IRMI Update—Issue #49
An E-mail Newsletter for Risk and Insurance Professionals
ISSN: 1530-7948
September 24, 2002
In This Issue
Colleague,
A survey recently conducted by The Hartford revealed that only 62 percent
of a nationally representative group of 610 employed adults knew that medical
costs related to an on-the-job injury would usually be covered by workers compensation.
Amazingly, about 15 percent of the surveyed workers even expect to receive little
or no pay while out of work recovering from an injury.
This reminds me of when, in my former career as a consultant, a client questioned
whether he should tell his employees about their workers compensation coverage.
He was afraid they would use it if he told them about it!
Contrary to his fear, it is just such lack of knowledge and distrust of the
system that leads to attorney involvement and unnecessarily high loss costs.
Obviously, neither businesses nor the insurance industry has done an adequate
job educating employees about their rights to workers compensation benefits
if they are injured.
If this is true of your company, or your clients' firms, consider formulating
and executing a plan to bring your employees up to speed. The Hartford suggests
taking these steps:
- Establish a company return-to-work team
- Choose a claim administrator with a return-to-work orientation
- Communicate return-to-work as an employee benefit
- Assess the tasks each job requires
- Identify alternate or modified work
- Report all injuries promptly to the supervisor so that the claim can
be handled and the worker's treatment begun quickly
- Maintain ongoing communication with an injured worker at home
- Return the worker to the same job or modified work in the same department
or a different position in the same company—depending on the medical condition
of the employee.
So what do you think? Has our industry done a poor job communicating with
employees about workers compensation? What additional steps should employers—or
the industry—take to educate employees about workers compensation? Do you have
a success story you can share? [See reader comments.]
Have a great day!
Jack
Jack P. Gibson
President
IRMI
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Monitor Air Quality To Avoid Sick Building Syndrome
Claims. Sick building syndrome (when something is in a building that
makes occupants sick) is problematic because you generally can't tell you're
vulnerable until it strikes. The only defense against it is information—about
how the building is operating and how its operations are affecting the air quality
in the building. With this information, building operators can diagnose the
likely source of poor quality air. Perhaps it is a faulty air duct fan or odors
and gasses emanating from new furniture. By focusing on a problem, the HVAC
advisor can recommend remediation. By measuring the air quality before and after
changes, the building owner can know if the problem has been corrected—before
paying for the work.
There are several ways to monitor indoor air quality. One method employs
an industrial hygienist who comes to the building and, over a few hours or days,
takes samples using hand-held equipment. The report, usually available in a
month or so, will provide a scientific explanation in great detail of the air
quality in the space at the time of testing. This method has merit when a sudden
change is detected in the building (often creating a problem) and a detailed
analysis is desired.
Another method employs continuous monitoring with remote data transmission.
With this method, electronic sensors are permanently installed in a building.
The information about the air quality is continually gathered, without human
intervention, and is transmitted via the Internet to the building manager or
agent. The permanent record can be used to discover trends in air quality, which
will indicate both location and intensity of air quality problems. Such data,
for example, can indicate the presence or absence of the conditions in which
mold can thrive and act as an early warning system for preventative action to
be taken. This method is valuable for those situations in which the building
owner is willing to be proactive and wants long-term protection from potential
indoor air quality problems.
With either method, the common element is the gathering of information in
a timely manner and in such a way that the proper preventative or restorative
actions can be taken before the indoor air quality problems become prohibitively
expensive.
By: Jim Doudiet
PureChoice Inc.
Lakeville, MN
E-mail:
www.PureChoice.com
Suggest a Risk Tip. Future issues of IRMI Update will include more risk tips from our readers. Send
us a practical tip (less than 300 words) for identifying and managing risks,
buying insurance, managing claims, or filling gaps in insurance coverages. We'll
acknowledge your contribution as we did for Jim.
There are now 336 articles on IRMI.com, and many more are in production.
Below you'll find summaries of some recent additions with links to the articles.
The IRMI Hard Market Survival
Guide 2002—IRMI Research Analysts provide 20 tips on how to survive
the current hard property and casualty insurance market.
Don't Miss the Technology
Showcase!—This is a wonderful opportunity to learn about technology
that is revolutionizing risk management programs to be held Tuesday and Wednesday
during the Conference. Four cutting-edge technology companies will be featured:
- ConfirmNet (certificates of insurance, issuance and tracking solutions)
- Computer Sciences Corp. (property/casualty software)
- Computer Risk Management (WC, auto, GL, property claims program)
- Georgia-Pacific (mold and fire resistant products)
If you are interested in participating in the 23rd IRMI Construction Risk
Conference Technology Showcase in Chicago in 2003, please contact Paul Murray
at (800) 827-4242, ext. 313, or contact us. See the agenda to learn more about other conference sessions.
Complete the online registration
form to register.
New Edition of 101
Ways To Cut Insurance Costs Now Available —The third edition
of 101 Ways To Cut Business Insurance Costs without
Sacrificing Protection is a virtual how-to guide of cost-cutting strategies
for every major line of coverage. Coauthor Jack Gibson says, "The substantial
premium hikes everyone is now seeing on their renewals has revived the need
for active management of insurance costs, and this book gives insurance buyers
the practical advice and information they need to once again take charge of
their insurance destiny." Available for only $34.95, it will save you much,
much more on your next renewal—even in this hard market.
New Fiduciary CE
Course from IRMI & Web-CE—IRMI and Web-CE have developed a new continuing
education course: IRMI on Fiduciary Liability. This course has been approved
for property-casualty continuing education credit in Alaska, Arkansas, Delaware,
Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Kansas, Maine, Michigan, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania,
Tennessee, Texas, Washington, and Wyoming, with more states in the works. This
course will teach you the ins and outs of fiduciary liability insurance, who
and what is covered, excluded, and how coverage applies—as well as providing
you with valuable CE credit for under $50. To learn more about this course and
others offered by IRMI and Web-CE, see the Web site.
A subscription to IRMI Update is absolutely free. Use the e-mail registration form to initiate or terminate
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