Industry News
Risk Bow Tie Exercise
Author, Sam Brown, Vice President, Human Services Group, Rancho Mesa Insurance Services, Inc.
Rancho Mesa’s non-profit clients successfully serve their communities in changing economic and political climates. In part, their success is due to managing risk for an organization’s employees, clients, finances, and mission. Just as important, but less discussed than risk management, is risk analysis. This article offers one helpful tool non-profit leaders can use to facilitate risk analysis, the Risk Bow Tie Exercise.
Mitigate Janitorial Industry’s Employee Theft Exposure
Author, Jeremy Hoolihan, Account Executive, Rancho Mesa Insurance Services, Inc.
Employee theft can be detrimental to any business and can come in many forms. Janitorial businesses, in particular, have an inherent risk of employee theft as employees often work alone at the client’s property with little to no supervision and access to valuables. Employee theft can start with smaller items that are easily overlooked and can quickly escalate. These types of losses are not only a financial burden, but can also tarnish the business’ reputation.
Top Five OSHA Citations the Tree Care Industry Should Avoid
Author, Rory Anderson, Account Executive, Rancho Mesa Insurance Services, Inc.
Every year, Federal OSHA conducts hundreds of inspections and issues costly citations to tree care companies. Although the Occupational Health OSHA citations can be issued for many reasons, there are five specific citations that continually plague the tree care industry every year.
How Improving Equity Impacts Your Bond Program
Author, Andy Roberts, Account Executive, Surety Group, Rancho Mesa Insurance Services, Inc.
In our current series of articles, we are taking a deeper look into the properties of a balance sheet that will affect a contractor’s bonding capacity. We have previously discussed bonding capacity and summarized working capital in regards to the impact it can have on a contractor’s capacity. However, another very important component on the balance sheet that surety underwriters will consider is net worth, also referred to as equity.
One Easy Step Can Improve Your Equipment Theft Prevention Program
Author, Drew Garcia, Vice President, Landscape Group, Rancho Mesa Insurance Services, Inc.
A piece of heavy equipment like a skid steer, backhoe, or excavator can be a vital tool for a landscape company and is expensive to replace, if stolen. According to the National Equipment Register (NER), heavy equipment is nine-times more likely to be stolen than vandalized and five-times more likely to be stolen than encounter fire damage. These statistics are alarming and prove theft of heavy equipment has now become a billion dollar illegal industry.
How Increased Material Costs Leave Contractors Underinsured
Author, Sam Clayton, Vice President, Construction Group, Rancho Mesa Insurance Services, Inc.
Over the last 15 months, COVID-19 has brought numerous challenges to the construction industry. Second to only the labor shortage, the most pressing challenge faced by contractors is the spike in material costs which can leave them underinsured if a proper installation floater is not updated.
ANSI Releases New Mobile Elevating Work Platforms Standards
Author, Casey Craig, Account Executive, Rancho Mesa Insurance Services, Inc.
Last year, the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) updated their aerial lift standard, starting with renaming it Mobile Elevating Work Platforms (MEWP). This has been in the works since 2018 and is designed to align training, certifications, and equipment used on a more universal standard. According to the Center for Construction Research and Training (CPWR), roughly 26 people die from MEWP each year. This prompted the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to increase training requirements to keep accidents to a minimum. Obviously, MEWP are essential for completing a wide variety of construction jobs. So, what should you, as a business owner, be doing to ensure your employees are safe and in compliance when OSHA comes by your jobsites?
The Importance of Properly Classifying Stump Grinding Operations
Author, Rory Anderson, Account Executive, Rancho Mesa Insurance Services, Inc.
Because stump grinding is done from the ground, it can create some confusion for tree care companies on how to properly classify this exposure for workers’ compensation insurance. It’s important to understand how and where to classify this exposure, so you’re not setting yourself up for an issue at the audit. The Workers’ Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau defines all class codes to help companies classify specific operations. Let’s look at how they define 0106 Tree Pruning, Repairing or Trimming.
Historic Wildfire Losses Alter Risk Assessments for Many Buildings
Author, Sam Brown, Vice President, Human Services Group, Rancho Mesa Insurance Services, Inc.
The 2017 historic wildfire losses and ever-changing atmospheric conditions continue to alter the commercial property insurance marketplace in 2021.
Closing Your Bond Liability – Understanding the Consent of Surety Document
Author, Matt Gaynor, Director of Surety, Rancho Mesa Insurance Services, Inc.
