IRMI Update—Issue #167
An E-mail Newsletter for Risk and Insurance Professionals
ISSN: 1530-7948
August 22, 2007
In This Issue
Message from the Editor
Colleague,
It was with great sadness I learned that one of my earliest mentors in the
business world passed away recently. Dr. E.J. Leverett Jr. convinced me to focus
my career on risk management when I was a 19-year-old sophomore in college.
E.J. founded the Risk Management and Insurance program at the University of
Georgia in the mid-1960s and served as its head for 10 years. A very positive
person with a great sense of humor, E.J. was a passionate advocate of risk management
practices and insurance professionalism.
The program that he founded at UGA has convinced thousands of bright young
business majors that an insurance career would be exciting and rewarding, and
it has sent them into the insurance world with the fundamental knowledge to
succeed. Through his foresight and leadership UGA's program has become one of
the largest and most successful in the country. (Today there are 255 undergraduate
and over 20 graduate risk and insurance students at UGA.)
I believe that everyone who knew E.J., myself included, is thankful for his
wisdom, guidance, patience, and friendship. Our industry has benefited tremendously
from his life's work, and we owe him and his legacy a great deal of gratitude.
If E.J. played a role in your career choice, education, or perhaps the success
of your organization, you can remember him through a contribution to the E.J.
Leverett Fund at the University of Georgia. This fund provides scholarships
for outstanding students; awards to students who pass CPCU, CLU, and other professional
exams; support for meaningful research conducted by faculty and doctoral students;
travel for students to attend special industry conferences; and monetary recognitions
of outstanding graduating students.
Learn more about the E.J.
Leverett Fund.
Thank you for subscribing to IRMI Update.
All the best,
Jack
Jack P. Gibson, CPCU, CRIS, ARM
President
IRMI
Risk Tip
Avian Flu—While We're Waiting—The Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention, the World Health Organization, and others still
consider a pandemic of the H5N1 avian flu virus a serious possibility, although
the virus has not yet mutated to a form that is easily transmittable from human
to human. But while we wait, there are practical steps risk managers can take
to protect the workplace and the organization's ability to continue operations:
- Emphasize hygiene—everything from hand washing to using (and regularly
changing) high-efficiency particulate air filters. Stockpile hand sanitizer,
gloves, and masks.
- Develop policies for sending sick employees home and keeping them there
until they are medically cleared.
- Be flexible with leave policies and work schedules. Even healthy employees
might have to stay home if public transit or their kids' school is closed.
- Plan to implement teleworking if possible and to eliminate face-to-face
meetings and travel.
- Provide information resources to employees for their own pandemic preparation—cdc.gov/flu/workplace is a good place to start.
- Make sure employees know how to access medical care through your group
health plan and that they anticipate getting any prescription drugs they
need, at a time when demand might outrun supply.
- Cross-train to anticipate shortages in certain departments. Investigate
hiring retirees or those in industries such as travel and leisure who will
be laid off in a pandemic.
- Think about every link of your supply chain and how you will obtain
essential goods and services if some links are broken. Coordinate contingency
plans with those of your suppliers and customers. Develop scenarios for
surviving the loss of certain customers who will not be able to buy from
you.
- Develop emergency plans for communicating with customers and employees.
- Anticipate electrical outages, brownouts, and delays in delivery of
energy supplies because of absenteeism in those industries.
By: William Henry
Vice President, The CIMA Companies, Inc.
Alexandria, VA
www.cimaworld.com
Suggest a Risk Tip. Send us a practical tip (less than 300 words) for identifying and managing risks,
buying insurance, managing claims, or filling gaps in insurance coverages. Submit your tips. We'll
acknowledge your contribution as we did for William.
What's New in Captive Insurance
Company Reports
The July issue of CICR leads with "Risk
Management of Benefit Plan Exposures," which explains how to identify risks,
evaluate financing alternatives, and control employee benefit losses. Solvency
II, captive insurance accreditation, and the CICA survey (reinsurance) results
are also discussed.
For IRMI
Online and Print subscribers
For SilverPlume
Sage subscribers
New Expert Commentary
There are now over 900 risk management and insurance articles on IRMI.com.
