Heat Illness Prevention Vital for Workers in Late Summer and Early Fall

Author, Megan Lockhart, Client Communications Coordinator, Rancho Mesa Insurance Services, Inc.

With Fall on the horizon, and high heat still a hazard for employees working outdoors, it remains critical for employers to practice heat illness prevention on the job.

 These past few months have seen record-breaking heat across California and throughout the U.S., with temperatures reaching as high as 120 degrees in areas like Palm Springs. Since many employers conduct heat illness prevention training in May or June, as we close out Summer and enter Fall, employers might be tempted to reduce their monitoring of heat illness symptoms with workers on the jobsite. However, temperatures can still sore well into September and even October. So, this can be dangerous if employers are no longer vigilant.

 In order to prepare, employers should check their Heat Illness Prevention Program to ensure it meets current standards. The Cal/OSHA website offers a sample written Heat Illness Prevention Program for both indoor and outdoor spaces that employers can download.

 Additionally, employers should keep workers up to date on their heat illness prevention training. Rancho Mesa has added additional dates to our Heat Illness Prevention webinar to help keep employees safe. Clients can register for one of the webinars in the coming weeks to learn how to best protect their workers from heat illness.

 Rancho Mesa is happy to offer the necessary resources clients need to stay prepared. For questions about this and other workshops and webinars, contact your Client Technology Coordinator.

Rancho Mesa Hosts Heat Illness Prevention Workshop

Author, Megan Lockhart, Media Communications and Client Services Coordinator, Rancho Mesa Insurance Services, Inc.

On Friday, June 2, Rancho Mesa held its Heat Illness Prevention Workshop at the Mission Valley Library, presented by Zee Reid from Berkshire Hathaway Homestate Companies.

Attendees enjoyed bagels, pastries, and fresh coffee as they learned best practices for keeping themselves and their employees safe from heat illness on the job site.

Reid covered the symptoms of heat illness, tactics employees should follow to prevent heat-related illness, and how to develop written procedures to avoid heat-related OSHA violations.

Like many of Rancho Mesa’s live workshops, this training is a part of the RM365 Advantage Safety Star™ program. Clients who chose to participate, took the quiz at the end of the presentation and earned credit towards their certification in construction safety.

Rancho Mesa values offering these workshops to promote safety and help clients manage risk.

Our next webinar is Cyber Liability Explained: Hacking Trends for 2023 on Friday, July 14.

About Berkshire Hathaway Homestate Company
The Berkshire Hathaway Homestate Companies (BHHC) are a group of six regional insurance carriers that are part of the Berkshire Hathaway Insurance Group. With more than 40 years in business, BHHC has earned an enviable record of success in the insurance industry that is supported by A.M. Best's highest financial strength rating of A++. Its financial strength provides employees, agency partners, and policyholders the security rarely available in today's marketplace. To learn more, visit www.bhhc.com.

Rancho Mesa Hosts Heat Illness Prevention Workshop in San Diego’s Mission Valley

Author, Megan Lockhart, Media Communications and Client Services Coordinator, Rancho Mesa Insurance Services, Inc.

On Friday, June 10, 2022, Rancho Mesa held its Heat Illness Prevention Workshop at the Mission Valley Library, presented by Zee Reid, Senior Loss Control Specialist from Berkshire Hathaway Homestate Companies. 

Through the engaging presentation, attendees learned the importance of protecting employees from high heat conditions.

“[We go over] the basics of heat illness prevention programs, and what you need as employers and as supervisors when you're out in the field working with heat illness prevention,” Reid said.

Reid also covered the required procedures to follow in order to avoid heat-related violations since Cal/OSHA updated its section 3395 Heat Illness Prevention standards in 2015.

Rancho Mesa values offering workshops such as these in order to better prepare its clients, promote safety, and help businesses be more aware of their risks.

“This workshop is actually part of Rancho Mesa’s RM365 Advantage Safety Star™ Program,” said Alyssa Burley, Media Communications and Client Services Manager from Rancho Mesa. “The majority of attendees participated and received credit towards their Safety Star Certificate for this course, which is really exciting.”

Clients will soon be able to access a recording of the workshop and complete the quiz to get credit for the course through the Risk Management Center.

