What is your corporate strategy for Risk Management?

Does your company have a comprehensive strategy for defining and managing risk? Who is managing that strategy?


With the fall of Lehman Brothers and all of the economic disasters of the last 3 years, 2008 is viewed as the year that the banks fell apart. However, 2008 should also be remembered as the year when the true value of risk management became evident. A complete risk management strategy takes into account all the factors that present risk to a company-
1) Resources
 2) People
 3) Business continuity

Questions concerning how your company defines risk:

---What risks are you willing to accept as a company?
     Your philosophy should be based on the views expressed by your executive team regarding the role of risk management within the company. Things to consider are the type and extent of risk analysis performed, and how much risk your company is willing and able to take on. And because risk is ever-changing within an organization, it requires a clear and constant line of communication between you and your executive team.

---How will you manage the risks you don’t want to retain?
     After you know what your risks are, you need to decide if you’re going to retain, transfer, mitigate or eliminate them. So how do you make those decisions? The best method is to perform a thorough cost/benefit analysis. For example, which risks can you eliminate altogether by discontinuing a product, changing a location, or choosing a new supplier? Can you provide safety training to employees that will help mitigate another risk? Also, insurance is a critical tool when you choose to transfer risk. Compare this information against the identified risk, and that will allow you to develop a detailed strategy for risk management.
After you have established your corporate philosophy and have identified your complete list of risks, you will be able to successfully deploy your strategy. The success of your risk management strategy lies not only in developing open lines of communication with your executive leadership and in performing a thorough analysis and review of your exposures, but also in choosing the right partners for the risks you choose to transfer. Through this process, you will implement your risk management strategy in the most effective way.


Bobby Bland PWCA, CIC
Vice President
Commercial Risk Service

Joint Pain and Heart Disease are more likely for Obese People

A new government survey helps quantify what public health officials have long known: Obese adults are significantly more likely to report joint pain, heart conditions, high cholesterol and diabetes than people at a healthy weight.


Among their findings:

---59% of obese adults reported having a heart condition, such as high blood pressure, heart disease, strokes or ministrokes vs. 18% of adults at a health weight.

---55% of obese adults said they had high cholesterol vs. 21% of adults at a healthy weight.

---22% of obese respondents said they had diabetes versus 4% of adults with a healthy weight.

---40% of obese adults said they spent ½ and hour or more doing moderate or vigorous physical activity three times a week vs. 72% of those at a healthy weight.

Let’s all say it together- DUH!!!

Obviously, the people that are at a healthy weight got that way by eating right and exercising properly. There is NO QUESTION that if you are obese for any period of time, you WILL end up with some of these health problems- that is a certain!

The question is- what are you doing about it? Knowledge without action is meaningless. If you are at a healthy weight now, good for you- keep it that way. If you are obese (or worse), NOW is the time to start attacking the situation. Ask yourself these questions:

1) How much sugar do you eat each day?

2) How much of your diet is fried or grilled in butter?

3) How big are your portions that you eat each meal?

4) How much exercise are you getting every day?

LET’S MAKE SURE THAT OUR ACTIONS ARE REFLECTING THE KNOWLEDGE THAT WE HAVE ABOUT LIVING A HEALTHY LIFESTYLE.

Bobby Bland PWCA, CIC
Vice President
Commercial Risk Service

Worker’s Comp rates edging up recently

As most of you employers know, the Worker’s Compensation market has been VERY competitive in the last 3-4 years (or longer). Rates have consistently gone down, and scheduled credits have increased. In most instances, an employer is paying less for their worker’s comp now than they were 10 years ago, not only because the payrolls have been less, but because the rates are a lot lower!



However, in the last 6 months, the rates are starting to edge up a little. Carriers are being a little more judicious with credits, and loss cost multipliers are easing up recently. There is still much competition in the marketplace, but the prices are definitely increasing a little.


The question is- “How can you drive your Worker’s Comp premium down even in a market with slightly increasing rates”? The answer is not simple, but achievable:


1) Make sure you are doing all you can to change the “culture” of your organization so that all of your employees understand that you do care about their safety, and you have a program that allows them to get back to work as soon as possible.


2) Make sure you are hiring quality people that have not had prior worker’s comp history and prior health conditions that may not allow them to safely do their jobs.


3) Make sure your Supervisors and Department Heads are properly trained as to how to handle the injury of an employee in their area. Make sure that claim will be dealt with swiftly and correctly.


4) Develop a return-to-work program that is effective and easy to use.


5) Make sure you have a random drug-screening program and also included in that program is mandatory drug screening for on-the-job injuries.


6) Keep pushing safety to all of your employees. Safety truly is a matter of awareness.\


You CAN lower you worker’s comp premium even during a hardening market. The key is to keep you Experience Mod going down by executing the steps above. It’s up to you. Sometimes, accidents happen. However, reducing the number of accidents and mitigating the claims once they happen are up to you!


Bobby Bland
Commercial Risk Service

We have become a nation of over-snackers!

You are probably nibbling on something as you read this, aren’t you? On any given day, 90% of us eat between meals, and on average, we eat twice the number of daily snacks that Americans ate 30 years ago, according to a report by the USDA agriculture Research Service. We have become a nation of grazers!


It is often advocated to have a mid-morning and mid-afternoon snack to prevent impulse eating and energy slumps that result from dips in blood sugar. Well-planned, healthful snacks can help you stay properly fueled and on even keel throughout the day. However, in spite of our best intentions, snacks may be sabotaging, not helping our efforts to eat healthy and manage our weight. Another study found that dieters who had midmorning snacks lost less weight than those who didn’t have a snack. What’s more, the USDA says that snacks provide over 1/3 of the empty calories we eat in a day.


