Insurance Loss Control Association
PO Box 346
Morton, IL  61550
Phone: 309-696-2551
E-mail: administration@insurancelosscontrol.org

The 2016 ILCA Conference was held on October 3rd, 4th and 5th in Louisville, Kentucky, at the Louisville Marriott East.  

We would like to express our sincere appreciation for Dan Finn's service as President for the 2015-2016 term.  Dan continues to give of himself to ILCA year after year.  The 2016 Conference would not have been as successful without Dan's efforts.  Thank you for your service, Dan!  

The conference consisted of thirteen speakers, including a Motivational speaker.  Speaker topics included: The Value of Tribal Knowledge within an Organization; Builders Risk; Infection Control Risk Assessment/Safety; Security in the Hospitality Industry; Microbreweries/Brewpubs; Closing the Loop on Driver Behavior; Using Workers' Compensation System to Improve Safety; Construction Safety; Drone Operations; OSHA's Focus on Joint Employers; and Fleet Safety.

At the Business Meeting, Angie Lawless was elected to the Board of Directors.  The following members remain on the Board of Directors: Mark Bates, Scott Patterson, Jon Finn, Matt Parmerlee, Kirby Utt, Chuck Noty, Dan Finn, and Ron Huber.

During the November 18, 2016, conference call held by the Board of Directors, the following members were elected/appointed to the Executive Committee:

President
Mark Bates - Amerisure

First Vice President
Scott Patterson - Alexander & Schmidt

Second Vice President
Jon Finn - Lockton Companies

Secretary
Chuck Noty - Motorists Insurance Companies

Financial Secretary
Stig Ruxlow - Zurich Services Corporation
 

The topics for the conference this year were as follows:
 

Topic	Speaker	Company Represented
Motivational	Mark Klein	CorpJester
Value of Tribal Knowledge within Organization	Dr. David Guess	Usher Transport
Builders Risk	Robert P. Tull, CSP	Nationwide Insurance
ICRA	Duane Hathaway, Jr.	Independent Consultant
Security in the Hospitality Industry	Larry Carraro, CPP	Zurich Services Corporation
Microbreweries / Brewpubs	Bruce A. Tagg, ALCM	Mutual Boiler Re
Driver Behavior	Ron A. Kirsch, Ph.D.	Driver's Alert, Inc.
Work Comp System	Steven Wurzelbacher	NIOSH
Construction Safety	Dana Blose	Builders Insurance Group
Drone Operations	Mary Russo Scott Patterson	Verisk Ins. Solutions Alexander & Schmidt
OSHA's Focus on Joint Employers	Todd B. Logsdon	Fisher & Phillips LLP
Fleet Safety	Paul Farrell, CDS	Nationwide Insurance

Mark Klein is a native of Louisville, Kentucky.  This Colgate University graduate (with a Bachelor of Arts in English) has been making laughter his living for 30 years.  He began his career as a stand-up comedian in comedy clubs from Alaska to Florida, headlining top rooms across the country.  Mark expanded his schedule to include corporate and cruise ship entertainment.

This entertaining presentation opened the conference with many laughs and an uplifting message.  
 

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This presentation by Dr. David Guess explored the idea that "tribal knowledge" plays a vital role within the organizational culture of your business.  Particularly, the ideology that tribal knowledge can be either an asset or hindrance to your safety culture and how a safety program is managed.  Dr. Guess explained how the idea of being "propped up on our leaning side" is most assuredly an effective method to safety management.

Throughout his career in loss control, Dr. Guess has tried to maintain a keen awareness to the old adage, "You don't know what you don't know."  While cliche in nature, failure to recognize this one small detail can derail the greatest safety management practices.  This presentation offered no new or ground-breaking idea designed to change the world.  Moreover, it simply was a reminder of our decisions.  Remember, the roads of life are paved with flat squirrels that simply could not make a decision.  
 

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Construction sites by nature are dynamic and change day to day, hour by hour and minute by minute.  Exposures change, along with the values as the job progresses towards completion.  This presentation provided an understanding of WHO the stakeholders of a construction project are and how they can effect and manage successful change on the job.  Mr. Tull also provided a tour of HOW the jobsite exposures and values change from start to finish.

