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?

Prevention

According to the Centers for Disease Control, “27% of the 900,380 nonfatal work injuries resulting in days away from work in 2018 were related to slips, trips, and falls.” That’s a shockingly large number especially when 100% of falls are preventable if you take the time to plan, according to the National Safety Council (NSC). The NSC recommends:

• Walking a job before employees get there to ensure proper set up is achievable with the equipment you are bringing for that job.

• Pay attention to environmental conditions such as wind, rain, or excessive heat.

• Check your equipment frequently to ensure nothing is worn down or damaged.

• Make sure employees are wearing the proper foot wear and other Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) items required for the individual job needs.

Having employees working on ladders or scaffolding is essential for some jobs, and fortunately is a risk you can control. In addition to evaluating the work site, the equipment, the environmental factors, and PPE needed, you should also evaluate the health and fitness of all employees. Factors to consider should include the employee’s:

• Experience

• Fitness level

• Age

Height Matters

A fatal fall can happen at almost any height. According to the NSC, only 16% of fatal falls in 2016 occurred as a result of a fall from over 30 feet; however, 53% of fatal falls that year resulted from below 20 feet. Given this data, best practices would dictate that construction companies should step back and reevaluate the safety procedures they have in place and determine if any changes need to be made, particularly for jobs that are considered the lower heights.

RM365 Advantage Safety Star™ Program

To get your employees properly trained, we recommend enrolling in our RM365 Advantage Safety Star™ program that includes Fall Prevention training. This program includes fundamental safety topics that allows your foreman or key management team to go through internet-based safety trainings and earn their Safety Star certification. This program has shown to improve safety while helping to reduce your workers’ compensation premiums. Register to start your RM365 Advantage Safety Star™ program, today.

Rancho Mesa understands the exposure our clients face on a daily basis and can help implement safety procedures to mitigate these risks. Underestimating a project’s risk or undertraining employees is an exposure you can address.

If you would like help in reviewing your safety protocols and procedures or if you have further questions, do not hesitate to reach out to me at (619) 438-6900 or email me at ccraig@ranchomesa.com.

The Construction Risk Management Guide

Author, Daniel Frazee, Executive Vice President, Rancho Mesa Insurance Services, Inc.

As a business or firm, you are most likely aware of many risks that come with construction projects. Whether it is meeting the terms of a contract, maintaining employee safety on the job site, or dealing with natural disasters, every project has its own set of hazards. If not managed, these risks can compromise your projects and prove fatal to your bottom line. Thus, construction risk management is a must-have for any company, but an effective plan must have easy-to-follow, yet detailed processes to help you control the risks, make decisions on how to deal with them, and turn them around to uplift your company. With the presence of rising material costs, more complex projects and increased safety concerns, having a risk management plan is more crucial than ever.

What is Construction Risk Management?

Risk management is the process of determining the risks present in your business and evaluating the procedures to minimize their impact. In the construction world, the process involves planning, monitoring and controlling instances of risk. At the center of this process is your risk management plan, a formal document that details the risks and your processes for addressing them.

Sources of construction risks may include:

• Safety Risk - any risks or hazards that can lead to worker accidents at a construction site;

• Financial Risk - internal and external factors like sales, problems with the economy, unexpected cost increases and competition from other firms;

• Legal Risk - disputes in the fulfillment of contracts with clients;

• Project Risk - hazards such as poor management of resources, miscalculation of time, lack of proper policies, etc.; and

• Environmental Risk - natural phenomena that damage construction sites like floods and earthquakes.

How to Manage Risks

Before you can manage risk, companies must develop a risk management plan. This process can be broken down into six steps.

1. Identify the Risks
   Risk identification should take place during the preconstruction phase of a project to allow ample time to manage any potential risks before accepting them. One effective way is to hold brainstorming sessions with your project team with an emphasis on identifying all the possible scenarios that could impact the project at hand. Once the brainstorm is complete, hold regular meetings to continually identify new risks that develop.

2. Prioritize Risks in Order of Importance
   High-probability risks should be handled first while low-impact, low probability risks should be addressed last. As an example, an unexpected price increase in the materials for your project can severely hurt your profit margins and might be considered a high priority.

3. Determine your Response Strategy
   Once you have evaluated the priority of risks, your team must decide a response strategy for each hazard. You can avoid the risk altogether, mitigate the risk, transfer the risk if possible via insurance and/or performance bonds, or accept the risk.

4. Execute the Plan
   Much like a sports team on game day, your company now has to execute the plan after you have developed your strategy. Your plan must detail crucial information for each team member and provide specific solutions to mitigate, transfer, or accept risks.

5. Involve Members of the Team
   Great plans are developed with multiple opinions, involving contribution from all team members typically including the ownership group, the financial officers, and the field team. Members are managing cash flows, schedules, inspections, project logs, contracts and regulatory documents.

6. Create Contingencies and Revise
   Strong risk management programs have contingency plans. That is, alternative methods for finishing a project despite accepting the risk. Consistent monitoring and revisions to your plan will help increase resilience against any possible risk and ensure that your “document” evolves and changes over time.

Benefits of Risk Management in Construction

Along with the actual building process, risk management should be seen as one of the most critical steps of a construction project. Identifying, assessing, controlling and monitoring risks strengthen awareness and teamwork among those key members of your organization. Working in step with your insurance broker for resources, templates, and feedback can be key to integrating your plan with the company’s safety initiatives. Request a sample Accident Prevention Template to start your Construction Risk Management plan. And, in turn, communicating an effective and tested plan to the insurance marketplace can position you and your broker to leverage the most competitive terms and pricing within your renewal cycle.

For more information or questions related to this article, please contact me at 619-937-0172 or via email dfrazee@ranchomesa.com.

Download Accident Prevention Template

Can Employers Mandate a COVID-19 Vaccination Policy?

Author, Sam Brown, Vice President of the Human Services Group, Rancho Mesa Insurance Services, Inc.

As COVID-19 vaccinations become more available and the positive results of our efforts are realized, employers may ask how this impacts the workforce and a full-scale return to the workplace. More specifically, they may ask if an employer can mandate a COVID-19 vaccination policy.

The laws are complex, so please do not rely on this article as legal advice. Please consult your labor law attorney before deciding how to proceed.

The short answer is yes, employers can mandate a COVID-19 vaccination for employees, when it makes sense. 

The 1905 court case Jacobson v. Massachusetts forms the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s (EEOC) basis for guidance. Following a deadly smallpox outbreak in New England in 1901, the Supreme Court ruled that the government may impose “reasonable regulations” to protect the “safety of the general public.” The EEOC makes clear that employers may implement similar demands.

According to the EEOC, an employer can implement a mandatory vaccination policy if there is a job-related need for it or if non-vaccination threatens the health of other employees, customers or themselves. The EEOC’s guidelines date back to the 2009 outbreak of H1N1, and was updated in March 2020.

A mandatory COVID-19 vaccination policy would commonly be used in a health care environment or in emergency services where the likelihood of exposure may be higher based on the nature of the work, opposed to the average office environment that is following the Centers for Disease Control COVID-19 guidelines along with implementing a COVID-19 Prevention Plan.

Employers should take caution when deciding whether or not to implement such a policy and whether it makes sense for their industry and organization. According to OSHA’s January 2021 Guidance on Mitigating and Preventing the Spread of COVID-19 in the Workplace, employers should not distinguish between workers who are vaccinated and those who are not. All employee should follow the same safety precautions regardless of vaccination status. 