Below you'll find summaries of some recent additions with links to the articles.
"I Didn't Know We Had Access to That Information"
We often hear this, or "I never knew that was included in my subscription."
When you invest in something, it makes sense to get the most out of it. That's
why our customers consistently tell us how important awareness and training
is for using IRMI resources successfully. Thus, we're pleased to offer several
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They are available here at absolutely no charge, for either IRMI Online or SilverPlume Sage.
Your View—How To Stay Current
The last issue of IRMI Update asked readers to explain what actions they
take to stay current in an ever-changing industry. Below are some of the responses.
To see the original editorial, go to Update #166.
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I've found that a significant amount of knowledge can be gained through
regular conversations with my broker and team members within the brokerage
team on various topics that arise on a daily basis. These inputs bounced
against my individual business needs and provide context for the decisions
I have to make to move the business forward. Maintaining regular meetings
with your broker can make the learning experience/exchange a monthly event.
—Duke Daugherty, Senior Vice President Risk Mgmt.,
Aimco, Denver
-
Last May, I received my fifth insurance designation and will soon be
working on a sixth. This industry is complicated and ever-changing. In order
to better serve your customers and make yourself more valuable to your employer,
you must educate yourself every day. If you think you do not have the time,
pack your lunch a couple days a week and study insurance while you are eating.
I have achieved most of my insurance designations doing this.
—Patty Black, CIC, CPCU, AU, AIC, AIS, Commercial
Underwriter, Grange Mutual Casualty Co., Columbus, OH
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Knowledge is very important, and to increase that knowledge, I recommend
joining or establishing a roundtable or teambuilding group of area risk
managers. Free subscriptions like the IRMI.com newsletters open up new channels
that we may not have considered but will come to mind when faced with similar
challenges. That knowledge is valuable, providing an added edge to help
you stay current.
—Wanda Boynton, Risk Management Coordinator, Trenton
Housing Authority, Trenton, NJ
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Knowledge and keeping it updated is key in risk management and insurance
as in any other discipline. I'm convinced that knowledge is becoming the
new "raw material" at all industries. But experience is also a valuable
complement. "Knowledge + Experience" is, in my opinion, the key formula
to be successful. The first can be learned, but the second only can be "lived."
Keeping balance between them in your professional life will enable you to
satisfy both employer and client.
—Ruben Pena, Account Executive, Lopez Castilla -
Futuro Seguros, Montevideo, Uruguay
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I completely agree that knowledge and experience are requisite to selling
insurance products to customers. These are the "tools" of our industry upon
which we must depend to properly procure appropriate protection. As an education
"junkie," I am always amazed at the new and useful information available
in our industry. Every time I attend a CPCU seminar, (especially those lead
by Donald Malecki, CPCU) or read an IRMI article (George Head is a master
of professionalism), I feel better equipped to deal with the demands of
the businesses that I represent. Sometimes I come away from seminars thinking
I really don't know that much at all based on the significant amount of
information we are required to digest! This is an industry that generously
rewards those agents and brokers who are willing to go the extra mile to
gain the knowledge and experience that it takes to assure that they are
doing the very best for their customers.
—Lucy Harris, MS, CIC, CPCU, AU, RPLU, Principal/Producer,
Curtis & Harris Insurance Services, Palm Springs, CA
-
IRMI's free newsletters, as well as the fee-based content, are remarkably
helpful in keeping risk advisers of all disciplines well informed. For "insurance
agents" to become regarded by consumers as members of a true profession,
we all need to continue to work to become highly expert resources on the
risks that we work to address. IRMI surely helps us to accomplish this.
—Tim O'Brien, Director, Private Client Services,
Cook, Hall & Hyde, Inc., East Hampton, NY
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The CIC designation is a quick, easy way to get a basic understanding
of ISO Insurance forms from which many different insurance carriers derive
their own forms. But the CPCU designation will give the student of insurance
a more comprehensive insight into the insurance industry and risk management
techniques. Of course, the CPCU designation will normally take more time
to obtain. But it is worth it.
—Scott Harrigan, Marketing Specialist, Rue Insurance,
Trenton, NJ
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