Category Archives: Safety

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The Most Dangerous Month For Drivers Has Begun

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Now that August has arrived, warnings are being posted—the United States has entered its deadliest month for drivers, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS). IIHS information revealed that 505 fatalities have been reported on Aug. 2 every year between 2012 and 2016—the most recent studied—making it the most fatal day for drivers in that time frame.

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During the same five-year span, July 4 had the second-highest number of traffic fatalities with 495.

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IIHS Senior Vice President for Communications Russ Rader attributed the statistic to the fact that there are more vehicles and road trips in unfamiliar territory, creating higher crash risks, on Aug.

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2 and during the summer in general.

“Traffic deaths are not inevitable. If everyone buckled up and every driver obeyed the laws against speeding and alcohol-impaired driving, the summer death toll would be much lower,” Rader said. “Even though Aug. 2 is a bad day, it’s staggering to recognize that, on average, about 100 people lose their lives on U.S. roads every single day of the year.”

A total of 37,461 people died in motor vehicle crashes in 2016 and the U.S. Department of Transportation’s most recent estimate of the annual economic cost of crashes is $242 billion. Contributing to the death toll are alcohol, speeding, lack of safety belt use and other problematic driver behaviors.

“Each of those deaths could have been prevented,” Rader said. “We could make a lot more progress in reducing crashes and the deaths and injuries that result if we doubled down on the countermeasures that we know work.”

The National Safety Council (NSC) reported that of all the work-related deaths in 2016, nearly 1,600 took place on roadways and about 20% of those involved pedestrian automobiles.

Organizations with fleets should take note, as motor vehicle crashes are the number-one cause of work-related deaths, accounting for 24% of all fatal occupational injuries, according to the NSC. On-the-job crashes cause employers to sustain costs of more than $24,500 per property damage crash and $150,000 per injury crash.

Nationwide’s SmartRide program identified hard braking, fast acceleration and idling in traffic as the top causes of auto accidents. Those incidents, coupled with the fact that August marks the midpoint of summer in America, make this such a dangerous time to be on the road.

Nationwide’s data identifies Fridays in general, between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m., as the most aggressive time of the week for drivers. During this timeframe, drivers’ habits behind the wheel show more instances of hard braking and faster accelerations than any other time of the week. Additionally, Nationwide members reported more accidents in August 2016 (60,976) than any other month over the past four years.

“These critical pieces of data about driving habits have been identified as some of the leading contributors to auto accidents,” said Teresa Scharn, an associate vice president at Nationwide who helped build and manage the insurer’s telematics program. “When drivers are armed with this information, they can make necessary adjustments to their driving behaviors that will help them be safer drivers.”

Traveling? It’s No Time To Protest

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Traveling for business to a foreign country has its assumed risks.

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Typical details like language barriers and exchange rates can be daunting enough, but businesses should be mindful of the potential effects of a protest or demonstration near their employees’ hotels or destinations.

It is easy to imagine attending a conference in another country where a protest is occurring right in front of your conference center. While many are peaceful, some can become violent and there may be legal issues to consider as well.

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Regardless of whether it is related to your visit, the experience can be confusing and unnerving.

Businesses must consider how to prevent their employees from getting stuck in the wrong place at the wrong time; in addition to the disorientation, there can be severe repercussions for being even seemingly involved in a foreign demonstration. Laws and protocols about protests vary from country to country, and guilt—even by association—can have disastrous consequences.

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To ensure your employees know how to successfully circumvent a demonstration, check out the infographic below by On Call International, which gives advice on how visitors should conduct themselves and stay safe in the event of a protest—particularly a violent one.

Deadly Ferguson Wildfires Threaten Access to Yosemite Park

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The Ferguson wildfires have been spreading in Mariposa County, California on the western edge of Yosemite National Park for days, burning 27 square miles and taking the life of one firefighter.

The Mercury News reported that more than 1,400 firefighters have been on the scene trying to protect 100 nearby homes and businesses that are in the fire’s path as it moves south and east.

The fires began July 13 at about 8:30 p.m. and by July 15 had nearly doubled to 9,300 acres. On Wednesday it was at 17,319 acres and 5% contained. And while authorities have not declared an official cause, Colin Gannon, senior data analyst at Four Twenty Seven, which studies the economic risk of climate change, said weather and environmental conditions are certainly contributing factors.

“In [this case], three factors—persistent wind, low humidity, and high availability of fuel sources—aligned just right for rapid fire growth. Weather conditions in the days leading up to the fire were extremely hot and dry, with temperatures approaching 100°F, and strong winds pushed the fire into the hills and valleys, allowing the it to spread quickly,” Gannon said. “Compounding this issue is the widespread presence of dry needles and dead trees, which are a highly combustible fuel source. To make matters worse, the location of the fire in steep and rugged terrain has made access difficult for those fighting the fire.”

On July 15, Pacific Gas & Electric Co. switched off power lines serving the area, affecting parts of Yosemite, El Portal and Foresta, in an effort to mitigate further fire risk.

The severity of the fires has not closed down Yosemite, which is nearly 1,200 square miles wide, but did force the closure of several miles of Highway 140 in Mariposa County west of El Portal, limiting some access to the park. The park’s website also advises visitors to “expect poor air quality and limited visibility due to the Ferguson Fire. Smoke may be heavy at times, and visitors should be prepared to limit any heavy outdoor activity during the periods of poor air quality.”