Essential workers in sectors like construction and landscaping, community-based organizations and financial services to name few, can operate under the provided guidance without requiring their employees to get the COVID-19 vaccine in order to resume normal business operations.

Some employers are waiting to impose a mandatory vaccination policy, choosing instead to offer employees incentives for getting vaccinated. These incentives may include a vacation day, a few hours of regular pay, or a cash bonus. To avoid discrimination, an employer may offer the incentive to all employees if the company’s work force meets a vaccination goal. Whatever path you decide, make sure to include the policy in your employee handbook or COVID-19 Prevention Plan.

Considering a recent Kaiser Family Foundation survey, 27% of Americans are “vaccine hesitant.” So, the employer will need to decide if a COVID-19 vaccination policy is right for their organization.  Questions regarding mandatory vaccinations will continue to present a challenge to employers.

For specific questions about your company’s vaccine policy, consult our RM365 HRAdvantage™ portal’s live HR experts.

The Heart of Rancho Mesa

Author, Daniel Frazee, Executive Vice President, Rancho Mesa Insurance Services, Inc.

If you are reading this article, listening to our podcasts, and taking advantage of the meaningful risk management content we share weekly, you and your business likely find some degree of value in what is produced. While much of this content originates from our Media Communications Group, they, with other Rancho Mesa family members join together as the backbone of our operation. Our Certicians®, Account Coordinators, Benefit Analysts, Claim Advocates, Associate and Account Managers, and Sales Executives are the beating heart of our company. That core focuses on three main principles that guide our values, shape our decisions, and directly influence our daily interaction with clients and one another. They include Developing Solutions, Protecting Clients, and Building Trust.

Developing Solutions

A solution is defined as the act, method or process of solving a problem. Our clients face daily challenges and problems as they manage their organizations and continually look for competitive advantages. They rely on us to provide complete solutions but those can look far different across our many departments. Here are a few examples:

• One of our Sales Executives might recommend higher limits of coverage or adjusting deductibles to meet new exposures.

• Our Workers’ Compensation Claim Advocate might deliver a quarterly status to a company’s Safety Committee and make recommendations on return-to-work options. 

• It might also include an Account Manager reviewing contractual requirements for a client bidding a new job.

• And lastly, an Account Manager in our Benefits department might help to resolve a sensitive claim issue with a member. 

• These actions are just a few of the many day-to-day priorities that are centered entirely on serving our customers. We remain fearless in our approach to problem solving!

Protecting Clients

Risk comes in all shapes and sizes. Protecting our clients with insurance is one vehicle we may use to transfer some or all of that risk to a third-party. But, that process can only be effective when our team actively listens to clients and prospective clients through regular interaction at policy audits, pre-renewal meetings, claim reviews, stewardship reports, and renewal meetings. 

A key part of that protection are the resources we offer internally that help mitigate risk and reduce overall exposure to claims across all lines of coverage. Those resources include our:

• Risk Management Center Platform,

• RM365 HRAdvantage™ Portal,

• RM365 Advantage Safety Star™ Training Program,

• Weekly Educational Newsletter and Podcasts, 

• Workshops and Webinars.

Our clients can use these tools for risk management trainings, HR issues and concerns, safety certifications, and consistent risk management education and guidance.

These examples represent a very small sample of what is available from our organization. Building a risk management program that centers on controlling losses by implementing the proper protocols and best practice techniques is ultimately our vision for protecting clients.

Building Trust

We cannot develop solutions and properly protect our clients without building customer relationships based on a deep level of mutual trust. And, we view a distinct difference between establishing trust and maintaining it over the course of our partnership. While we are proud that our customer retention ranks in the top percentile across the nation, we recognize that trust is the key component to our success. And so, our work is never done. We continually expect more from ourselves, our team members, and our carrier partners to maintain, and ultimately, exceed customer expectations. It is simply how we were built and what we stand for. We see No Limit to what we can do.

To learn more about Rancho Mesa Insurance, subscribe to our weekly newsletter and podcast.

Four Factors that Shape your Risk Profile

Author, Drew Garcia, Vice President, Landscape Group, Rancho Mesa Insurance Services, Inc.

How do you differentiate your company from your local competitors? Product, customer service, delivery, etc. The same can be said for your risk profile and insurance costs. Why are my insurance rates high when my competitors are low? Here are four factors that influence your risk profile and impact pricing:      

FREQUENCY OF CLAIMS

The frequency is the number of workers’ compensation claims you average.

Calculation – # of claims / basis

Evaluate – How often are you having workers’ compensation claims and how does that compare to other landscape companies in your region or state?  If frequency is high, a line can be drawn to conclude that your high frequency will lead to more lost time or severe injuries.

Action – If you are having a frequency issue, you need to assess:

• Injury Type (back, hand, wrist, knee…)

• Root Cause (lifting, punctures, slips…)

• Implement corrective actions to help mitigate the risks associated with your claims. 
  
  Take it to the next level and evaluate “near misses.”  Treat a “near miss” as if it were a claim and strategize a corrective action to prevent it from happening in the future. 

Use our Risk Management Center to assign a training to the foremen or supervisor and injured employee to help prevent this from occurring in the future.

Indemnity (Lost Time) Claims

Indemnity is the number of  lost time claims your company experiences.

Calculation – # of lost time claims / basis

Evaluate – How often are you having indemnity claims that result in lost time and how does that compare to other landscape companies in your region or State? 

Action – If you are having an Indemnity issue, you need to assess:

• Injury Type (back, hand, wrist, knee…)

• Root Cause (lifting, punctures, slips…)

• Implement corrective actions to help mitigate the risks associated with your claims. 
  
  Establish a “return-to-work” program which allows your injured employees an opportunity to come back to work on limited duty. 
  

  Improve accident investigation, documentation, and claim reporting protocols to equal best practices.

Experience Rating

Your experience rating is a combination of your loss data and total payroll when compared to your industry typically over a three year period.  Your experience rating will either credit or debit your workers’ compensation premium accordingly.

Calculation – Project your Experience Modification (XMOD) 6 months early at your Unit Stat filing.

Evaluate – Determine the impact changes in your Expected Loss Rate (ELR) and Primary Threshold will have on your next XMOD.

Action – Controlling your frequency of claims and number of indemnity claims will lower your Experience Modification. 

Operations

Heavier operations would include hardscape construction, tree trimming, and snow removal in which generally heavier machinery and product is used, thus a higher exposure to injury.  Compare these types of landscape operations to a lighter exposure such as landscape maintenance, mowing, edging and pruning. 

Calculation – Determine the percentages of your operations that fall into the various landscape work areas.

Evaluate – Identify the exposures that are unique to each area of your operations.

Action – Implement safety programs catered to your exposures that will mitigate risk and help protect your employees.  Although your operations might be heavier, you have the ability to implement tactics to reduce or prevent the claims from happening, thereby subjectively and objectively making your risk profile more appealing. 

We have seen 100% landscape construction firms achieve industry low experience XMODs and the markets most aggressive rates.   Don’t wait for the injury to occur; be proactive and stop the claim before it transpires. 

Your risk profile has already been created whether you know it or not.  The opportunity for you to own it and improve it is always available.

With one click of the mouse, you can see how you stack up against your competitors through our Key Performance Indicator (KPI) dashboard, today.

