$363M for State Highway Projects

US Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood announced recently that the agency would transfer about $363 million worth of funds towards state highway projects. The funds would be used to support a wide array of highway improvements as it relates to interstate rehabilitation and reconstruction, as well as technologies. These new improvements and innovations are to elevate safety standards and reduce traffic congestion, which appears to be the biggest nuisance of roadway travel.

How To Handle a Worker's Compensation Claim

Even the best employers utilizing the safest procedures and taking every conceivable precaution might find themselves dealing with a workers compensation claim. Instead of seeing the claim as disgruntled employee's attempt to cash out, think of it as your duty as an employer to compensate a person that is hurt doing the job you are paying them to do. If this is your first time handling a workers compensation claim, you might not even know exactly what it is.

At its most basic, workers compensation is a payment from an employer to one of his/her employees for injuries or illnesses resulting from work. Many businesses have insurance for workers compensation claims, especially if the business they run is dangerous, and so the employer pays due to the insurance company and the insurance company covers the claim. Workers compensation laws, stating what injuries and illnesses are applicable and how much money the employer will owe for them, vary from state to state.

Here are a few tips for avoiding and handling a workers compensation claim:

Have a clear policy statement that requires all employees to report any suspected injuries to superiors or a designated person. Note that false claims will lead to termination of employment and put the notice in your employee manual after you've announced it.

Once an injury is brought to somebody's attention, document everything. After the employee has received care, have him/her write and sign a statement about the origin of the injury, and if there were other people involved or in the room have them do the same.

Make sure the employee gets the care he/she needs. Does he/she need to go to the emergency room? If you can send a supervisor with him/her that may be to your benefit, but make sure that you don't make your employee uncomfortable.

Familiarize yourself with your state's workers compensation laws. What injuries qualify? How much do employers usually pay for the kind of claim you're dealing with? Knowledge is power.

Institute practices that will avoid an injury repeating itself: If someone slipped on a wet floor, buy a sign that will caution future pedestrians. This won't deflect your current claim, but if two employees are injured in the same preventable manner, you might find yourself in a very precarious situation.

Show the claiming employee that you value him/her. Stay in touch while he/she is out of work, and encourage them to keep taking their medication or participating in whatever therapy they are using. It's always easier to deal with a non-hostile claimant.

Report the injury to your insurance company immediately and maintain open communication with them. Even though you are filling out forms, don't treat it as menial labor! Detailed, thorough information can often be the difference between a claim covered by an insurance company and one tossed to the side.

About the Author: When John Stallworth isn’t reviewing the best contractor insurance rates, he is busy providing legal consulting or building his handmade sailboat that he hopes to sale across Lake Michigan one day.

Make sure your Staff are protected

image source: Flickr

If you expect your staff to work hard for the company you should give them the reassurance to work in safety.

Your staff are your biggest asset – employ the best staff and your business will thrive. After all, good customer service, operational staff and management will help to drive the business  forwards and to bring in new work. If you put your faith in your staff and expect them to deliver then it’s only fair that they should be able to work in a safe and secure environment. They should be confident with any equipment that they are using and feel safe in the offices and buildings where they carry out their duties.

Your choice of construction insurance will have a large part to play in their safety and security. A good policy will ensure that everyone is covered for every work-related eventuality and you can work safe in the knowledge that your team is protected. However, if you haven’t checked out your construction or warehouse insurance policy for a while, you can’t guarantee that it covers all your current requirements. You might have taken on a lot of new staff recently, or you might have upgraded or expanded equipment or premises without upgrading your insurance policy.

If that’s the case then you should make your insurance a priority. It’s no good putting it aside while other urgent administrative jobs land on your desk. Nothing is more of a priority than making sure your staff are safe and you owe it to them to check your current policy with your insurance provider. This should only be a matter of making a quick phone call, outlining the details of your current policy and checking that it still meets all the requirements of your business. It might be that you have a robust policy that can cover a certain amount of growth when it comes to premises and staff. However, if your business has grown rapidly, you may discover that you need extra cover on your policy, or that you need to take out additional cover for certain aspects of your business.

If you have time, you should also think about getting quotes from other competitive insurance providers. If you haven’t changed your insurance company for a number of years, it makes sense to get quotes from other companies to make sure you’re paying over the odds for your policy. There are a number of companies that specialise in construction insurance and you might want to consider using a provider with the inside knowledge of your industry. They can offer specific expertise and advise with regards to your cover and the policies that they provide to businesses.

If you ignore your admin or push it to one side you could come to regret it later on. No one likes to consider the possibility of accidents or thefts taking place in the business but these things happen. At least, with a comprehensive insurance policy, you will have the reassurance that the issues will be dealt with – without one, you could end up losing your business and everything you’ve worked so hard for.

A Comfortable Office Equals A Contented Workforce

There is a great variety of workplaces in every sector of business, from retail outlets to engineering shops and from warehouses to manufacturing plants. For many people, however, nothing beats the comfort and convenience of working in an office. Whether they earn their living in a call centre or a recruitment agency, they are generally happy to head into work on a daily basis.

For employers, it makes sound financial sense to ensure their employees’ working environments are as pleasant as possible. This can mean anything from providing comfortable break-out areas in which team members can enjoy a relaxing coffee during lunchtimes to installing top quality sound systems so the latest hits can be broadcast to workers throughout the day.

Home Is The Place Where You Need Security

Home is the place where we feel the most secure, but how secure is it really? The fact is most would be shocked just how easy it is to break into the average home. I recently finished a new ebook called Home Security Principals (which is 100% FREE). It exposes common flaws in a home’s security plan and provides detailed solutions. Below is the introduction....

Everyone needs to feel safe and secure in their own home in order to feel free. However, a home feeling secure and actually being secure is very different. After all, it isn’t a coincidence that burglaries happen more to households where no security measures have been taken. By being proactive, developing good habits, and implementing some security measures you can significantly reduce your chances of being burglarized.

So, what is the usual burglary like? The vast majority of home burglaries are committed on weekdays between 1 and 5 pm by men between the ages of 16 and 25 years old. They look for an open door or window, cheap locks, or a house that can be approached without anyone seeing. They may ask themselves; does anybody appear to be home? Is there evidence of an alarm system? Are there any easy points of entry? Are there any valuables I can see to determine if this house is worth the risk? People need to ask themselves these types of questions to determine if their house is at risk. This is done by knowing what catches a burglar’s eye and taking steps to eliminate these “eye catching” events. This is the purpose of this ebook. So, if you like this ebook, please pass it along to your friends and family because it’s 100% FREE and intended to be shared. Click on the link below to get it.

http://www.frugalhomediy.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/home-security-principals.pdf

Below is a video that goes along with my ebook. I shows how to reinforce a door to prevent it from being kicked in.