The project our contractor client was required to bond has been completed and they are looking to get their final payment and collect their retention. But the owner or general contractor is requiring a Consent of Surety document from our contractor. What is a consent of surety and why is this document required?
Three Signs You’re Ready for Captive Insurance
Author, Kevin Howard, Account Executive, Rancho Mesa Insurance Services, Inc.
As a business owner, you might hear about group captive insurance but are unsure whether or not it would be a fit for your business model. With auto rates rising dramatically and property and casualty premiums poised to shift upwards over the next 5 years, exploring a group captive could benefit your business. A group captive could help you potentially recover more than 60% of your premiums, generating substantial returns on your investment in safety.
Californians Wait for Revised COVID-19 Prevention Emergency Temporary Standards
Author, Alyssa Burley, Media Communications and Client Services Manager, Rancho Mesa Insurance Services, Inc.
Over the past few weeks, Californians have eagerly awaited news from the State’s Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board (Standards Board) on revisions to Cal/OSHA’s COVID-19 Prevention Emergency Temporary Standards after the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) released its latest guidance that ease mask wearing for those who are fully vaccinated.
Cyber Attacks Threaten One-in-Six Firms’ Survival
Author, Sam Brown, Vice President of the Human Services Group, Rancho Mesa Insurance Services, Inc.
The dramatic increase in cyber-attacks since 2020 has resulted in employer pain and made headlines as the economic cost skyrockets. The recent Hiscox Cyber Readiness Report 2021 states that the number of firms attacked rose from 38% to 43%. Not surprisingly, more than 28% of those employers suffered multiple cyber-attacks.
SB 93 Impacts Janitorial Companies’ Hiring Practices
Author, Jeremy Hoolihan, Account Executive, Rancho Mesa Insurance Services, Inc.
As businesses continue moving towards fully reopening, certain California employers will be faced with reemployment or recall requirements, due to Senate Bill 93 (SB 93). SB 93 was signed into law by Governor Gavin Newsom on April 16, 2021. The law requires that covered employers offer their employees who were laid-off due to the COVID-19 pandemic, available employment based on a preference system.
Experience Mod KPI Provides Trend Analysis, Opportunity Assessment, and Vital Management Tools
Author, Drew Garcia, Vice President, Landscape Group, Rancho Mesa Insurance Services, Inc.
In January 2021, we launched the Safety Key Performance Indicator (KPI) Dashboard to provide a tool for our customers to use as a bridge between their experience mod and safety performance.
Top Three Professional Liability Exposures for Tree Care Companies
Author, Rory Anderson, Account Executive, Rancho Mesa Insurance Services, Inc.
Professional tree care companies must have a general liability policy that will cover incidents that cause bodily injury or property damage resulting from their operations. However, there are situations that will not be covered under a typical general liability policy and would require professional liability coverage, or, in the tree care industry it would specifically be Arborist Errors and Omissions coverage. Here are three exposures that tree care companies face that a professional liability policy would address.
A Contractor’s Guide to Bonding Capacity
Author, Andy Roberts, Account Executive, Surety Group, Rancho Mesa Insurance Services, Inc.
For contractors that do a lot of bonded work, their bonding capacity is a critical element of their business. Capacity often determines which projects a company can and cannot pursue, so it is managed very closely. However, for contractors that are new to bonding or have not bonded previously but remain interested in performing bonded work, this is likely a foreign concept to them. So, what is bonding capacity, and what items determine the amount of capacity that a surety carrier is willing to offer?
Changes on Horizon Likely to Affect Workers’ Compensation
Author, Sam Clayton, Vice President, Construction Group, Rancho Mesa Insurance Services, Inc.
Changes by the WICRB typically take place at the first of every year and can impact workers’ compensation Pure Premium Rates, Expected Loss Rates (ELR) and Wage Thresholds. However, the WCIRB has amended its filing schedule in 2021 to take effect September 1st.
California’s Landscape Industry Prepares for Ex-Mod Changes
Author, Drew Garcia, Vice President, Landscape Group, Rancho Mesa Insurance Services, Inc.
For the first time in several years the Expected Loss Rate for class code 0042 has increased from $2.38 to $2.42, a 2% increase.
Bottom line, although very minimal, this should help bring the experience mod down.
Implementing an Effective Fall Safety Program Can Have Serious Impacts
Author, Casey Craig, Account Executive, Rancho Mesa Insurance Services, Inc.
Year after year, falls are among the leading type of workers’ compensation claims and generate the highest claim costs. They account for multiple infractions on the top 10 most frequently cited standards, according to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. How can you, as a business owner, control your exposure and keep your employees productive and healthy?