Weather is expected to remain hot and dry for the next seven days, with isolated thunderstorms possible over the Sierra Crest, which authorities are hoping could provide some relief.

According to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, 3,213 fires burned 98,169 acres in the state between January 1 and July 15 of this year. That acreage is down more than 30,000 from this time last year. By September 2017, the Forest Service and Interior Department had spent more than $2 billion fighting fires in the United States for the year — making it the most expensive wildfire season on record.

The insurance industry has been reacting to the high activity, Gannon said, particularly regarding residential properties in risky areas.

“There have been incidents of private insurers dropping coverage for homeowners in high fire risk areas,” Gannon said. “It is difficult to say how pervasively this will occur when new science, and subsequently new understanding of fire risk, becomes available. As a result, state insurance, otherwise known as the California FAIR plan is stepping in to provide coverage for high risk areas.”

As Risk Management Monitor reported, the Insurance Institute for Business and Home Safety (IIBHS) recommends that organizations survey the materials and design features of their structures; as well as the types of plants used, their location and maintenance.

Companies also should determine their fire hazard severity zone (FHSZ) by evaluating the landscape, fire history in the area and terrain features such as slope of the land. Organizations can request the FHSZ rating from local building or fire officials in their area.

IIBHS notes three sources of wildfire ignition:

  1. Burning embers, or firebrands, generated by a wildfire and made worse in windy conditions.
  2. Direct flame contact from the wildfire.
  3. Radiant heat emanating from the fire.

Resiliency in 2018: Q&A With BCI’s David Thorp

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Organizational resiliency is a focus of the Business Continuity Institute (BCI) and executive director David Thorp. It was the theme of this year’s annual Business Continuity Awareness Week, which Risk Management Monitor covered in May, and was the focus of BCI’s updated manifesto.

We reached out to Thorp to get his insight on organizational resiliency, how businesses can improve their continuity plans and for ways to better incorporate them into their culture.

Risk Management Monitor: What companies have best demonstrated resilience?

David Thorp: A few examples of organizations that have displayed a high level of resilience are Apple, TomTom, and PostNL.

Apple displayed resilience when they reemployed Steve Jobs to reshape the company.

TomTom started by making software for Palm computers. It has dealt with a rapidly changing marketplace and over the years it has:

  • produced navigation software for PDAs (personal digital assistant)
  • produced its own navigation devices
  • developed live traffic information
  • acquired a digital mapping company
  • developed navigation software for smartphones
  • struck up deals with car manufacturers

PostNL (formerly TNT) has had to adapt to the decline in regular mail as well as tapping into the requirement to deliver more packages (outside working hours) as a result of an increase of web shops.

RMM:  What do organizations most commonly overlook in their continuity planning?

DT: Two most commonly overlooked aspects are keeping plans up to date and exercising/testing.

Business continuity management is often initiated as a project, usually assisted with external expertise. Internal personnel frequently have this role in addition to their “normal” functions. As the organization changes, these plans often get overlooked. After one or two exercises have been carried out, the focus on exercising quickly diminishes.

Unfortunately, these two aspects have a large impact on the ability to recover as planned. It could be argued that this is an indication of a lack of management commitment.

RMM: Why do so many companies overlook their continuity planning and emergency preparedness?

DT: The biggest reason is that it is not a requirement for many organizations. When not required by a regulator or a customer, the organization must:

  1. know about continuity planning and emergency preparedness
  2. understand their risk
  3. understand its value before there is a possibility of it being implemented

By not having done a risk or impact analysis, it is also easy for organizations to think that a disruptive event will not happen to them and therefore not worth the hassle and investment.

RMM: How much time and effort does creating and initiating a business continuity plan take?

DT: This depends on the size and complexity of the organization, the ambition level and the resources available. For small organizations, it is possible to create and exercise plans within a month—but this would typically take a little longer as the required people will also have other tasks. For a large and more complex organization, it may take two-to-three years to reach the desired maturity level.

RMM: What advances would you like to see the global risk management community achieve with regard to planning and preparedness?

DT: I would like to see a better understanding of each other’s disciplines and a better collaboration between them. There is much overlap between the two disciplines and with better collaboration, we can more efficiently and effectively minimize risks and improve the continuity. We are currently working on better understanding how we achieve synergy between business continuity and risk management. We see this as being a prerequisite for achieving organizational resilience. Collaboration with other disciplines is also necessary.

RMM: We’ve seen examples of reputation crises that have in some cases forced companies to close. How can organizations avoid these pitfalls?

DT: A major factor in managing the extent of the reputation damage is the quality of the crisis communication. How well and honestly you inform those affected and of course how you deal with social media makes the difference in how you are perceived. The subsequent actions need to be in line with the messages communicated.

RMM: What has changed in the BCI’s Manifesto for Organizational Resilience that risk professionals should know about?

DT: The manifesto is built on the simple premise that resilience is not the responsibility of one part of the organization—it is the responsibility of discipline within an organization working closely together toward a common purpose. Risk Management, emergency planning, disaster recovery, security, facilities management, business continuity management, supply chain management, IT management, HR management…all have an equal role to play in delivering resilience.

The manifesto contains our undertaking to seek out alliances with other professional bodies along the spectrum of what might be termed “resilience disciplines” in order to work collaboratively. This would make organizations more resilient than if we each work within our own silo.