Contact me to get a customized KPI dashboard at (619) 937-0200 or drewgarcia@ranchomesa.com.

Total Cost of Risk

 Author, Rory Anderson, Account Executive, Rancho Mesa Insurance Services, Inc.

The total cost of risk is the sum of the measurable expenses that are associated with managing risk within any organization. Every successful business has a process for tracking and measuring performance to improve results. It is important for business owners to keep a pulse on key performance indicators. But, how are you measuring risk related costs? Some people may think that insurance premiums are the only cost associated with risk, but we need to look at the bigger picture.

In fact, insurance premiums only make up one fifth of an organizations total cost of risk. If you are only considering insurance premiums as a way of quantifying your company’s risk related costs, you are missing costs that you have control over. All risk-related costs can be observed and monitored. Also, there are certain strategies that, once implemented, will reduce those costs if executed correctly. That’s what total cost of risk is all about. There are five components that make up an organization’s total cost of risk: insurance premiums, retained losses, internal risk management costs, outside vendor fees, and indirect claim costs.

Insurance Premiums

An insurance premium is the payment that a company agrees to pay in order to have insurance. It is the most obvious component that makes up the total cost of risk and represents an important piece of the puzzle.

Retained Losses

There are two types of retained losses, active and passive. An active loss is simply when you have a deductible. If you have a deductible, you made a decision on the front end to take on (or retain) some of the risk, and pay a specified out of pocket amount for situations involving claims. On the other hand, a passive loss is any loss that is unexpected and not accounted for anywhere else. It could be a loss that is not covered by insurance and therefore must be covered out of pocket by the organization. Retained losses, active or passive, must be included when factoring total cost of risk.

Internal Risk Management Costs

Consider internal risk management costs as well. Maybe you have a full-time safety director. What is their salary? What about the person who is responsible for keeping track of the workers’ compensation claims, or the HR person who is in charge of managing and updating the employee handbook every time a new state law is passed? Calculate the internal hours that are spent looking at safety and risk management, and assign a dollar amount. These are costs that typically can be overlooked.

Outside Vendor Fees

You cannot forget to allocate any potential outsourced costs into the total cost of risk. Maybe you hired an outside firm to complete anti-harassment or First Aid/CPR training for your employees. Did you bring in outside safety consultants? These costs add up and need to be considered, as well.

Indirect Claim Costs

The last factor that makes up the total cost of risk are indirect costs associated with claims. These are secondary costs that are linked to claims. For example, with workers’ compensation insurance, the direct costs such as medical costs, indemnity payments, and legal services are just the tip of the iceberg. Some examples of indirect costs that are not covered by insurance are OSHA fines, accident investigation, implementation of corrective measures, hiring replacement workers, loss of productivity, etc.

Total cost of risk is critical for organizations to understand for several reasons. First, it helps you make educated and informed risk management decisions. You may want to invest into new equipment or bring in additional safety training from the outside. If you don’t know the total cost of risk and the ultimate impact in terms of upfront expense and projected return, how can you make the best decision?

Understanding your organization’s total cost of risk also helps you benchmark your progress towards your financial goals and objectives. It’s a quantifiable, controllable number that can be identified and reduced. It’s a metric that must be used to evaluate the overall success of your risk management process. When an organization is looking at their total cost of risk, they are focusing on the entire risk management function, which ultimately can lead to stronger safety programs and a reduction in frequency and severity of claims.

For questions about how your company can account for its total cost of risk, contact me at (619) 486-6437 or randerson@ranchomesa.com.

4 Key Factors in Developing a Motor Vehicle Report Program

Author, Jeremy Hoolihan, Account Executive, Rancho Mesa Insurance Services, Inc.

Auto liability is often one of the most substantial risks a business will have. Driver selection is one of the most important evaluations a business can do to prevent accidents. It’s been proven that drivers with a history of moving violations and accidents pose a higher risk for organizations. Best practices for reducing this risk allow only safe drivers to operate a company vehicle. In order to manage this process, a business should develop a Motor Vehicle Records (MVR) Program as part of their Fleet Safety Program to ensure safe employees are driving company vehicles. There are four key factors in developing an MVR Program

1. Obtaining the MVR.

2. Evaluating the MVR.

3. Applying the MVR.

4. Documenting the MVR.

Obtaining the MVR

Obtaining the MVR is the first step of determining whether a driver meets acceptability standards. Best practices recommend that all employees who drive on company time, whether that is driving a company vehicle or their own, should have their MVR requested and evaluated at least on an annual basis. Some companies choose to obtain the MVR of those employees who drive regularly and not those that drive on an incidental basis. It’s best to consult your attorney but many believe at least verification that a license is valid should be established for incidental drivers.

Evaluating the MVR

Now, the employer has obtained the MVR and it needs to be evaluated. Many insurance companies evaluate a MVR based on three criteria:

1. The age of the driver. The minimum age for a driver varies by insurance company. Generally speaking, the minimum age to be eligible to drive on a commercial auto policy is 21-23 years old. It is strongly recommended that your MVR Program adheres to a minimum age requirement because there is a much higher percentage of accidents by young inexperienced drivers.

2. The length of time driver has maintained a valid license. Driver experience is another factor that should be strongly considered while evaluating a MVR. Most insurance companies are looking for at least three years of driving experience. With younger generations obtaining their licenses later and later, you may run into issues of drivers not meeting the minimum experience requirement. There may also be drivers that have been licensed in other states, which would show little experience in the state where they are now licensed. It may be necessary to verify a driver’s previous license status in another state.

3. The number of violations and infractions the driver has on their license. This could be the single most important factor in establishing driver eligibility. Drivers who have a history of moving violations and accidents pose a higher risk to an organization. When evaluating a MVR report, it’s important to establish consistent requirements that are agreed upon by the organization and insurance company. A common acceptable MVR includes:

a. No more than two minor moving violations and one preventable accident in a three-year period. A minor moving violation includes speeding (i.e., 1-14 mph over posted limit), improper lane change, failure to yield, failure to obey traffic signal or sign, and an accident.

b. No more than two zero-point infractions such as cell phone ticket, seat belt ticket, and texting in the last three years.

c. No major violations in the past five years such as a DUI, leaving the scene of an accident, excessive speeds over 20 mph over limit, reckless driving, felony involving the use of a vehicle, and license suspension or revocation resulting from accidents or moving violations.

Applying the MVR     

Once the MVR has been evaluated, it’s time to determine which drivers are eligible and which are not. This can certainly pose a problem when implementing a new MVR Program with existing employees and drivers. A company may have to evaluate whether an employee’s driving responsibilities are suspended, if they need to be re-assigned to a non-driving position, or in certain circumstances might have to be terminated (such as a delivery driver). It’s also possible to consider a transitional period for those that are now considered ineligible. It is also important to consult the HR Department and company attorney when making these transitions.

Documenting the MVR

Proper documentation of a company’s MVR process should be consistent and contained in each employee’s file. The employee’s file should have any applications, the MVR, warnings or corrective actions taken, annual MVR reports, and any signed release forms.

A formal MVR Program is a vital piece to a successful Fleet Safety Program. It creates a barrier of minimum requirements that can often weed out potential unsafe drivers and future liability. If you need assistance in developing a Fleet Safety and MVR Program, please feel free to reach out to me at (619) 937-0174 or jhoolhan@ranchomesa.com. 

