry. In her post Death on a Georgia Railroad Trestle, she talks about how a recent fatality is sparking calls for safety reforms in the Hollywood film community.

Speaking of worker health and safety, did you know you can probably avoid hiring your next workers’ compensation claim? Much of workers compensation cost containment is related to good information, good systems, and proper planning. When it comes to hiring, it can be staggering to think about the amount of liability a company is taking on with each new employee. When you bring on a new employee, you are also bringing on the liability that they can safely perform their job. Michael Stack at Reduce Your Workers’ Comp blog offers us a few tips.

We always look forward to a glimpse at Bob’s Cluttered Desk, and this month Robert Wilson looks at school shooting drills. States are embracing active shooter drills in public schools, conducting sometimes unannounced drills that simulate an active shooter on campus. In some districts teachers are expected to be shot by pellet guns as part of the training. Is this a good idea, or simply a way to traumatize teachers and their students?

How much does your genetic composition affect the risk you will have a chronic condition? The answer is not as much as you might have thought. Jason Shafrin of The Healthcare Economist investigates.

With today’s college students frequently graduating with loads of debt, Jon Haver of Pay My Student Loans blog, describes why today’s graduates need to consider life insurance now, not in the future.

Finally, at my Insurance Writer blog, I offer the top ten habits new risk managers should avoid to succeed in their new and often challenging positions. I learned many of these mistakes from first-hand experience.

Dennis Wall is our next host. He has chosen his theme and he is asking for posts related to residential mortgages, force-placed insurance, the participants in the mortgage process, the participants in the securitization of mortgages, and related themes.