Where is today’s property & casualty market and where is it headed in 2015? According to the Insurance Service Office’s (ISO) industry 6-month 2014 results:

• Insurer net written premium growth slowed to 4% from 4.3% in the first-half of 2013.
• Commercial lines insurers’ combined ratio rose 1.8 percentage points in the first-half of 2014 to 95.4%.
• Policyholder surplus rose 9.5% in first-half 2014 keeping it at record levels.

What does this mean in 2015 and what can insurance consumers expect from the marketplace?

The threat of violence is a reality in the modern workplace. Every organization is vulnerable to it. From 2000 to 2010, there were an average of 588 work-related homicides each year and 18,000 assaults per week. That is over 936,000 workplace assaults annually. Wow.

Ill-fitting personal protecetive equipment (PPE) endangers your workers. Are you helping your employees find the right fit?

If PPE does not fit properly, it does not function as it should. It can therefore expose workers to health and safety risks. It can also negatively impact a worker’s ability to efficiently perform their job. If a worker’s gloves are too big they may put them at risk to getting a glove stuck in machinery or perhaps the loss of dexterity will prevent them from doing their job as well. Likewise, if their hard hat is constantly falling off as they look up, that not only endangers the worker’s head but slows them down as they keep putting the hat back on or use one hand to hold it. 

Acts of violence, acts of terror, tornadoes, floods, blizzards, fires. Crisis happens. And these emergencies ignite anxiety. Preparing plans for crisis communication and how to reunite families before an incident helps you from further complicating the chaos.

Though this discussion focuses on schools, these strategies can also be applied to incidents in the workplace.

Crushed hands and arms, severed fingers, amputations, burns, blindness. Machinery-related injuries are numerous, and their impact on a worker’s life can be catastrophic. Most often these injuries are preventable with the use of safeguards. OSHA shares a good rule to remember: “Any machine part, function, or process which may cause injury must be safeguarded.” What are the methods for properly safeguarding machinery?

Tweet, retweet, hashtag. This could sound like a foreign language to you. But most likely you have at least heard these terms in some context since there are over 271 million active monthly Twitter users.

Twitter is not for everyone. It is a fast-paced social network and has its own world of terminology, but it can offer immense resources for you and your brand. Take some time to determine if Twitter is right for you. 

If you’ve decided to give Twitter a try, the following are tips for you to consider.

The threat of workplace violence is real. We see incidents in the news every week and those are only the severe and high-profile stories. Many more incidents can go unreported each year. If you recognize indicators of potential violence in your workplace, how should you handle them? How can you help de-escalate a situation?

Workplace violence can happen anywhere…and at any time. No one is immune. It comes in many forms from threats or acts of physical violence and verbal abuse, to homicide or active shooter incidents. Training your employees to develop a mindset of situational awareness can help better prepare your organization.

500 million Tweets are sent each day. That’s a lot of conversation. Should you be a part of it?

Twitter can be a useful social network for companies and individuals. It provides opportunities for brand building, brand awareness, customer service, driving website traffic, content sharing, and more. But how do you know if it is the right social media platform for you and/or your company?

Machines can significantly improve production and efficiency. But they do not come without risks. The moving parts, sharp edges, and hot surfaces are hazards to workers. Many machine-related injuries can be prevented with the proper use of safeguards. It is important to understand what dangers machines present and what elements are needed to implement effective safeguarding practices.