Safety Programs Can Reduce Workers’ Compensation Premiums

Author, Daniel Frazee, Executive Vice President, Rancho Mesa Insurance Services, Inc.

As California business owners continue incurring costs as they work their way through the maze of ever-changing COVID-19 regulations and protocols, prioritizing critical elements of your internal safety program can directly lower your insurance costs. Refocusing on key areas below will help present an effective, detailed submission to the marketplace that will lead to talking points with an underwriter for schedule credits and ultimately, lower rates and premiums.

Employee Benefits

Workers’ compensation underwriters pay close attention to employee benefit plans from a submission they are reviewing to quote. A deeper dive will create inquiries on overall employee participation, employer’s contribution to the plan, and whether established “wellness” plans are made available. High participation and contribution can show underwriters that employees value the benefits being offered and that the employer is investing in their most important asset, the employees. Lastly, industry professionals commonly link reduced fraudulent workers’ compensation claims to more robust, supported employee benefit programs.

Formal Safety Program

Developing a formal, documented Injury and Illness Prevention Program (IIPP) is truly just a baseline for managing risk for any business. The IIPP must be a living, changing document that contemplates random/periodic inspections, regular meeting intervals, safety orientation for new employees, and detailed investigative reports performed by field and management. Your program can be compared to a book that sits on the shelf and develops dust. Or, if you are focused on best practice techniques, it can be used as a tool for education, training, and risk mitigation. It should change as your company changes and incorporate the safety priorities instilled from the top down. Additionally, incorporating safety programs like Rancho Mesa’s RM365 Advantage Safety Star™ training program for foreman and supervisors help make your safety program go to the next level and really stand out in the insurance marketplace. Dynamic IIPPs stand out in a workers’ compensation submission process. They provide much needed detail to simple Yes/No questions on a supplemental application and show just how important safety is to the organization that is being underwritten.

Return to Work Program

Companies of all types will share that they support a return to work program when their injured employee is cleared for modified duty. That support needs to be taken a few steps further to improve your program. Create job descriptions for potential modified positions. Identify and engage with specific doctors within your network and ensure that these job descriptions are on file. This process can often help expedite employees back to the field, warehouse, office, etc. and ultimately lower temporary disability payments which can lower claim reserves. Use Rancho Mesa’s RM365 HRAdvantage™ portal to generate job descriptions and manage employee’s modified duty in the Risk Management Center.

Hiring Practices

Developing “gates” in the hiring process are often overlooked as too expensive or time consuming.  But, the costs of bad hiring decisions can linger for years, impacting your bottom line and employee morale. Employers must strongly consider pre-employment physicals and drug testing, typically performed post interview and before an offer is made. As the Compliance Director for Current Consulting Group LLC, Andrew Current said, “The average cost of a pre-employment drug test is $45. The average turnover cost for an entry level employee is $6,600.”  There is added benefit with workers’ compensation underwriters who view pre-employment checks as key controls to minimizing claim frequency and severity. Take advantage of the New Employee Onboarding Checklist and other resources in the RM365 HRAdvantage Portal.

Website Development

Most, if not all, workers’ compensation underwriters begin their review process by accessing the company in question’s website to learn more about their operation, exposures, risks, etc. Therefore, seeing your website through this same filter and utilizing your broker as an additional soundboard of information, consider these possible edits and/or redesign of your website:

• Add a “Safety” link or tab, allowing space for sharing your company’s philosophy on managing risk.

• Include a section on any safety awards or recognition that you may have received.

• Remove any pictures on your website that might create confusion or concern about your operation as it relates to safety and risk.

• Include examples of safety protocol that are unique to your operation (e.g. proper use of machinery, ladder usage, cleanliness of operating areas, etc).

Like any potential internal investment, companies must always balance whether the time and resource commitment will ultimately benefit their company. Many of the above recommendations require minimal resources and can pay huge dividends in consistently securing the most competitive workers’ compensation pricing, often a significant line item on a profit and loss statement. You may find cost savings in areas you did not know were possible that can help your business survive and remain profitable in these difficult times.

To discuss how your company’s safety program can affect your workers’ compensation premium, contact me at (619) 937-0172 or dfrazee@ranchomesa.com.

Risk Management and the Virtual Workforce

Author, Sam Brown, Vice President, Human Services Group, Rancho Mesa Insurance Services, Inc.

As American employers navigate the Coronavirus Pandemic, many business leaders quickly adapted to a virtual office and virtual workforce. While many organizations anxiously wait for the day employees can all safely head into the office Monday through Friday, employers must adjust risk management practices to account for the virtual workforce.

Cyber Crime

Prior to the pandemic, the FBI would routinely receive 1,000 cybersecurity complaints, daily. Since the COVID-19 outbreak began, the number of complaints has increased to 3,000 to 4,000 every day according to Tonya Ugoretz, deputy assistant director of cyber division of the FBI in a webinar hosted earlier this year. The most commonly targeted industries are health care, manufacturing, financial services, and public sector organizations. Stated plainly, cyber criminals are successfully exploiting weak virtual cybersecurity and poor execution on the part of remote employees.

Brett Landry of Landry IT, recently stated that 85% of employees circumvent “acceptable use” policies when using a company owned device, reinforcing the need for increased employee training.

Mr. Landry highly recommends employers update security patches on all devices, adopt a higher standard for password security, utilize two-factor authentication, and train employees how to recognize phishing and social engineering efforts.

How will a cyber liability insurance policy respond to this new threat?

Important questions to ask:

• Will my policy cover a remote exposure?

• Will my policy cover incidents involving personal devices?

• Is Social Engineering covered?   

• Will my policy respond if an employee does not follow company procedures?

Workers’ Compensation

Allowing employees to work from home has resulted in some employees moving out of state. When this occurs, the employer should report the new working address to the insurance company to ensure the workers’ compensation insurance policy will cover an injury. In some cases, the insurance company can add the new location. If not, then the employer may need to purchase a separate workers’ compensation policy for that employee’s new state.

In an effort to manage the risk of employee injury, employers should design and implement work-from-home policies. Effective policies will clearly define work hours, communicate standards for a home office, train employees on ergonomics, reinforce work and safety rules, and remind employees of the claim reporting process. Establishing the above expectations may help employees avoid injury and legal disputes over compensability.   

Directors & Officers Liability

Remember that a Directors & Officers Liability policy protects individuals from personal losses if sued for their role as a director or an officer of a company and not indemnified by the company. While a move to a virtual workforce doesn’t inherently put a board member at risk, big changes to company policy can result in missteps if employees do not receive proper communication and training. Ultimately, directors and officers are held accountable if company policies are not followed, highlighting the need for diligent execution of important company changes.

Rancho Mesa supports clients in developing employee manuals, work-from-home policies, and 2021 changes to labor law. Please contact me at (619) 937-0175 to discuss how Rancho Mesa can support your business or mission.

CA Anti-Harassment Training Deadline Quickly Approaches

Author, Alyssa Burley, Media Communications and Client Services Manager, Rancho Mesa Insurance Services, Inc.

Lately, we've been getting a lot of questions about California's required anti-harassment training, who has to complete it, when it's due and how much it costs.

