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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.

Some companies employ workers who work alone or in remote areas where injuries and illnesses can occur, resulting in delays in emergency response or medical assistance. They include people who work outside normal business hours, such as janitors, security guards, special production, plant maintenance or repair staff, delivery truck drivers, and others. Protecting the safety of these lone or remote workers isn't always easy - but it's your responsibility. In some cases, you must monitor the exposure of these workers to identify potential hazards, assess the risks of injury or illness, and take steps to eliminate or control them. Bear in mind that some high-risk activities have safety regulations which require at least one other person to do the job, such as confined space work (defined by OSHA regulations) or electrical work at or near exposed live conductors. If you have any employees out in the field or working alone, consider what safety measures to take to protect their well-being and security. A well-thought-out safety program for these employees is an essential first step. Hazard control measures might include: Safety Awareness information. Training. Supervision. Protective Equipment. Communication and Monitoring devices. Take steps to make sure that these safety control measures remain in effect - and review your plan at regular intervals by doing a risk assessment in areas where employees work alone. As your professional insurance agents, it's our responsibility to help you keep all of your workers safe at all times. Give us a call at any time to discuss how we can help.

Any travel during winter months is risky. Storms come out of nowhere, roads become icy quickly and inexperienced drivers take unwise risks. Be prepared to stay safe on the road thanks to eight winter driving tips. 1. Check the forecast. In less than a minute, you can find out if you'll be driving in fog, snow or ice. You can also discover which roads are blocked and if you need to find an alternative route to your destination. 2. Slow down. In snowy conditions, cut your speed in half to ensure you have adequate stopping distance. Don't go so slow, though, that you lose momentum on grades. 3. Know skid recovery. Braking on slippery roads can cause your vehicle to slide instead of stop. If this happens, you need to know how to recover. Stay off the brake and steer your vehicle the way you want it to go. 4. Stay smooth at the controls. Pounding on the brake, shifting hard and even clenching the steering wheel make winter driving harder than it has to be. Instead, use smooth motions and relax as you drive. 5. Check your tires. Proper tire inflation and tread improve your vehicle's traction and ability to stay on the wet or icy roads. Check the inflation of your snow tires frequently since cold weather decreases tire pressure, and make sure the tread is at least 1/8-inch. Carry snow chains, too, if necessary. 6. Know your vehicle. Every car and truck handles differently. Before heading out in winter weather, make sure you know how your vehicle handles. Know where the windshield wipers, defrost button and four-ways are, too. 7. Pack survival supplies. If you're stranded or in an accident, you need a few supplies. Definitely store a snow shovel, sand or litter and lock de-icer in your vehicle. Consider packing a portable power source, flashlight, waterproof matches, tow rope, first aid kit, energy bars and blanket also. If you do get stranded, wait for help to arrive. 8. Stay hydrated. Dehydration can make you drowsy and reduce alertness. Drink water before you head out and carry a bottle or two with you so that you can stay alert. Winter driving can be dangerous, but follow these eight tips to stay safe. Remember to check in with your auto insurance agent, too. Update your policy as you prepare for whatever winter throws at you on the road.

Jose Pineda Rivas could use the cash. He's got rent to pay, and his tooth hurts so badly he needs to see a dentist. But these days, money for fieldworkers like Rivas in this drought-parched stretch of California is about as scarce as rain. And the situation is likely to get worse before it gets better. The 61-year-old farmhand, who lives in a small home with his wife and a friend's family, is hardly making enough to cover basic expenses, let alone pricey dental work. He thinks he can afford to get his aching tooth removed, he said. But actually replace it? Not a chance. As he tipped back his straw hat and morosely gazed at his flip phone on a recent day, Rivas explained that the crew boss at a nearby tomato farm was supposed to contact him about returning to work. But the call hadn't come. It's the same desperate story all over the Central Valley. Like many fieldworkers in Mendota, a rural community 35 miles west of Fresno dubbed the Cantaloupe Center of the World, Rivas finds his seasonal job of more than two decades at risk of disappearing because of the statewide drought. Drought leaves field barren Fields that normally come to life by April with the planting of tomatoes and melons have been left barren due to insufficient water. And that means less farm work to go around. "Usually this time of year, we'll all be going out and weeding and laying irrigation line," Rivas said in Spanish. "None of that work has happened, and who knows when it will?" A near-record dry winter has put California in the grip of its worst drought in decades. While many parts of the state have yet to feel any real impact - no cutbacks, no stiff rationing - that's not the case in the farm towns of the San Joaquin Valley, where water is the touchstone of the economy and underpins the region's standing as the most agriculturally productive in the nation. About 20,000 farm jobs statewide stand to be lost this year out of 400,000, the bulk of them in the valley, said Jeffrey Michael, director of the Business Forecasting Center at the University of the Pacific in Stockton. The estimate does not include thousands of additional jobs supporting agriculture: the truck drivers, packers and processors, as well as the merchants, real estate agents and teachers serving these farm communities. "We know that this year unemployment is going to be significantly worse than it's been in a long time," said Michael, whose job loss projections are based on the amount of farmland likely to be fallowed. The lost work, he added, will only compound hardship that bedevils many valley towns where unemployment rates consistently rank among the highest in the state. In Mendota, where about half of the 11,000 residents are in families living below the federal poverty line, the jobless rate stood at 37 percent as of the last count in March, according to state data. The mayor of Mendota suggested that unemployment could hit 50 percent by summer as the effects of the drought fully play out - a level higher than what was seen during the recent recession. Read the entire article here. Content provided by http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/California-drought-Jobs-money-dry-up-in-farm-5431129.php

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