• Try to make it personal. "Kneeling on the floor for the day is going to turn your knees into jelly in a few years."
• Tie the hazardous activity or condition to pain. "This night watchman dropped his flashlight, and when he bent down to pick it up, the rebar went right through his eye."
• Make comparisons. These cable clamps might work, but the fist-grips kind are the ones that should be used. See - they look like two fists gripping."
• Shift the blame. "I'm not sure who set this up, but because those cable clamps are upside down they won't hold much. Just flip them over and torque them again."
• Connect the correction to something the workers can share. Pass along additional information. Keep it simple, and use graphics whenever possible, If the concern is not having an eyewash station near a concrete pour, send a photo of a what a worker's eye looks like after a concrete burn.
• Share a story. "I can beat that!" This phrase continues conversation in bars across the world. Tell a workplace hazard anecdote that you've heard or witnessed - and then stop talking! Chances are another worker will share a similar story. One-upmanship is a skill we all enjoy, and helps keeps a good Correction Conversation alive.

Several courts have found yet another way for someone to sue contractors.

• 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.

1. It doesn't matter where you are - downtown, in the middle of a suburban street, or building a private home.
2. 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.
3. 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.

1. 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.
2. Safety is common sense. Taking risk is a very personal matter. Some people skydive, others bungee jump; some race automobiles, others rock climb.
3. 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.
4. Progressive punishment ensures safety compliance. The best punishment can do is achieve temporary compliance. Effective policing must be continuous and consistent, with clear consequences.
5. 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.
6. 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.
7. 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.

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:

1. Do I have the right coverages to protect my business from financial loss?
2. Do I have any exposures to loss that aren't covered and should be?
3. Exactly what am I buying?
4. 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.

• 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.

• 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.

1. Provide your employees with safety training.
2. Develop strategies to measure how reporting near misses improves safety performance.
3. Recognize and reward employees for proactive safety engagement.
4. Have your safety committee oversee the reporting process.
5. Provide incident investigations training for all managers that includes mentoring help for new staff members.
6. Investigate everything! The time you spend investigating near misses will yield long-term rewards by eliminating the time, expense, and hassle of dealing with major (possibly fatal) injuries or property loss - not to mention the impact on productivity and workplace morale.
7. Conduct comprehensive follow-up on corrective action plans. Ask who, what, and by when - and make sure that these changes are made.
8. Report on all investigations. Making sure that every employee hears about every near miss will encourage reporting of future incidents, as workers realize that speaking out will help them do their work more safely.

Employment-related accidents behind the wheel are the leading cause of death from traumatic injuries in the workplace, killing some 2,200 people a year and accounting for 22% of job-related fatalities. Deaths and injuries from these accidents increase costs and reduce productivity for employers - while bringing pain and suffering to family, friends, and coworkers.

Preventing work-related roadway crashes poses a significant risk management challenge. The roadway is a unique work environment. Compared with other work settings, employers have little ability to control conditions and exert direct supervision over their drivers. The volume of traffic and road construction continue to increase, while workers feel pressured to drive faster for longer periods, and often use mobile electronic devices that distract them behind the wheel.

To help reduce this risk, for both long-distance truck drivers and employees who occasionally use personal vehicles for company business, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) recommends that employers follow these precautions:

• Require drivers and passengers to use seat belts.
• Ensure that employees who drive on the job have valid licenses.
• Incorporate road fatigue management in safety programs.
• Provide fleet vehicles with top quality crash protection.
• Make sure employees receive training to operate specialized vehicles.
• Offer periodic vision screening and physicals for employees whose primary job is driving.
• Avoid requiring workers to drive irregular or extended hours.
• Prohibit cell phone use and other distracting activities such as eating, drinking, or adjusting non-critical vehicle controls while driving.
• Set schedules that allow drivers to obey speed limits.
• Follow state laws on graduated driver's licensing and child labor.

For more information about how to prevent work-related driving deaths and injuries, just give one of our Risk Management experts a call at any time.

If you have teenagers, you're well aware that they're all too prone to take risks. Four in five U.S. teen (80%) have part-time jobs. Of these, more than half (52%) are in the retail sector, which includes restaurants and fast food establishments.

To help keep themselves safe on the job - and thus reduce their employers' risk-management exposure - teenagers who work in restaurants and agriculture can use interactive web-based training tools provided by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).

According to OSHA, educating and training young people about safety in the workplace can help prevent injuries today and lead to a healthy workforce in the future. These resources provide practical information to protect young workers from hazards in industries where many of them are likely to work during high school and college.

The Teen Worker Safety in Restaurants eTool highlights the most common hazards in these workplaces and offers safety and health suggestions, safety posters, and electronic links to educate young workers about job safety. Areas of focus include serving, clean-up, drive-thru, cooking, food preparation, delivery, and worker rights and child labor laws.

The Youth in Agriculture eTool presents case studies that describe common hazards and offers safety solutions for teenage workers in such areas as farm equipment operations, confined spaces, and prevention of c injuries g from falls, electrocutions, and chemical exposures.

The OSHA Teen Workers page offers educational resources such as fact sheets on workplace rights and responsibilities, hazards on the job, ways to prevent injuries, work hours, job restrictions, etc.

Letting teenage workers know about these resources can benefit them - and their employers. What's not to like?