In September 2004, Assembly Bill 1825 set in motion the sexual harassment prevention training requirement for many California supervisors. In September 2018, former California Governor Jerry Brown approved Senate Bill 1343 (SB 1343) which expanded the requirement and launched a series of anti-harassment bills that now require those who employ “five or more employees, including temporary or seasonal employees, to provide at least two hours of anti-harassment training to all supervisory employees and at least one hour of anti-harassment training to all non-supervisory employees.”

History of the Requirement

Over the last several years, additional senate bills have been passed that modifies or clarifies the SB 1343 training requirements. Instead of giving you a play-by-play on how each bill has changed the requirements, I'm just going to tell you what is required as of today, November 2020.

You've probably noticed that we now refer to this new training as “anti-harassment training” instead of the old term, “sexual harassment prevention training.” The change came as a result of several bills that expanded the required content to include abusive conduct, unlawful employment practices of discrimination, and harassment of both a sexual and non-sexual nature. So, the anti-harassment training for California managers replaces previous versions of the sexual harassment and abusive conduct prevention training, developed prior to the passage of SB 1343 and Senate Bill 1300 (SB 1300).

For more information on the progression of the current requirements, read “California SB 1343 Expands Sexual Harassment Training Requirements,” published November 15, 2018, “California SB 1343 Expands Sexual Harassment and Abusive Conduct Prevention Training Requirements,” published on January 17, 2019, “Ensuring CA Sexual Harassment and Abusive Conduct Training is SB 1343 Compliant,” published on February 7, 2019, “Rancho Mesa Offers Free CA-Required Supervisor and Employee Anti-Harassment Training” published on May 8, 2019, “Providing Anti-Harassment Training Is the Employer’s Responsibility,” published on August 22, 2019, and “Senate Bill 778 Extends Anti-Harassment Training Deadline,” published on September 12, 2019.

Training Requirements and Deadlines

To make a long story short, for employers with five or more employees, supervisory employees must take the two-hour anti-harassment training every two years and non-supervisory employees must take the one-hour anti-harassment training every two years. This sounds simple enough. However, since we had multiple bills that added content to the requirements and extended deadlines (Senate Bill 778), it's not necessarily straightforward.

For example, if you have a supervisory employee who completed the old sexual harassment and abusive conduct prevention training in 2019, their next anti-harassment training is due in 2021. However, if they took any similar trainings prior to 2019, they must complete the new anti-harassment training by January 1, 2021. This also applies to non-supervisory employees. If a non-supervisory employee took the training in 2019, their next due date will be in 2021. However, if the non-supervisory employee has not taken the training or took a similar training prior to 2019, they are required to complete the anti-harassment training no later than January 1, 2021.

New employees must be trained within six months of hire and temporary employees must be trained within 30 days of hire.

Online Training

Rancho Mesa offers its clients free 100% online anti-harassment training for both supervisory employees and non-supervisory employees.

“It’s amazing Alyssa and her team have trained nearly 7,000 of our clients’ employees over the last 24 months and have been able to do that at no cost to them,” says Dave Garcia, President of Rancho Mesa. “Yes, it’s expensive, but we just feel it’s doing the right thing for our clients.”

The online training can be accessed from a computer, tablet or smartphone. This means our clients can get their required trainings from anywhere with an internet connection.

“It’s not only the cost savings for our clients that’s important, it’s also the way we are able to do the training utilizing any internet connected device,” says Garcia.  “Our clients’ productivity isn’t impacted by having to bring their workforce into a training area and out of the field, creating a loss of productivity. Additionally, with COVID-19, large training meetings would not be permitted.”

Since the anti-harassment training is completed online through the Risk Management Center, it provides automated recordkeeping and offers rescheduling to ensure as soon as an employee completes the training, they can be automatically rescheduled to complete the training again in two years. It also allows administrators to archive employee training records when an employee leaves the company and reactivate the records if they are rehired. 

Recordkeeping

Recordkeeping for anti-harassment training is important when there is an allegation of harassment or if an employee reports the employer for non-compliance. The Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) “accepts complaints from employees that their employers have not complied with the law." So, make sure you are providing the training and keeping records. It is also a best practices to train all employees, regardless if they have a certificate of completion from another employer, since it's the current employer's responsibility to make sure the employee is trained.

We offer an on-demand webinar that explains how to setup your employees in the Risk Management Center and assign the anti-harassment training.

For questions about the anti-harassment training requirements or to enroll your supervisors and employees, contact Rancho Mesa’s Client Services Department at (619) 438-6869 or send an email to aburley@ranchomesa.com.

Safe Cloud Computing for Contractors

Author, Drew Garcia, Vice President, Landscape Group, Rancho Mesa Insurance Services, Inc.

Even prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, many construction companies were utilizing some form of cloud-based systems to effectively streamline business operations and increase accessibility of information. While hosting sensitive data in the cloud has many benefits like shared access to data, applications and storage, there are some risks contractors should take into account before relinquishing their data to the cloud.

A leading provid//er of Cyber Liability insurance, CNA references three key risks companies utilizing cloud technology need to be aware of in an recent article, “Cloud computing 101: Getting clear about the cloud.” CNA explains data protection, data loss/disruption and inappropriate access are risks business take on in exchange for the benefits of cloud computing.

Data Protection

Protecting data is essential for any organization. Customers’ personal and payment information may be stolen by hackers once the data is stored in the cloud or even while in transit. So, your data in the cloud must be secured through encryption to prevent the data from being usable if stolen. As the cloud customer, the company should manage the encryption keys to ensure only authorized users can decrypt the data.

Data Loss / Disruption

You may be thinking about moving your data to the cloud as a way to protect it from electrical outages, fire, flood and other natural disasters. However, your cloud hosting provider can be left inoperable due to similar calamities. Before hosting your data in the cloud, review your host’s back-up and redundancies to ensure there will be a copy of your data available if something should happen to the host’s servers. Have a plan in place to help navigate your most critical information in the event something like this occurs. 

Inappropriate Access

When storing data in the cloud, it is imperative the company ensures stringent and complex user authentication. This may mean passwords are changed frequently or two-factor authentication is deployed to ensure hackers can’t find their way to your data. When you manage a large user-base, the risk rises. Ensure former employees no longer have access to your data by changing security rights or disabling their account. Complex user authentication can be an effective deterrent to keep those who should not have access to your information from finding their way into your network.

Assuming your information is safe and secure in the cloud is misleading. Be proactive in protecting your information and round out your risk management program with a strong cyber liability program that can fulfill your cloud based risk needs.

For more information about the CyberOne™ program, contact Rancho Mesa.

Article edited 4/19/2021.

Strengthen Your Risk Profile During COVID-19

Author, Jeremy Hoolihan, Account Executive, Rancho Mesa Insurance Services, Inc.

COVID-19 continues to have a stronghold on the US economy and it is likely that we will see the impact for many years to come. While the effects of COVID-19 on the workers’ compensation marketplace vary among the different business sectors, the Workers’ Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau (WCIRB) has approved a filing that will increase the 2021 pure premium advisory rates by 2.6%. Understand that this recommended rate increase comes against a backdrop of record profits in workers’ compensation prior to COVID-19. There are also three COVID-19 presumption Bills (AB 196, AB 644, and SB 1159) that could create presumptions that cases of COVID-19 are a compensable consequence of work, which will likely cause additional turmoil in the marketplace.

With impending rate increases on the horizon, it’s more important now than ever to be proactive when it comes to your company’s risk management program. Carriers are already tightening up their underwriting guidelines and limiting schedule credits. In order to earn the most competitive pricing possible, a business must differentiate itself from other businesses. Below are three strategies you can use to strengthen your risk profile during COVID-19.     