Rancho Mesa’s next webinar is Cyber Insurance: The Business of Hacking on Thursday, July 28, 2022. Register online, today. 

About Berkshire Hathaway Homestate Companies
The Berkshire Hathaway Homestate Companies (BHHC) are a group of six regional insurance carriers that are part of the Berkshire Hathaway Insurance Group. With more than 40 years in business, BHHC has earned an enviable record of success in the insurance industry that is supported by A.M. Best's highest financial strength rating of A++. Its financial strength provides employees, agency partners, and policyholders the security rarely available in today's marketplace. To learn more, visit www.bhhc.com.

Beat the Heat with Heat Illness Prevention Training

Author, Emily Marasso, Media Communications & Client Services Coordinator, Rancho Mesa Insurances Services, Inc.

Summer is here and for most of us around the nation, it is about to get hot. 

Zee Reid, Senior Loss Control Specialist from Berkshire Hathaway Homestate Companies, gave Rancho Mesa clients an in depth look at best practices for creating and implementing a plan to prevent heat illness at our June 24, 2021 webinar. 

With his energy and wit, Zee pointed out best practices while showing examples of what not to do. Tumbleweeds on sticks does not suffice as a shaded area for rest, nor can sugary sodas and sports drinks  take the place of clean potable drinking water on site. Instead, his presentation reinforced that preventing heat illness requires water, shade, and rest.

The Heat Illness Prevention webinar was highly engaging. Our webinar analytics show record tentativeness by the over 30 companies in attendance.

The presentation used by Zee in our webinar can be found in the Risk Management Center, as well as many other resources.

The Heat Illness Prevention training is just one of the topics covered in the RM365 Advantage Safety Star™ Program. Register for the program, today to ensure you and your employees are safety stars.

Utilize Down Time to Become a Safety Star™

Author, Lauren Stumpf, Media Communications Coordinator, Rancho Mesa Insurance Services, Inc.

If you are facing a slowdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic, now is an excellent time to train your management team to become Safety Stars™. The RM365 Advantage Safety Star Program™ offers modules specific to the construction industry as well as organizations in the human services.

These online programs are ideal for your supervisors, foremen, safety coordinators, upper management, administrators, directors of human resources, facilities/operations managers, and safety committee members. All participants take the Accident Investigation and Analysis module while choosing several electives like Fall Protection, Heat Illness Prevention or Patient & Resident Handling, Bloodborne Pathogens, and 15-Passenger Van Safety, to name a few.

Sending management through the RM365 Advantage Safety Star Program™ can give a company a competitive advantage in the insurance marketplace, reduce the probability of claims, and lower its overall insurance costs.

To enroll in the RM365 Advantage Safety Star Program, visit www.ranchomesa.com/rm365-advantage-safety-star-program and fill out the application.

Rancho Mesa Hosts Heat Illness Prevention Workshop

Author, Lauren Stumpf, Media Communications Assistant, Rancho Mesa Insurance, Inc.

Berkshire Hathaway's Zadock "Zee" Reid presented at the Heat Illness Prevention workshop hosted by Rancho Mesa Insurance Services, Inc. on Wednesday, June 5, 2019 at the Boys & Girls Club of East County in Santee, CA.

Zee conducted an educational and engaging workshop as he covered a variety of topics including:

• Modified Temperature Guidlines

• Pre-shift Meetings

• Supervisory Expectations

• Clarification on Access to Water

• Clarification on Access to Shade    

• Rest & Recovery periods

• Monitoring Employees

• Weather Monitoring

• High Heat Procedures

• Emergency Response

The Heat Illness Prevention workshop is part the RM365 Advantage Safety Star Program™. At the end of the workshop, attendees completed and passed the required quiz to receive credit towards the program.

It is always a pleasure having Zadock Reid educate our clients on Heat Illness Prevention. We look forward to having Zee back to conduct another interactive and engaging workshop!

For those who were unable to attend the workshop, a video is available on demand within the Risk Management Center, and can be easily accessed by using the key words “Heat Illness Prevention” in the search box. Or, it can be requested via the Workshop Video Request Form.