With this perceived approval to snack, we seem to take every occasion to do so without regard for whether we are truly hungry. We eat after a 20-minute walk, munch through midday mood fluctuations and eat to beat evening boredom. What’s worse, we are training our children for more of the same.


The answer to the snacking problem isn’t so much whether to snack, but rather how to snack. The trick is to approach it strategically rather than mindlessly.


Following these guidelines should help you stay on the right snack track:


• Snack in response to true hunger
Before grabbing a bite, consider whether you are truly hungry, and if your next meal is within an hour or so, try to hold out. Avoid snacking out of habit, boredom, or other emotional reasons.


• Plan ahead
Don’t nibble on impulse or pick throughout the day. Plan a healthful snack, toting food with you if necessary, when you know there will be more than 4 or 5 hours between meals.


• Make snacks count
Snacks account for up to ¼ of our calorie intake, so choose nutrient-rich foods such as fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and low-fat dairy, nuts, beans, fish and lean meats.


• Watch your calories and sugar
Snack calories can add up easily, so aim to keep snacks at less than 200 calories, especially if you are trying to lose weight. Sometimes, a piece of fruit is all you need to tide you over. Stay completely away from added sugar on your snacks. This can spike you blood sugar throughout the day.


• Eat regular, balanced meals
Establishing a steady daily pattern of meals that include vegetables and fruit, grains and protein will set the stage to prevent you from munching throughout the day.

Bobby Bland PWCA, CIC
Vice President
Commercial Risk Service

                                       
                             Be careful of too much salt intake

Most people have heard the warnings- consume less sodium, or face an increased risk of high blood pressure, heart attack and stroke. Some people have taken heed. However, for the most part, we as a society are eating WAY too much sodium.

What are the main culprits of over-indulgence of salt? Some you already know- but some may surprise you:

1) Bread

That’s right- bread is the #1 source of sodium in American’s diets! People get twice as much sodium from bread and rolls as they do from snacks such as potato chips and pretzels. Consider that a 1-ounce slice of bread has between 100 and 200 milligrams of sodium, depending on the type and brand. By comparison, an ounce of potato chips has 120 milligrams.

2) Cold Cuts

Be very careful about packaged cold cuts and their salt level. Remember, salt is used as a preservative on meats. Fresh deli meats still have a relatively high salt content, but not as high as pre-packaged cold cuts.

3) Pizza

Some specialty pizzas can have up to 2,500 milligrams of sodium in one bite- more than the recommended amount for the entire day!

4) Soup

Canned soups are very high in sodium. Also, be careful with pre- packaged chicken stock. The less-salt version if preferable.

5) Fast food burgers

Basically, if there is a drive-thru window at the restaurant, don’t pull in!

Heavy doses of salt, fat, sugar, and calories are in store!

6) Cheese and pasta dishes

Remember this- all of these products are processed- with salt as a major ingredient for the processing formula.

7) Chinese food

Ever notice how most all Chinese food kind of has the same taste? That’s because of the MSG and other ingredients in it. Stir frying fresh ingredients is great and very nutritious- however, beware of the salt content in soy sauce.

8) Processed Poultry

I know, you are thinking “what can I eat?” Try to stay with free-range poultry. In addition, buying a whole chicken and cooking it is much better than processed chicken parts.

The government’s dietary guidelines advise to reduce your daily sodium intake to less than 2,300 milligrams per day. In some people, sodium increases blood pressure because it holds excess fluid in the body, placing an added burden on the heart. Some people, especially some African Americans and others who are genetically predisposed, are more salt-sensitive. When they are exposed to sodium, they retain more fluid because of the way their kidneys handle sodium.

Don’t necessarily be fooled by just the taste. Foods that have salt on the surface, like potato chips, taste saltier than they are. Some cereals have more salt in a serving than you’d get in a serving of chips.

The key thing to understand is that the taste for salt is acquired and can be reversed to a lower level. If you don’t eat as much salt in your diet, you won’t crave as much salt in the future!!! If the food industry would collectively help lower the sodium, even a little, in processed foods, America’s taste for salt could gradually be diminished.

Look out for yourself- read the labels!

Bobby Bland PWCA, CIC
Commercial Risk Service

Panera's pay-what-you-can cafes are a big hit

Panera Café Group is testing a format that is not only working, but benefiting others as well. The menus at Panera Cares Café in Dearborn, Michigan don’t list prices, only suggested donations, and rather than handing money to a clerk, customers would drop their coins and bills into donation bins at the counter. They can pay the full suggested price, pay more, or pay less. They can even pay nothing if that’s all they can afford! Mostly, it is a place where everyone who needs a meal can get one.

The question is- can the café sustain itself- pay its bills and cover its costs? After assessing the café’s first year of performance, the Panera Group has its answer: not only will it continue the Dearborn Panera Cares Café and others in Clayton, Missouri and Portland, Oregon, it plans to launch more in other cities.

Getting the message that these cafes will succeed if people in those communities do their part is the key to their success. It’s done through signs in the dining room and through employees, who embrace the café’s social mission.

I applaud the Panera organization for their idea and their execution of this concept. It speaks more than anything else to the general good heart that most people have. Customers come by and give more than what a cup of coffee costs in order to help other people they don’t even know. Look for more of these concepts to pop up throughout the country. I am sure that some businesses will abuse the concept, as surely as some people abuse the Panera goodness of heart. However, for the most part, I believe that people want to do the right thing.

I am not suggesting that any of you restaurants go to this concept immediately. However, the lesson to be learned here is broader than just for restaurants- believe in the general goodness of the human soul. Understand that if you are doing things for the right reasons, it will come back to you much stronger than you gave. Treat people the way you would like to be treated if you were in their place. Sounds a lot like the Golden Rule, doesn’t it? Guess what- it is!

Bobby Bland PWCA, CIC
Commercial Risk Service