Improve the Safety Program

Now is not the time to take your focus off of safety in the workplace. In fact, I would argue that there should be even more focus on safety. Some items to focus on relating to a safety program include:

1. Update your Injury and Illness Protection Program (IIPP) and have it reviewed by a labor attorney.

2. Establish a safety committee consisting of ownership, supervisors, managers, your insurance broker, and insurance company (i.e., loss control representative). This will assist with identifying workplace hazards, discussing claims or near misses that have occurred and creating safety meeting topics that can be discussed at future employee safety meetings.

3. Ensure that safety meetings are occurring at least every 10 working days, but preferably weekly. Using safety topics identified by the safety committee, managers can pinpoint proper trainings for employees.

Update Employee Handbook

With employment requirements, policies and procedures continually changing, it’s easy to fall behind on new regulations like adding an Emergency Paid Sick Leave Policy or Expanded Family and Medical Leave Policy, in your employee handbook. Rancho Mesa offers access to a living handbook builder through the RM365 HRAdvantage™ portal. By creating a living employee handbook through the portal, updating the document with new policies is as easy as reviewing and approving the suggested changes provided by experienced human resources professionals. 

Continue Your Risk Management Education and Certifications

With many businesses slowing during COVID-19, consider filling that down time with required accreditations and continued education courses.  Some examples include:

1. Anti-harassment Training: By the end of 2020, businesses with 5 or more employees are required to provide Anti-harassment training to all employees. Owners, supervisors, and management are required to complete the two-hour course, while all other employees must complete a one-hour course. Rancho Mesa offers free online Anti-harassment training for both supervisors/managers and employees. The courses can be accessed by computer, tablet, and a smart phone. 

2. Continued education or achieving professional designations: It’s also a good time to consider working on continued education courses such as renewing forklift certifications, OSHA trainings, as well as any professional designations. To reinvest your efforts in continued education, now, while business is still slow due to COVID-19, could position your business to hit the ground running when the economy opens up again.

3. Safety Star Certification – With underwriting guidelines tightening and worker’s compensation premiums expected to increase due to COVID-19, Rancho Mesa’s RM365 Advantage Safety Star Program™ can build your risk profile and differentiate your business from others. The program is designed for supervisors, foreman, safety coordinators, upper management, administrators, and directors of human resources. To earn the Safety Star certification in Construction Safety, you must complete the required Incident Investigation and Analysis online module plus at least two other modules of your choice from the approved list. This certification is also a marketing tool your broker can use to show your commitment to safety.

Proactively improving your safety program, employee handbook, and continuing education during the pandemic will allow you to hit the ground running once COVID-19 restrictions are lifted. It can also position your business to mitigate increasing premiums with the ever tightening workers’ compensation marketplace. 

If you need any assistance in implementing a sound risk management program, please reach out to me at (619) 937-0174.

Topics Your COVID-19 Training Should Cover

Author, Lauren Stumpf, Media Communications Coordinator, Rancho Mesa Insurance Services, Inc.

As states begin to lift COVID-19 restrictions and move into later phases of reopening plans, and companies begin to bring back their employees, it is important to take the necessary health and safety precautions in the workplace. Your staff should be well informed about safety precautions and resources to keep one another safe. When choosing a COVID-19 employee training, make sure it is comprehensive and includes all the necessary topics recommended by local, state and federal agencies.

The Risk Management Center offers a 10-15 minute training designed to ensure compliance with COVID-19 safety guidelines. This general awareness course on COVID-19 covers tips on how to reduce the risk of contracting the virus by using best practices. In addition, the course covers COVID-19 characteristics and related health and safety concerns.

The COVID-19 General Awareness Online Training topics include:

• COVID-19 Characteristics

• CDC-Recommended Basic Precautions

  • Tips for Limiting Exposure

  • Proper Hand Washing

  • Social Distancing

  • Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)

  • Cross Contamination

• Employer Responsibilities

  • Employee Temperature Checks

  • Face Masks

• Importance of proper disinfecting and sanitation

  • Recommended Chemicals

  • What to Clean and Disinfect

• Working-from-Home Ergonomics

• Federal Assistance for COVID-19 Related Leave

  • Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA)

  • Paid Sick Leave

  • Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA)

This online training is offered for free to Rancho Mesa clients. Contact the Client Services department at (619) 438-6869 to learn more about the COVID-19 General Awareness training.

For up-to-date COVID-19 information and HR resources please visit Rancho Mesa’s COVID-19 Information Page.

Critical Elements of a COVID-19 Safety Plan

Author, Jeremy Hoolihan, Account Executive, Rancho Mesa Insurance Services, Inc.

As businesses re-open across the country, it is important that we all do our part in preventing and slowing the spread of COVID-19. For many companies in construction and those in the service industry, employees often work in close proximity with others. Keeping your workforce and the public safe should be priority number one.  

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends having a written COVID-19 Safety Plan in place. Check with your local city or county for specific Safety Plan (aka Safe Reopening Plan) requirements. A well implemented plan will assist in keeping its employees and the public safe. A Safety Plan should have three critical elements; purpose, responsibilities, and safety procedures. Below is a brief explanation of these three critical elements:

Purpose: A safety plan should provide the purpose for why it is in place.   

• What is Covid-19? Explain the effects of the virus and how it can spread to others.

• Control Measures: Train personnel on ways of minimizing exposure of Covid-19.

• Personal Protective Equipment: Maintaining recommended supplies, such as respirators, eye protection, gloves, and hand sanitizer.

• Compliance: Making sure your business is in compliance with local, State, and Federal emergency response and health agencies.

Responsibilities: A Safety Plan should also provide specific responsibilities for management and staff, such as:

• Training and informing all on safety procedures relating to COVID-19.

• Implementing a plan across all personnel.

• Monitoring the application of the plan.

Safety Procedures: A Safety Plan should have mandatory procedures in place that all personnel are trained on and are strictly adhered. A few examples include:

• Practicing good hygiene.

• Stop handshaking, use noncontact methods of greeting.

• Guidelines on how to properly disinfect surfaces like doorknobs, tables, desks, and handrails.

Creating a COVID-19 Safety Plan which explains its purpose, the responsibilities of all personnel, and safety procedures will go a long way in minimizing COVID-19 exposure. It will also have a positive effect on employee and public moral as it shows you are doing your part to stop the spread of the virus. 

As your business designs a formal COVID-19 Safety Plan, Rancho Mesa can assist you with a plethora of related safety resources available in both English and Spanish. Visit www.ranchomes.com/covid-19 for a list of available resources. 

Resources:
COVID-19 Safety Plan/Return-to-Work Plan Resources
San Diego County Safe Reopening Plan Template
Imperial County Sample Agency COVID-19 Response Plan (4.27.20)
Riverside County Safe Reopening Guidelines 05212020

Aerial Lift Best Practices

Author, Rory Anderson, Account Executive, Rancho Mesa Insurance Services, Inc.

