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...nagers, and improve the health of workers. Fungi, a biological contaminant th...

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Some type of health exam is a requirement before you can take out many life insurance policies. The result of this exam can have a significant impact on your rates, and even on whether you qualify for a particular policy at all. Following these simple tips can help ensure that your health exam goes smoothly.# 1: Eat a Healthy DietAs soon as you know you are going to be taking the exam, start doing your best to eat a healthy diet. Many people feel that if their diet has been less than perfect in the past, there is no point in improving it before a health exam -- but nothing could be further from the truth! In particular, try to minimize or eliminate your intake of fried, salty or sugary foods, as well as sodas and alcoholic beverages. Instead, eat a balanced, nutritious diet containing plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables, complex carbs and lean proteins.# 2: Stop SmokingNever smoking at all, or at least stopping permanently, is of course the best course of action for your long-term health. However, if you do smoke, you can improve your exam results simply by not smoking for at least 24 hours prior to the exam; this will help improve your blood work, blood pressure and heart rate.# 3: Cut Back on Physical ExertionNormally, of course, physical exercise is very good for your health. However, for two to three days before the exam, avoid hard physical work and exercise. Such exertion can elevate the protein in your urine and be erroneously flagged as a kidney issue.# 4: RestGo to bed early the night before your exam. Fatigue can negatively impact certain components in your blood, giving the appearance of a chronic health problem you do not actually have.# 5: Avoid Caffeinated Beverages and StimulantsFinally, avoid caffeine as much as possible during the days leading up to the exam. Caffeine can elevate your heart rate and blood pressure, negatively impacting the results of your exam.

There are many reasons why your company needs a business continuity plan. Having a strategy – before an event happens – helps to maximize the chance your business can recover while minimizing the loss of property, life and assets. Developing your business continuity plan should be a thoughtful process resulting in a plan that can be beneficial to you if an event occurs. Start by assembling a team of key decision-makers who will lead your continuity planning efforts. Senior management, team leaders and anyone with in-depth knowledge about business operations should be included. Four Steps to Developing an Effective Business Continuity Plan Identify threats or risks Understanding the risks that could leave employees, customers, vendors, property and operations vulnerable is fundamental. Threats can include, but are not limited to natural disasters, malicious attacks, power outages and system failures. Identify the risks most likely to occur based on historical, geographical, organizational and other factors. Then weigh the probability of each event against its potential impact to your business, as well as your readiness to respond. Conduct a business impact analysis Identify the people, places, providers, processes and programs critical to the survival of your business. What functions and resources, if interrupted or lost, could impact your ability to provide goods and services or meet regulatory requirements? Consider who and what is absolutely necessary to restore critical operations. Then prioritize the need to restore each item after the event. Plan to use limited resources wisely. Complementary functions can always be restored later. Adopt controls for prevention and mitigation Prevention and mitigation planning and activities are intended to help prevent an event (such as a fire or explosion from unsafe conditions) as well as to reduce the impact or severity of an event (such as relocating critical equipment to a higher elevation in flood-susceptible areas). Your prevention and mitigation plans should address, among other things, emergency response, public relations, resource management, and employee communications. Test, exercise and improve your plan routinely A business continuity plan is an evolving strategy that should adapt to your company’s ever-changing needs. Test and update it regularly – yearly at a minimum – or any time critical functions, facilities, suppliers or personnel change. Train employees to understand their role in executing the plan, too. Exercises can include discussions or hypothetical walk-throughs of scenarios to live drills or simulations. The key is to ensure the plan works as intended.

Given the ever expanded concept of what constitutes a disability, employers will continue to face an ever growing compliance challenge. Here are some basics to be remembered: Knowledge of the need to accommodate an employee can come from numerous sources including a work comp claims manager, a company supervisor or manager, HR, the employee themselves, a union rep, a doctor, poor performance, simple observation, or some kind of hotline call. To have a good process, it must be laid out step-by-step with supporting documentation. Be interactive. Remember the rule that the first to give up on the dialogue process generally loses. Have appropriate education and training. For example, HR could create a simple video to help employees with the accommodation process. Allow managers to engage in simple, easy and quick accommodations. Proper documentation of all steps in the process. Ongoing communication, monitoring, feedback, and improvement. The accommodation process begins with a needs assessment. This means a thorough review of the job description and duties and a clear understanding of the employee's limitations including potential absences etc. Remember you can accommodate an employee by the following means: Changing facilities or equipment Job restrictions Modifying schedules Modifying a test, training, or policies Offering vacant positions within their skill range Offering temporary positions (the ADA does not require you to create a new position for an employee) Support including readers, interpreters, or even dogs A leave of absence Any other idea that would generate a reasonable accommodation Proper documentation of any undue burden One of the biggest mistakes an employer makes is to assume in advance that an accommodation would create an undue burden. If the request is reasonable, the best approach is to let them try it and to be clear about performance standards. Document any shortcomings their accommodations may be causing and continue to communicate about ways to elevate them. There is extensive material on the ADA on HR That Works including flow charts, checklists, forms, and policies to use. There is also training you can provide your managers (a good idea). Also remember if you have over 50 employees the FMLA may allow an employee who has serious medical condition up to 12 weeks of leave which they may use instead of accepting an accommodation.

...e to indemnify a municipality. Elevator maintenance agreements. Almost al...

...ake the cab, someone holding the elevator, say thank you like you mean it! ...