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As with any business, agricultural producers face risks of all kinds....are in the cost of the program * Agricultural producers are personally respon...

... region's standing as the most agriculturally productive in the nation. Abo...

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?

Our next Second Saturday On The Farm is on Saturday, March 8, 11 am – 3 pm at the Santa Cruz County Fairgrounds, Highway 152 outside Watsonville.  This event is FREE! Donations appreciated. Bring your whole neighborhood to participate! This Second Saturday on the Farm features a scheduled talk on how robots are used in the agriculture industry in Santa Cruz County and around the world, plus LEGO building, robotic car races, programming, drawing a robot, competing sumo robots, hayrides, movies, practice cow milking, and other activities for children. 11:00 am – 3:00 pm:  LEGO building, Robotic car races, Programming a BeeBot robot, drawing a robot, Sumo robotics, and other fun activities for children. 1:00 pm – 1:30 pm:  Learn to Discover, an educational nonprofit organization, will be discussing Robots in the Agriculture Industry. Ongoing:  Our popular tractor driving, practice cow milking, water pumping, and other fun activities for kids. Brian and Shelly Laschkewitsch from Learn to Discover will be facilitating many of the fun learning activities about robotics at this event. Learn to Discover is a 501 c(3) nonprofit that designs, develops and delivers high-quality, hands-on STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art & Math) courses and activities to kids from pre-school through high-school. Content provided by http://www.aghistoryproject.org/event/second-saturday-farm-robotics-agriculture/

...er, and play with hoops at the Agricultural History Project. Our Gift Shop and...14, 2013, 11:00 AM  Where:  Agricultural History Project, 2601 E Lake Av...

Business continuity planning is one of the most critical components of any recovery strategy. Companies today face an unprecedented number of exposures. The frequency and severity of weather-related events seem to be increasing. Reliance on a complex network of technology and supply chains is expanding. Both leave businesses susceptible to a variety of existing and emerging risks. Managing these risks is key to the survival of any organization. Why Business Continuity? MISCONCEPTION: "Our people will know what to do in an emergency." REALITY: Even the best employees cannot be expected to know what to do when disaster strikes. Leaving each to respond in his or her own way only adds to the confusion of an event. Having a well-documented business continuity plan in advance, and training your employees to follow it, gets everyone on the same page — helping ensure an organized, safe and timely recovery. MISCONCEPTION: "We have insurance to cover our losses." REALITY: Insurance alone is NOT a business continuity strategy. Proper coverage is a significant and important part of the plan. But it may not fully cover some of the peripheral damages from an event, like loss of customers, loss of market share, or setbacks in development or release of a new product. Consult with your insurance agent to understand what is and is not covered under your policy. MISCONCEPTION: "We don't have the time to develop a business continuity plan." REALITY: Time spent developing and maintaining a business continuity plan is an investment in your company. Your fixed costs will continue after an event whether or not you are open for business. The faster you can return your operations to normal, the more likely you will recover from the event successfully. With so much at stake, your company can't afford to NOT have a plan. MISCONCEPTION:  "Business continuity and disaster recovery planning are the same." REALITY: Business continuity is a proactive plan to avoid and mitigate risks associated with a disruption of operations. It details steps to be taken before, during and after an event to maintain the financial viability of an organization.  Disaster recovery is a reactive plan for responding after an event. It deals with the safety and restoration of critical personnel, locations, and operational procedures after a disaster, and is a part of business continuity planning. A business continuity plan is one of the best investments your company can make. From Hurricane Sandy and 9/11 to the tornadoes in Oklahoma – companies that proactively consider how to respond to events are the first to get back to business, often at the expense of competitors. A predefined business continuity plan, combined with the proper insurance coverage, maximizes the chance of a successful recovery by eliminating hasty decision-making under stressful conditions. It details how to get businesses back on track after a disruption – in the most thoughtful way possible. Think your business can withstand a disaster? Think again. Twenty-five percent of businesses do not reopen following a major event.1 It does not take a major catastrophe to shut down a business. In fact, seemingly minor disruptions compared to widespread natural disasters can often cause significant damage – power failures, broken water pipes, or loss of computer data. A Travelers study found that 48 percent of small businesses are operating without any type of business continuity plan…Yet 95 percent indicated they felt they were prepared. Is your business continuity plan predominately an insurance policy? Is it predominately an emergency response or evacuation plan? Is it predominately an IT or data recovery plan? Is it something you developed that sits in a binder on a shelf? If you answered "Yes" to any of these questions, then your business continuity plan may be giving you a false sense of security. Natural disasters are more common – and costly – than you may realize. In 2012, nine of the top 10 most expensive world-wide natural disasters happened in the United States. With $77 billion in insured losses worldwide, 2012 was the third costliest year on record. The first was 2011, when $126 billion in insured losses were reported.2 Business continuity planning for a competitive advantage. An alarming 48% of business owners surveyed by Travelers in 2012 said they have no plan in place. That means business continuity planning is more than smart business – it helps your company remain better positioned to recover from the business interruption, property damage, financial impact, and loss of life that a natural disaster or man-made event may cause. The time for business continuity planning is now. Planning for a disruption or catastrophic event should happen when business is going well, not when disaster strikes. Having a pre-defined, well-documented business continuity plan that clearly communicates how your business will respond during an event can help mitigate risk – and is one of the best investments your company can make. 1Source: Insurance Institute of Business & Home Safety; http://www.disastersafety.org/ 2Source: Insurance Journal; http://www.insurancejournal.com/news/national/2013/03/27/286235.htm