Aerial lifts have become extremely popular over the past few years in the arboriculture industry. An aerial lift is an ideal way to reach higher trees safely and securely. They can also make potentially hazardous tree removal safer and more efficient. This equipment requires extensive training to operate responsibly, and the lack of this training has led to an increase in accidents and injuries with aerial lift devices. According to OSHA, between 2009 and 2013 there were 47 aerial lift operator fatalities among the tree care industry in the US. To make for a safer operation, here are a few suggestions and reminders about Best Practices for working with aerial lifts:

Inspect the Lift

Visual inspections ensure that lifts remain functional and safe, while often saving potentially hours of maintenance and future medical bills. Conducting the visual inspection should include a close eye on hydraulic leaks, cracks, loose bolts, and worn or discolored hoses. It’s important to remember to always be cautious and not use your hands or any body parts to check for hydraulic-fluid leaks - always use a piece of cardboard or wood. When hydraulic fluid is under pressure, it can penetrate deep into skin and poison flesh, causing disastrous injuries. Never stick your hand around a fitting or hose to feel for a leak.

Function Testing and Drift Testing

Before climbing into the bucket, lift operators should check the lower controls and run the lift through a full range of motion. These controls are critical as they could very well come into use while rescuing a lift operator from the bucket in an emergency situation.

After the lower controls have been tested, a drift test should also be performed to make sure there are no issues with the hydraulics. To test for drift, set a traffic cone off to the side of the lift and move the bucket over the top of the cone, leaving a few inches in between. Turn the truck off and wait five minutes to make sure the boom doesn't drift down and touch the cone. If it does drift, take the truck out of service until it can be repaired.

Suiting Up

It is now time to put on your fall-protection harness. Make sure your harness fits properly and has a dorsal attachment. Once your harness is on, attach your fall restraint system to the harness and then to the life support attachment on the lift. It is virtually impossible to fall out of an aerial lift device if you wear proper fall protection and make sure it’s attached to the lift, every time.

When used correctly, aerial lifts can be effective and efficient tools for Arborists. When properly set up and tested, they can move easily on the jobsite and provide safe access in hard to reach areas. Their design allows for mobility and flexibility which can increase the crew’s  safety, production and profitability. 

Rancho Mesa’s Risk Management Center offers training materials covering aerial lifts, elevated work platforms and fall protection as online courses, tailgate talks and posters, as well as sample evaluation forms and policies.  For additional information on the use of aerial lifts or other Best Practice safety measures for the arborist industry, please reach out to me, Rory Anderson at randerson@ranchomesa.com and learn more about our TreeOne Program.

How COVID-19 Might Create a Non-Owned Auto Liability Gap

Author, Drew Garcia, Vice President, Landscape Group, Rancho Mesa Insurance Services, Inc.

As landscape businesses continue to adapt operating protocol due to COVID-19, they may also be creating new risk. Newly formed “work from home” policies for the office staff and direct reporting to job sites for workers in the field can create more of a non-owned auto liability exposure.   

In the event someone is using their personal vehicle for the benefit of the company and were to be involved in an accident, the liability might fall partially or completely on the employer. A non-owned vehicle is not owned, leased, rented, hired, or borrowed by the company.

In order to ensure you have non-owned auto liability, you would want to confirm that you have symbol 9 under the liability portion of your Commercial Auto Insurance Liability Policy, found in the declarations page. You should confirm that you have non-owned liability coverage with your insurance agent, broker, or carrier.

Your company should establish driver qualification requirements that must be maintained and met for each driver. It is best practices that you run motor vehicle reports annually, at minimum, for all drivers including those with non-owned driving exposure. For those states where it’s available, contact the Department of Motor Vehicles and inquire about a Pull Program where they’ll notify you of any violation on any driver that you have set up in the program. It is also best practices to have those employees who drive non-owned company vehicles for business use to increase their personal auto policy limits at minimum to $100,000 per person, $300,000 per occurrence and $100,000 property damage. If using a combined single limit, $300,000 should be required at minimum.

Access our  free written fleet safety program. 

Manage Your COVID-19 Risk With These Tools

Author, Alyssa Burley, Media Communications and Client Services Manager, Rancho Mesa Insurance Services, Inc.

While most of the country is under shelter-in-place orders, many of our clients work in essential industries that must continue to provide vital services to the community. Therefore, it is imperative that they have the tools they need to keep their employees safe.

For those who must continue to operate, we’ve complied resources employers can use to implement COVID-19-specific written safety programs, provide employee training, and signage that can be posted in the workplace. Many of these resources are available in both English and Spanish.

Our goal is to provide the tools our clients’ needs to protect their employees.

Program Administration

Our risk management and safety partners have developed templates that employers can use, today.

• COVID-19 Guide (English/Spanish)
  This document should be reviewed by ownership and management for clarification on how to implement the COVID-19 Written Program.

• COVID-19 Guide Amendment A: Employee Has Tested Positive for COVID-19, Now What?

  Amendment A provides instructions on what to do if your employee tests positive for the COVID-19 virus.

• COVID-19 Health Screening Form (English/Spanish)
  Each employee, should complete this form daily before performing any work. Foremen and supervisors should send these completed forms to management for record keeping purposes.

• COVID-19 Written Program (English/Spanish)
  This program should be reviewed by all employees including ownership, management and workers in the field.

• COVID-19 Written Program Acknowledgement Form (English/Spanish)
  All staff members must acknowledge they have read and understand the new program by signing the acknowledgement form.

• COVID-19 Checklist for Management (English/Spanish)
  This checklist should be used daily for management to evaluate safety within the office for employees and identify any areas of concern.

• COVID-19 Checklist for Jobsites (English/Spanish)
  This checklist should be used daily by foreman to evaluate the safety within the jobsite for employees and identify any areas of concern.

• COVID-19 Site-Specific Safety Plan
  This site-specific safety plan may be required by a general contractor or site owner. It is a template employers can use to develop COVID-19 safety plans for specific jobsites where employees are working.

Training Staff

We have complied training that teach staff how to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 virus in the workplace through proper hygiene.

• COVID-19 How to Prevent Catching & Spreading Coronavirus (English/Spanish)

• Coronavirus and Workplace Hygiene (English/Spanish)

Safety Signage

In addition to proper training, signage is another way to remind employees of proper ways to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 virus within the workplace and among their co-workers.

• CDC – Don’t’ Spread Germs at Work (English/Spanish)

• CDC – Handwashing Sign  (English/Spanish)

• CDC – Handwashing: A Corporate Activity

• COVID-19 – Do Not Enter If You Have Symptoms

• COVID-19 – Eliminate the Spread Workday Flowchart

• COVID-19 – How in infects and Spreads

• COVID-19 – Prevention Practices – Why is soap better?

• COVID-19 – Wash Hands Upon Entry Sign

To access these resources, login to the Risk Management Center and type in “COVID-19” or “Coronavirus” into the search box. If you already have an account but do not remember your login information, click the “Forgot Username or Password” link on the login screen.

We’ll continue to provide COVID-19 resources as they become available. Please visit www.ranchomesa.com/covid-19 for human resources content, insurance carrier statements and more.

3 Cyber Threats of Employee Telecommuting

Author, Sam Clayton, Vice President, Construction Group, Rancho Mesa Insurance Services, Inc.

The recent coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has created numerous challenges for both individuals and businesses all over the world. Last week, California Governor Gavin Newsom required all residents to “shelter-in place” and all “non-essential businesses” to cease “in-person” operations. In doing so and in order to keep their business operating, many employers transition employees to work remotely, otherwise known as Telecommuting. 

While this approach is nothing new for many businesses, employers have been required to expedite these accommodations which creates unanticipated Cyber Liability Exposure.