The attendees learned WHO has the responsibility of control and WHO can "STOP" the job or influence change.  This presentation provided an understanding of the potential for loss activity and effective controls necessary.  Mr. Tull demonstrated an unusual view of the exposures through the eyes of a firefighter and a contractor.  The attendees were able to walk away with a sense of a successful insurance visit to a well-controlled jobsite and how to be impactful of the overall outcome of a successful project.​
 

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Mr. Duane Hathaway, an independent consultant specializing in health facilities, presented on Infection Control Risk Assessment, or ICRA for short.  ICRA is a process used to reduce the spread of dust into occupied areas of a healthcare facility during the time of a construction project.  Duane's presentation began by explaining why ICRA needs to be a focus when there are projects in healthcare facilities and the basic principle that dust and other contaminants need to be controlled.  ICRA can be applied to a variety of health facilities that can include long-term care, intermediate-care, behavioral health, and hospitals to name a few.  While the primary goal of ICRA is to control the spread of dust, there are three other sub goals of ICRA: protect patients/residents, protect facility staff, and to protect visitors.  Duane further explained that while ICRA is a requirement from certain organizations (CMS, AHCA, CDC, AIA) it is not enforced by OSHA, though it is highly recommended.  The presentation went on to explain steps on how to implement ICRA, which included creating an ICRA committee, evaluating the exposure using the ICRA matrix, developing a plan for incumbent patients/residents, establishing high ICRA expectations for subcontractors, monitoring of the plan once construction has begun, and cleanup once the project is complete.  Duane wrapped up the session by explaining that ICRA can protect against many types of losses such as workers compensation, professional liability, general liability, and even property. 
 

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Security and liability related issues facing hospitality industry operations such as hotels, casinos and restaurants are an ever increasing concern for corporate and location management as well as the insurance industry.

This presentation focused on security and liability exposures, controls and emerging liability issues that every hospitality account faces in today's uncertain business, political and litigious environment.  Topics such as physical security controls, criminal activity, workplace violence, formal security programs and a variety of potential liability issues were discussed.  Whether you service or consult with small limited service, large convention or luxury hotels, casinos or restaurants, topics discussed provided the groundwork to better partner with these risks.

Attendees had the opportunity to further expand their knowledge on the risks associated with microbreweries and brewpubs, which was presented by Bruce Tagg, Sr. Engineering Exposure Analyst at Mutual Boiler Re.  The presentation began by explaining what exactly defines a microbrewery, a brewpub, a contract brewer, a regional brewer, and a larger brewer.  Bruce illustrated the brewing process and emphasized that the "hot" side of the brewing process presents the most exposure to an explosion.  Additional exposures for microbreweries/brewpubs included electrical issues, grain dust, pressure, and chemicals.  Lightweight construction of brewpubs should also be taken into consideration from an explosion control point of view.  Attendees were given a sample of potential control for these hazards that included employee training, formal procedures, preventative maintenance programs, and contingency plans.  Micro distilleries were not left out of discussion during the presentation.  While much of the same hazards exist between microbreweries and distilleries, distilleries are exposed to much higher pressure vessels and flammable vapors.  Lastly, Bruce presented on wineries, again, explaining the wine making process and the significant Business Interruption exposure that these occupancies face.  Emergency contingency planning was stressed during each discussion as a key and cost effective tool to mitigate loss.
 

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This presentation focused on the components of a comprehensive approach towards driver and fleet safety risk management programs used for improving driver behavior.  Specifically, it discussed the benefits of decal-based observations, Motor Vehicle Records (MVRs), MVR monthly monitoring, GPS / telematics, emerging technologies, coaching and training.  Each of these components are valuable in and of themselves in terms of driver and fleet safety, risk management and loss control.  However, each of these components also have gaps in coverage that if left open and exposed could be catastrophic.  
 

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The mission of the NIOSH Center for Workers' Compensation (CWCS) is to maximize the use of workers' compensation data and systems to improve workplace safety and health.  During this presentation, the CWCS director described several center initiatives including state-level workers' compensation claims trending analyses, predictive analytics, data visualization, prevention effectiveness studies with insurers, and exposure assessment studies to help standardize data collection among insurers.  The presentation concluded with a summary of partnership opportunities for attendees.  

