Archives for April 2020

The COVID-19 has forced many of us to develop new work strategies, including working from home. Gone are the office chairs, comfortable desks and the habits that made us get up and move. The couch, kitchen table or bed quickly become our new work station. For many of us, the excitement of remote work soon fades as we start to experience neck and back pain literally making work a pain in the neck. Combine that with constant access to the refrigerator and pantry and you have a recipe for disaster. So, how do you keep yourself feeling good and productive? Below are a few tips to help you stay comfortable and effective while working remotely for the foreseeable future:

 

Stop Sitting

Standing while you work engages your core and leg muscles keeping your blood moving. If standing isn’t an option because of your home set up, try perching. Perching or sitting on the edge of a stool or chair helps your spine maintain an S-shape and keep your leg muscles engaged. If you are not used to standing or perching regularly, you might find you tire quickly. Gradually increase the time you stand or perch and you will find your body responds quickly. You might also try creating your own standing desk. Put your monitor on some books or boxes so you can stand while keeping your monitor properly positioned.

 

Change Your Posture Often

For many of us, standing or perching throughout the day isn’t practical given our home office set up. If so, try changing your position throughout the day. Sitting in the same position, even at work, can lead to back, neck and shoulder pain. Try starting the day at the kitchen table and then move to your couch later. Add a towel between your chair and your lower back for lumbar support. Additionally, you can place your feet on an elevated surface to help stretch out your legs. Ideally, your hips and thighs form a 90 degree angle when you sit, but moving your legs and feet can make a much needed difference. You might also try kneeling or squatting, lying flat on your back (no one will know), or sitting cross-legged on the floor for periods of time.

 

Take Regular Breaks

Regular movement helps you keep your body healthy and gives your brain a break. Set a timer to go off at regular intervals reminding you to move around. As you walk around, do some quick stretches. While this is helpful when working in the office, it becomes even more important when working from home. Even short, quick breaks make a huge difference in the way you feel at the end of a long day.

 

Lose the Laptop

Laptops are great for short periods of time or when you work in a number of locations. However, they aren’t ergonomically friendly. Standing and taking breaks become pointless if you spend the day hunched over a screen several feet too low. If possible, use a desktop. At a minimum,  buy a separate keyboard. Keep your keyboard at elbow height and position the top of your laptop or monitor just below your eyes. If working on a reading intensive assignment, prop your laptop up at eye level. Then, lower it when you type.

 

Take Care of Your Eyes

Follow the 20/20/20 rule. For every 20 minutes you spend looking at a monitor, spend 20 seconds looking at something else at least 20 feet away. Give your eyes a chance to relax and reduce your eye strain.

 

Don’t Skip Lunch

Many of us find the temptation to snack throughout the day irresistible. However, making a meal and staying hydrated forces you to take breaks. It provides an opportunity to move around, stretch and give your eyes a break. Your body will thank you.

 

Follow Your Normal Routine

It’s easy to jump out of bed and head right to the computer to start working. However, taking a shower, getting dressed and eating breakfast gives your body time to reengage your muscles after a good sleep. You’ll feel more energized and ready to go. Shut down the computer at the same time you would normally leave work. While you might be tempted to “do one more thing”, you need the time to disconnect and prepare for the next day even more when working remotely.

 

By Megan Prince, Senior Proactive Risk Executive

As we enter into the first few months of 2020, the absence of a true winter has left many contractors running through their backlogs quicker than they anticipated. The increase in jobs with the lack of available tradesman means only one thing: hiring sub-contractors is necessary for construction survival and business continuation.

While a mild winter is a construction company owner’s dream, it can quickly become a nightmare if proper Contractual Risk Transfer is not in place.

Contractors or those acting as the “upper tier” can attempt to avoid the financial risk that may arise out of sub-contractor negligence. This includes bodily injury or property damage to a third party for which a General Contractor may be held vicariously accountable. The first step is Contractual Risk Transfer.

What is Contractual Risk Transfer?

Just when you thought you were finished with paperwork, an indemnity agreement becomes highly important for the financial safety of your company. Contrary to common belief, Contractual Risk Transfer is not an insurance contract. It is a written contract between upper tier and lower tier contractors that states one party is to indemnify and hold another party harmless. This may include property damages when completing a job, or personal injury to a third party on a job site. The importance of this boils down to financing (who will pay the claim), and mitigation (how to avoid or reduce the financial implications).

The ideal use and true purpose of contractual risk transfer is to place the financial burden of a loss on the party best able to control or prevent the incident leading to injury or damage. In other words, this insures the negligent party is responsible. By entering into a written contract with your sub-contractors and requesting specific verbiage, your level of protection increases significantly.

How Can I Protect My Company?

General Contractors have many options to protect their business from their sub-contractor’s mistakes. As a Senior Proactive Risk Executive, I see these attempts and requests daily. They arrive in the form of certificate requests, which include the following risk transfer tools:

 

1. Additional Insured Status
2. Waiver of Subrogation
3. “Primary and Non-Contributory” requirements

 

The general contractor requests proof that the sub-contractor has fulfilled all the requirements by providing a Certificate of Insurance. Similar to the way in which banks pre-qualify a prospective buyer’s credit score, general contractors are able to pre-qualify a subcontractor based on their insurance credentials. This ensures the general contractor, employees and clients are fully protected in the event of a catastrophic loss.

While certificate compliance is extremely important, there are a few additional best practices to follow:

1. Obtain performance history, safety culture, references and license information
2. Review audited financial statements from the past two fiscal years
3. Obtain supporting safety documentation such as Experience Mod Rating and OSHA Compliance history.

A quality subcontractor will comply with the general contractor’s requirements. When reaching workload capacity, both new and established companies look to secure subcontractors. Now is time to review the your hiring process. You will realize that a pre-qualification phase works as a risk blanket, protecting both yourself and clients from a disastrous loss. Among the major benefits, you will also establish a relationship built on quality craftsmanship and high regard for safety compliance.

Taking these steps combined with the proper protective coverage and meticulous risk transfer requirements can ward off disasters that could place your business in jeopardy.

The U.S. Department of Justice has issued a number of warnings regarding scams, fraudulent activity and price gouging related to COVID-19.

A new website, https://www.justice.gov/coronavirus, provides updated information on the scams. Additionally, the website includes a list of frequently asked questions with information on the following:

1. How to recognize a scam;
2. What to do if you are a victim or potential victim; and
3. What steps are being taken to address the fraudulent activity

If you think you are a victim of a scam or attempted fraud involving COVID-19, you can report it without leaving your home though a number of platforms. Go to:

• Contact the National Center for Disaster Fraud Hotline at 866-720-5721 or via email at disaster@leo.gov
• Report it to the FBI at tips.fbi.gov
• If it’s a cyber scam, submit your complaint through https://www.ic3.gov/default.aspx

If you have information on hoarding or price gouging of critical supplies, you can report it without leaving your home to the National Center for Disaster Fraud by calling the National Hotline at (866) 720-5721 or by e-mailing disaster@leo.gov