Below are three online threats that remote workers should be aware of:

1. Secured WiFi Networks

Make sure that all employees are using a secure WiFi network. An unsecured or public WiFi network are prime targets for malicious parties to spy on internet traffic and collect confidential information.

2. Use of Personal Devices and Networks

Many employees will be forced to use personal devices and home networks for work. These devices often lack the tools built into company networks, such as strong antivirus software and firewalls. This lack of security could increase the risk of malware which may allow personal as well as confidential information being exposed.

3. Phishing Scams

Workers may receive emails from hackers impersonating a supplier/vendor or even someone within the organization to obtain confidential information or to transfer funds unknowingly.

In order to minimize these threats, companies should implement a written “Telecommuting Agreement” that outlines specific practices and procedures when employees are working remotely. 

For information on implementing these and other internal policies, visit www.ranchomesa.com/COVID-19 and login to our RM365 HRAdvantage™ portal. Contact Alyssa Burley aburley@ranchomesa.com in our Client Services Department to learn more about the platform.

Strategies Employers Can Use to Combat the Coronavirus

Author, Jeremy Hoolihan, Account Executive, Rancho Mesa Insurance Services, Inc.

According to the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) there is no evidence of widespread transmissions of COVID-19 (commonly known as Coronavirus) in the United States, at this time. For the general American public, such as workers in non-healthcare settings, where it is unlikely that work tasks create an increased risk of exposure to COVID-19, the immediate health risk from the virus is considered low. Business owners should ask themselves, would my company be prepared in the event of an outbreak? The CDC recommends creating an Infectious Disease Outbreak Response Plan.

Employers should be ready to implement strategies to protect their workforce in the event of an outbreak of COVID-19 while ensuring some semblance of business operations. The CDC has recommended the following strategies that employers can use, today.

• Actively encourage sick employees to stay home.

  • Employees who have symptoms of acute respiratory illness are recommended to stay home and not come back to work until they are free of a fever (100.4° or greater) without the use of fever reducing medicines. Employees should notify their supervisor and stay home if they are sick.

  • Ensure that your sick leave policies are flexible and consistent with public health guidelines and that employees are aware of these policies.

  • If your business utilizes contract of temporary employees, make sure the company you work with implements the same strategies as your business and recommends sick employees stay home.

• Separate sick employees:

  • The CDC recommends that employees who appear to have acute respiratory illness symptoms (i.e. cough, shortness of breath) upon arrival to work or become sick during the day should be separated from other employees and be sent home immediately. Sick employees should cover their noses and mouths with a tissue when coughing or sneezing.

• Emphasize staying home when sick, respiratory etiquette and hand hygiene by all employees:

  • Place posters that encourage staying home when sick, cough and sneezing etiquette, and hand hygiene at the entrance to your workplace and in other workplace areas where they are likely seen.

  • Provide tissue and no-touch disposal receptacles for use by employees.

  • Provide and encourage the use of alcohol-based hand sanitizer that contains at least 60-95% alcohol, or wash hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds.

• Perform routine environmental cleaning:

  • Routinely clean all frequently touched surfaces in the workplace, such as workstations, countertops, and doorknobs. 

  • Provide disposable wipes so that commonly used surfaces can be wiped down by employees before each use.

• Advise employees before traveling to take certain precautions:

  • Check the CDC’s Traveler’s Health Notices for the latest guidelines and recommendations for each country to which you will travel.

  • Advise employees to check themselves for symptoms of acute respiratory illness before starting travel and notify their supervisor and stay home, if they are sick.

  • Ensure employees who become sick while traveling or on temporary assignment understand that they should notify their supervisor and promptly call a healthcare provider for advice, if needed.

• Additional measures in response to currently occurring sporadic importations of the COVID-19:

  • Employees who are well but who have a sick family member at home with COVID-19 should notify their supervisor and refer to CDC guidance for how to conduct a risk assessment of their potential exposure.

  • If an employee is confirmed to have the COVID-19 infection, employers should notify fellow employees of their possible exposure to COVID-19 in the workplace but maintain confidentiality as required by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Employees exposed to a co-worker with confirmed COVID-19 should refer to CDC guidance for how to conduct a risk assessment of their potential exposure.

  • Engage state and local health departments to confirm channels of communication and methods for dissemination of local outbreak information.

It is extremely important for business owners to know what they can do to minimize the spread of an infectious disease.  It is equally as important to be prepared for an outbreak (whether it’s COVID-19 or any other potential infectious disease). Having an Infectious Disease Outbreak Response Plan can guide a business during these trying times. Rancho Mesa Insurance’s RM365 HR Advantage™ online portal offers instructions on “How to Handle an Infectious Disease Outbreak.” If you have any questions relating to this subject matter please feel free to reach out to Rancho Mesa Insurance.

Managing the Inherent Risks of Personal Vehicle Use Within Your Company

Author, Daniel Frazee, Executive Vice President, Rancho Mesa Insurance Services, Inc.

While costs associated with auto liability continue rising across the country, there are risks within existing fleet safety programs that often get overlooked. If your business allows employees to use personal vehicles to conduct business, even just occasionally, you could be exposing your firm to considerably more risk. You can ignore this potential gap in coverage or closely examine the exposure while simultaneously developing a risk mitigation plan.

Review and Examine Liability Coverage

Before developing any guidelines, we encourage clients to identify those drivers that are using personal vehicles. Again, the pool here should include regular and non-regular drivers who are using personal vehicles. Once that list is finalized, request current declaration pages and/or certificates of insurance showing coverage periods and limits. As you examine this information, ensure that coverage is in force and pay close attention to the limits as many state minimum coverage requirements will be much lower than typical commercial auto policy limits (Example: $10,000 to $15,000 for bodily injury). Working to develop company standard minimum limits for personal use of vehicles is something you can establish with and through recommendations from your broker partner and carrier.

Hiring with Auto Exposure in Mind

Just as many managers do when hiring employees who will drive company vehicles, consider requiring the same guidelines for potential new hires who may use their own vehicles. These guidelines may include a current Motor Vehicle Report (MVR) which allows you to review accidents and track behavior. You may also enroll drivers in the Employer Pull Notice (EPN) Program which notifies businesses when employees have any type of driving activity in or out of the workplace. Lastly, be prepared with documented steps to take when your drivers exhibit unsafe driving behavior. This can include additional training, a suspension, or even termination depending on the frequency.

Written Expectations and Usage Guidelines for Drivers

Vehicle use agreements have become commonly used documents for employers. Depending on the layout, usage guidelines can help establish clear expectations and encourage real buy-in from the employee. As a reference point, Rancho Mesa offers an example of a usage guideline form available within the Risk Management Center.

Creating and Maintaining a Culture of Safety

Evaluating your respective safety programs is a process that takes time. Many employers are unfamiliar where to even start and perhaps which areas of their operation pose the greatest risk to their business’ financial health. With auto liability, in general, the potential for direct loss can impact balance sheets of all sizes. Part of our role as commercial insurance brokers is tying in years of experience seeing these gaps within programs, like personal vehicle use. We recommend first how to mitigate them and then tailor an insurance program that further reduces or eliminates the exposure. The points listed above represent only the start to your process in revamping your Fleet Safety Program. Call or email Rancho Mesa Insurance for a complete “all lines” safety review and coverage audit. Your company’s financial future could depend on it.