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Dana's formal education is in Industrial Engineering and is a veteran of the US Air Force and Army.  He has over 28 years in the insurance industry working for USF&G in Birmingham, St. Paul, Travelers, Fireman's Fund and Hanover.  He is currently the loss control manager with Builders Insurance Group.  Dana has learned over the years that data related to policy needed for underwriting can be more easily obtained by having a conversation with the insured rather than a redundant inquiry with many probing questions.

No worker in their right mind wakes up in the morning desiring to be injured at work.  No business owner wakes up with the desire to have an injured worker.  So why would a worker take chances of being injured and why wouldn't a business owner train their workers and enforce safety rules and regulations?  Reasons could be poor attitude, no convenient, not knowing what is required to be safe, assuming workers know what is safe and what is not safe or everybody thinking they are simply invincible.  Safety is not automatic; it is a commitment to want to do what is required to be safe - it must be practiced.  Working safely is all attitude, but having the right attitude.

The construction industry has many hazards with fall from heights as the number one cause for injury. Falls can occur from working on roofs (any platform more than six feet from lower level), working from scaffolds, from ladders and from aerial lifts.  Other leading hazards are electrocution, caught in or between and struck by.  The only way to protect workers is to understand required controls, ensure the workers understand them and enforce them consistently.  An effective safety program addresses attitude, communicating safety rules and regulations and correcting unsafe behavior.  

Having the right attitude where safety is at the forefront of operations, understanding OSHA required controls for exposures and enforcing safety requirements consistently are all key areas or having a safe job site.  Having a non-threatening conversation with the insured about safe work practices, works better than a probing inquiry having many questions.  Recommendations can be used as a tool to help educate the insured - state the issue and provide required controls and why.  
 

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The commercial use of drones presents many opportunities for businesses around the world.  The technology related to drones, or unmanned aircraft systems, is advancing at a rapid pace.  It is likely that your company or clients will be exposed to potential liability from drones.  This presentation will reflect on what some of the more typical exposures are relating to the use of drones and how insurance can protect them.  

The presenters will provide an overview of the technology and describe how the industry is evolving, along with a description of the projected marketplace and anticipated usage of drones in operations as diverse as construction to insurance.  They also discussed the hazards associated with drone use from fire hazards relating to battery storage to the ambiguous nature of privacy and security concerns.

Since the FAA Part 107 regulations for UAS went into effect August 29th, the requirements for operating drones have eased.  New drone rules from the Federal Aviation Administration limit most small commercial drone operations to daylight hours and require operators to get certified every two years.  The rules will continue to evolve with Agency leaders pledging to craft follow-on rules with unprecedented speed, including some giving the green light to night flights, others approving uses beyond the site of operators and by year-end, regulations allowing unmanned vehicles to start flying over crowds.  

This fruitful discussion engaged the audience and encouraged participation by sharing experiences with the use of drones by risk control professionals.

 

In the last few years, OSHA has emphasized enforcement of safety obligations of joint employers, particularly regarding temporary employees and independent contractors.  Recent trends, however, indicate OSHA could expand the scope of joint employer status to parent/subsidiary company or franchisor/franchisee relationships.  Each employer must, therefore, assess and address its potential status as a joint employer and the legal obligations and potential liabilities it faces under OSHA.  This presentation will assist employers in understanding and handling these issues.  

Learning Objectives:

• Understand OSHA criteria for finding joint employer status;
• Understand OSHA obligations associated with joint employer status;
• Be able to develop and implement strategies to proactively avoid liabilities associated with joint employer status;
• Be able to ensure compliance with joint employer obligations under OSHA.

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This presentation focused mainly on the next evolution of fleet safety - beyond basic telematics into topics covering: Driver Scoring; Gamification; Dongle versus App based tracking; and Advanced Collision Avoidance Systems.  In addition to a clear overview of the newest fleet tech, the presenter discussed its availability to varied industry segments and how it may best fit into the client's principal fleet safety program.  Safety statistics and studies to help justify each of these new technologies were presented along with current limitations and obstacles.

Upon completion of the presentation, each participant was equipped to discuss these new systems and methods with their existing client base: summarizing key benefits, costs, data to help justify the adoption of the systems and resources for additional study (as a take away).