The trees in your yard can enhance your property, provide shade and offer abundant environmental benefits. However, trees can also pose a safety hazard to your family and your home if they are not properly inspected and maintained. Trees can present a particularly significant danger during a storm. Wind, lightning, snow and ice can all transform a tranquil row of trees into an imminent threat to your property. Proper tree maintenance involves more than pruning and trimming overgrown branches. These are some of the key steps you can take to protect your trees and prevent them from becoming a safety hazard. The trees in your yard can enhance your property, provide shade and offer abundant environmental benefits. However, trees can also pose a safety hazard to your family and your home if they are not properly inspected and maintained. Trees can present a particularly significant danger during a storm. Wind, lightning, snow and ice can all transform a tranquil row of trees into an imminent threat to your property. Proper tree maintenance involves more than pruning and trimming overgrown branches. These are some of the key steps you can take to protect your trees and prevent them from becoming a safety hazard. Steps to Take Before a Storm Remove any dead trees on your property. Enhance the health of trees through timely watering, proper fertilization and protection from soil compaction. Healthy trees will be able to better adapt to changes in the environment, remain firm in the wind and react more effectively to damage. Regularly prune dead or broken limbs to help trees maintain their structural integrity. In addition, thin excess branches every three to five years. For more information, visit arborday.org. Remove or treat pest problems as soon as you spot them to minimize potential damage to trees. Be careful not to over-treat tree hollows, and do not remove decayed wood from hollows unless it falls away in your hands. Cleaning hollows can cause additional internal damage to trees. If possible, cover the opening to hollows. Six Signs to Monitor When performing maintenance on the trees in your yard, please make safety a priority. If you are unable to safely prune or remove trees and limbs, contact a professional tree-care service or arborist to help you do so. It may be a good idea to consult with a professional if the trees in your yard already display any of the following characteristics: Cracks in the trunk or major limbs Signs of hollowing and decay Mushrooms growing from the bark Significant leaning to one side Limbs in contact with power lines Branches hanging over your house Although the branches may not be touching your house under normal conditions, high winds can cause trees and branches to bend or break. Sources: Travelers, Clatterbuck, Wayne. "Storm-Damaged Residential Trees: Assessment, Care and Prevention." Extension.Tennessee.edu. The University of Tennessee; Coder, Kim. "Storm Damaged Trees: Prevention & Treatments." Warnell.Forestry.UGA.edu. The University of Georgia.

