The Bull Stops Here Blog

Record temperatures in the Puget Sound have hit triple digits.  Do you have employees who toil in the sun?

If so, you need to train them in heat-related illness and injury safety.  I train employees of my clients and meet the requirements from the Department of Labor & Industries in Washington State.  Contact me at 360-697-1058 or dan@danweedin.com to schedule your training.

Don’t get dinged by L&I or have an employee hurt.  Beat the heat!

Be safe and be well,

Just read this in the Poulsbo Chamber newsletter.  It’s been scorching here in the Northwest - 97 degrees again today.  Heat-related illness and injury is critical on and off the job.  Stay safe!

Home Remedies to stay cool:
Put a sheet on the floor.  Get a bucket of ice and put the bucket of ice in front of a box fan.  Almost like air conditioning when you sit in front of the fan.
Wet cold cloths around your neck and on your wrist really help.
Granny’s favorite - put your feet in cool water.

Be safe and be well.

Excellent article in today’s NY Times on the results of a Virginia Tech study on texting while driving.  I can’t believe we need a study to confirm this, but here it is.  Let’s be very clear - texting while driving may be the most dangerous and abused form of distracted driving.  This is an article you should read, your kids should read, and you should post on your Facebook account.

Funny (not ha ha funny) that lawmakers in some states need more proof that texting and driving are dangerous before passing laws banning it.  How many deaths will it take before we have an outcry from the driving public?

Read the article

Be safe and be well.

If you are a business owner who insures all your vehicles on your commercial auto policy, you may have a huge gap to fill.  In my experience, business owners who do this don’t take out a personal insurance policy.  This leaves out one big area of concern.

A personal auto policy insures you when you drive someone else’s vehicle.  Here are two examples:

1. You borrow your neighbors truck and get in accident.  Insurance follows the vehicle, but what if it was uninsured or underinsured? You are now responsible.  Actually, you could still be brought in just for your negligence.
2. You rent a vehicle for personal use on vacation.

The commercial auto policy has no provision to cover you while you drive a non-owned vehicle for personal use.  You need to purchase an endorsement called “Drive Other Car” coverage.  This attaches to your policy and picks up the coverage you lose by not having the personal auto policy.  It is relatively inexpensive (about $150 per year) and closes a major gap.

If you are a business owner without a personal auto policy because all your vehicles are insured commercially, then make sure your agent has purchased Drive Other Car coverage for you.

Be safe and be well.

I spent the day training insurance agents on commercial property insurance.  They are all working towards or updating their designation.  When was the last time you asked your agent about their professional development?  Do you take this for granted?  Perhaps it would be a good question to include in your interview for renewal.

Just like any profession, insurance is complicated and ever changing.  Make sure your agent is staying up with the times.  For your sake!

Be safe and be well.

Dan

If you are a business owner in Washington State, or any of the other four monopolistic workers compensation states, you should find an endorsement to your General Liability policy called “Stop Gap.”  Almost all the states in the United States have a competitive situation for workers compensation.  Those policies include a protection called “Employers Liability.”  In monopolistic states like Washington, the Department of Labor & Industries doesn’t pick it up.  It is necessary to include Stop Gap on your liability policy.

Stop Gap covers three main perils not protected by L&I:

1. Lawsuits brought on by spouses.  Claims like loss of consortium and companionship fall in this category.  Your employee can’t sue you but their spouse can!
2. Third-party over lawsuits.  In English - if you have a piece of machinery that employees work with and then get injured, they can sue the manufacturer of the machine.  That manufacturer could in turn sue you for lack of supervision or poor training/
3. Leased employees.  Labor & Industries only covers your employees, not ones you lease.  If a leased worker gets injured, they may sue you for negligence.

Stop Gap is dirt cheap.  It is based on your payroll, but rarely exceeds a few hundred dollars for the average small business.  Check your General Liability policy and make sure you’ve got protection.

Be safe and be well.

Interesting article in Insurance Journal today on the Michael Jackson concert tour.  Seems that the insurance covers the promoter if Jackson dies of a drug overdose, but NOT of natural causes.  I am sure he is watching the autopsy results very closely.

Read the entire story

Personal Insurance Tip BONUS-

If you’re a fireworks home-gamer this weekend, keep that water hose handy. Roofs can be magnets for debris. I actually recommend you keep the pyrotechnics to the professionals, but that’s just me.

Here are my concerns for your safety:

1. Fire to your house (again watch that roof) - Property insurance
2. Fire to your neighbors house - Liability insurance
3. Blowing off your hand or other appendage (ouch) - Medical insurance
4. Hurting yourself and keeping you off work - Disability insurance
5. Injuring your kids - the ULTIMATE hurt.

Enjoy the weekend but be safe.  Oh by the way, watch out for drunk drivers.  I know you won’t do that, right?

Be safe and be well!

Dan