Below is a sampling of tips distributed by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention:

To Prepare for Heavy Absenteeism:

• Develop flexible leave policies for workers who must stay home to care for other family members.
• Have an understanding of your organization’s normal seasonal absenteeism rates and know how to monitor your personnel for any unusual increases through the fall and winter.
• Cross-train personnel to perform essential functions so the workplace can operate even if key staff members are absent.
• Explore whether you can establish policies and practices such as telecommuting and flexible work hours.
• Ensure that you have the information technology and infrastructure needed to support multiple employees working from home.

To Help Keep Employees Healthy:

• Ask sick workers to stay home for seven days or until they have been symptom-free for 24 hours.
• Encourage hand washing and covering coughs and sneezes.
• Clean commonly touched surfaces regularly.
• Encourage employees to get vaccinated both for the seasonal flu and for H1N1.
• Consider canceling nonessential business travel.

Know the Difference between Cold and H1N1 Flu Symptoms

- Stephanie O’Dell

There are a number of ways to achieve more affordable auto insurance, beginning with everyday behaviors and choices. For example; the premium will be higher if you have a luxury model that is expensive to repair. The age, model, safety record, and features of a car are all factored in when we provide quotes. If your car has antilock brakes or a built in alarm system, it can help reduce your premium. If you are in a high theft city or drive a car frequently targeted for theft, your costs are likely to go up. Slow down. Speeding tickets are another item that will make your premiums increase. You can explore modifying some of the components of your policy as well. Adjusting your deductible is an example. If you increase your deductible, it will lower your premium; however, it is important to be confident that you can cover the cost of that deductible should you need to rely on your policy. Many insurance companies offer discounts if you purchase multiple policies (such as homeowners and auto) with them. You may also get a reduction in premium when you sign up for automatic bill paying agreements. If you are interested in trying to lower your auto insurance premiums, we can look at altering components of your policy. We want to help you make smart decisions that will cut costs, while still providing the protection you need.

- Bryce Arnett

Business Interruption insurance compensates you for lost income if your company has to vacate the premises due to disaster-related damage that is covered under your property insurance policy, such as a fire. Business interruption insurance covers the profits you would have earned (based on your financial records) had the disaster not occurred. The policy also covers operating expenses, like electricity, that continue even though business activities have come to a temporary halt.

What is Extra Expense?

Extra Expense insurance reimburses your company for a reasonable sum of money that it spends, over and above normal operating expenses, to avoid having to shut down during the restoration period.

Why do I need this coverage?

The goal of this insurance is to “make you whole again”. Purchasing Building and Personal Property insurance returns your location to the same physical condition it was in prior to the loss. Business Income coverage, however, is meant to put you in the same fiscal position you would be in if no loss occurred.
Think of Business Income insurance as protecting the existence of the business itself. To put it another way, if you neglect to purchase Business Income Coverage, the business may simply cease to exist following a prolonged shut down created by a covered cause of loss.
It’s hard to believe, but with the historic focus of property insurance on the prevention of loss and preservation of property, little thought has gone into insurance for post loss recovery. Even more importantly, most insureds that are aware of this key exposure tend to be concerned about covering lost profits, often overlooking the equally important impact of continuing expenses. Continuing expenses can often exceed the insured’s monthly profit.

- Brigham Curran

• Cell Phones or PDA devices with email and Texting

  It is common practice for businesses to equip their employees with a company cell phone so that clients or other employees can reach them when they are away from the office. It seems to make good business sense, and overall efficiency is increased, which is good news to any employer. Cell phones are now proven to be the majority of caused accidents.

• Pagers

  Although pagers might be viewed as less distracting to the user than cell phones, they still can create legal waves for a company

• Non-Designated Drivers

  Most companies painstakingly investigate and insure their on-the-job drivers, such as delivery people and truck drivers, but they usually overlook the small errands for which they sometimes send non-insured employees, such as office workers.

What can companies do to protect themselves?

• Set employee policies regarding employees not using the cell phone or PDA’s while driving.
• Provide cellular phones and pagers only for essential personnel.
• Before giving an employee an assignment that requires driving, make sure they have a valid driver’s license.
• Better yet, keep employees in their hired roles. If they were hired for office work, keep them there. Let the company drivers do the driving.

– Brad Arnett

Insuring a Home for its Real Estate Value Rather than the Cost of Rebuilding

With the value of real estate going down, some home buyers may think that they can reduce the amount of insurance on their home. Insurance,  however, is designed to cover the cost of rebuilding a home. It is not linked to the sale price of the home. Homeowners should be careful to purchase enough insurance coverage to completely rebuild their home and replace their belongings.

• A better Way To Save MoneyConsider higher deductibles. If you were to raise a $500 deductible to as much as $1,000, you may save up to 25 percent on many home insurance policies. The average person only files a claim every eight to 10 years, so most homeowners will save money over time.

Only Purchasing the Legally Required Amount of Liability Protection for a Car

Every state has financial responsibility laws for drivers requiring you to buy a minimum amount of liability coverage. However, if you buy only the minimum coverage, you may end up paying significantly more out-of-pocket in the long run.

• A better Way To Save MoneyBefore you buy a new or used car, check into insurance costs. Your premium is based in part on the car’s sticker price, the cost to repair it, its overall safety record and the likelihood of theft. Many insurers offer discounts for features that reduce the risk of injuries or theft like air bags, anti-lock brakes, daytime running lights and anti-theft devices.

- Bryce Arnett

On June 30, 2009 an advisory committee to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration recommended that the FDA restrict the use of acetaminophen, one of the most widely-used pain medications. Some of the more popular medications containing acetaminophen are over the counter drugs such as Tylenol, Excedrin and NyQuil as well as other prescription brand-name medications such as Vicodin, Percocet, Lortab, and Tylenol w/codeine.

If taken in the recommended doses, acetaminophen is a safe and effective fever reducing and pain medication, however, it is widely overused. The average healthy adult has the recommended maximum dose of acetaminophen over a 24 hour period of 4000 mg. Each extra-strength Tylenol pill currently contains 500 mg, and each regular strength pill contains 325 mg. Overdoses occur when individuals multi-medicate to treat various symptoms not knowing that acetaminophen is a common ingredient in each of the medications being taken. A common mistake occurs because it is often difficult to identify products containing acetaminophen as it is often labeled as APAP on pharmacy containers. Another common overuse of acetaminophen is the PM version of Tylenol. Many individuals take Tylenol PM on a regular basis to medicate for sleep deprivation or insomnia. This combined with daily pain medications often result in accidental overdose.

Acetaminophen overdose causes severe liver damage and have been linked to 56,000 emergency room visits, 26,000 hospitalizations, and 458 deaths during the 1990’s according to the FDA. The agency cited another study, a 2007 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention population-based report, that estimated acetaminophen was the likely cause of most of the estimated 1,600 acute liver failures each year.

The FDA isn’t trying to eliminate the use of acetaminophen, but has suggested restrictions on its use that will reduce the recommended dosages and eliminate some popular prescription products that contain acetaminophen such as Vicodin and Percocet.

We recommend that you become familiar with the manufacturers dosage recommendations and adhere to all warning labels and guidelines in order to avoid accidental acetaminophen overdose.
References: FDA, “Joint Meeting of the Drug and Safety and Risk Management Advisory Committee with the Anesthetic and Life Support Drugs Advisory Committee and the Nonprescription Drugs Advisory Committee Meeting Announcement,” June 29-30, 2009. Source.

– Stephanie O’Dell