It's a regular occurrence for contractors: You receive a request from another party (an owner, general contractor, lien holder, other contractor, or a government entity) to add them as an additional insured on your insurance policies. Whether that's a good idea is up to you -- but the party often makes it clear that if you want to do business you'll need to add them as an additional insured. However, it's not necessarily a good idea to add this entity to all of your policies. For example, your Excess Liability coverages -- such as those under Umbrella insurance -- were probably bought specifically for your own protection in case of catastrophic loss. If an additional insured, who might be well within their rights, is added to your policies with protection up to your basic coverage limits, will they also be allowed to "piggyback" up to the full amount of your coverage? We'd advise you not to set up any procedure that makes all of your coverage limits available automatically to any additional insured. Add them to the specific coverages and amounts that they request, but go no further. If in doubt, consult with your attorney about contractual requirements and possible gaps between what the entity is requesting in being added to your coverage and what your coverage will actually provide. Once you're certain what you're being asked to do, and have decided that it's in your best interest to meet this request, there's one more action to take before adding the additional party to your coverages. Contact us to determine if your current coverage already meets the needed conditions, or what modifications (if any) might be required to do so. Remember: Although we want to help you meet your needs, our focus always remains on protecting you, even if against unreasonable demands from other entities. We're here to help.

A survey by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found that 69% of U.S. drivers talked on their cell phones - and 31% read or sent text messages or e-mails while driving. "The cell phone can be a fatal distraction for those who use it while they drive," warns CDC Director Thomas Frieden. Using cell phones to text behind the wheel can increase the danger of fatal crashes by six to 23 times, and drivers using hand-held devices are four times more likely to become involved in crashes serious enough to injure themselves. You probably have rules about employees talking on their phones and texting while driving - but are they following them? According to Jim Evans, president of human resources consulting firm JK Evans & Associates, some bosses turn a blind eye to cell phone use behind the wheel, while others don't want to cut into their employees' productivity. His advice to employers: "Dust off the old cell phone policy or unwritten practices and revisit whether employee safety and employer liability is at risk." To minimize this danger, your company should require employees who drive on the job to: Turn off personal phones or switch them to silent mode before entering a company vehicle. Pull over to a safe area if they need to make a cell phone call or send or answer a text message. Ask a helper or another passenger to make a return call. Contact supervisors or dispatchers when the vehicle is parked. Avoid smoking, eating, drinking, reading, and any other activities that distract them behind the wheel. Tell people who call them while driving that they'll call back after reaching their destination. Not send or answer text messages, surf the Web, or read e-mails.

Summer is right around the corner, and with it comes a parade of graduations, barbecues, holidays and other gatherings with family and friends. Although summer parties are a source of excitement for most people, these get-togethers can also raise the risk of expensive liability claims.  Whether you are throwing a birthday party or hosting a Father's Day picnic at your home, you never know when an accident could occur. As more people enter your home, the risk of someone sustaining an injury on your property increases dramatically. For example, if you are operating a grill during a summer barbecue, your guests could be burnt accidentally. Likewise, if you own a pool, guests could injure themselves diving in, or they could slip and fall on the wet ground next to the pool. If someone sustains an injury on your property, they may file a lawsuit against you in order to recover medical expenses and/or lost wages related to the injury. If you don't have enough homeowners insurance coverage to pay the damages awarded to the individual in court, you will be forced to come up with the money on your own, which can lead to serious financial problems. In some cases, a large liability settlement could even require you to file bankruptcy or sell your home and other valuable assets in order to pay the amount you owe. If you are planning to host any parties this summer, review your homeowners insurance policy before you send out the invitations to ensure that you have the proper amount of liability coverage. If you discover that your coverage is lacking, consider investing in additional coverage to protect yourself against loss. If you aren't sure whether your policy provides sufficient coverage, consult our office for guidance.