Workshop Video Library Offers On-Demand Training

Author, Alyssa Burley, Client Services Coordinator, Rancho Mesa Insurance Services, Inc.

Leaving the office or job site to attend a workshop can be difficult for some Rancho Mesa clients. So, we've provided two easy ways to access the workshop videos on-demand from the video library within the Risk Management Center or through the Workshop Video Request Form.

To view a workshop video on-demand, login to the Risk Management Center, navigate to the Risk Management Library and locate the Rancho Mesa folder. There, you will find the Workshops & Webinar list. 

To request a video if you don't have access to the Risk Management Center, go to the Workshop page on the RanchoMesa.com website, scroll down to the “Previous Workshops” section. Click on the “Request a Workshop Video” button, complete the form and we’ll send you a link to view the video.

Requesting a video via the RanchoMesa.com website makes it easy for employees who may not have access to the Risk Management Center to watch valuable training videos, or for prospective clients who want to see the types of resources that are available to clients.

Available on-demand workshop videos include:

• Early Return to Work Program
• Employee Benefits: EaseCentral
• Employment Law Update 2018
• Fleet Safety
• Fraud Within the CA Workers’ Compensation System
• Heat Illness Prevention

• Mod Doctor (Landscape)    
• Nonprofit Risk Management
• On-Site Health & Safety
• OSHA Reporting Series: Generating the 300A Electronic Report
• Risk Management Center Overview

Contact Alyssa Burley at (619) 438-6869 for questions about the Risk Management Center, workshops, webinars or on-demand videos.

Heat Illness Prevention Workshop Now Available On Demand

Author, Alyssa Burley, Client Services Coordinator, Rancho Mesa Insurance Services, Inc.

Last month, Berkshire Hathaway Homestate Companies’ Zadock "Zee" Reid provided Rancho Mesa clients with Heat Illness Prevention training. The workshop was designed to increase awareness in order to make work a safer place for employees. The presenter covered:

• Modified temperature guidelines
• Pre-shift meetings
• Supervisory expectations
• Clarification on Access to Water
• Clarification on Access to Shade    
• Rest & Recovery periods
• Monitoring employees
• Weather Monitoring
• High Heat Procedures
• Emergency Response

For those who were unable to attend the workshop, the videos are now available on demand within the Risk Management Center, and can easily be accessed by using the key words “Heat Illness Prevention” in the search box. Or, they can be requested via the Workshop Video Request Form.

Berkshire Hathaway Educates on Heat Illness Prevention

Author, Alyssa Burley, Client Services Coordinator, Rancho Mesa Insurance Services, Inc.

Berkshire Hathaway's Zadock "Zee" Reid presented at the Heat Illness Prevention workshop hosted by Rancho Mesa Insurance Services, Inc. on Thursday, May 31, 2018 at San Diego Christian College.

Attendees included management teams from various trades within the construction and landscape industries.

In order to keep employees safe during the heat of the Summer months, Zee covered modified temperature guidelines, pre-shift meetings, supervisory expectations, clarification on access to water and shade, rest & recovery periods, monitoring employees, weather monitoring, high heat procedures and emergency response.

Increasing heat safety awareness makes work a safer place for your employees. Attending workshops like this ensure you are informed and help you stay in compliance.

Rancho Mesa Hosts Heat Illness Prevention Workshop

Author Alyssa Burley, Client Services Coordinator, Rancho Mesa Insurance Services, Inc.

In an effort to improve their companies' safety programs, nearly 20 different companies sent representatives to learn how to protect their employees at Rancho Mesa's Heat Illness Prevention Workshop on Thursday, May 25, 2017 at San Diego Christian College in Santee, CA.

Berkshire Hathaway Homestate Companies' Zadock "Zee" Reid, Senior Loss Control Specialist, conducted the interactive and engaging workshop.  His presentation incorporated PowerPoint slides, a demonstration of an OSHA mobile device application, and a conversational style that allowed the participants to discuss real-world issues. 

The audience appreciated Zee's professional yet easy-to-follow style. The "speaker from BHHC was very polished and professional," wrote John Coker from The Land Stewards. "Very well done, great presentation," wrote Steve Boyce from Accel Framing, Inc.

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Following the workshop, Rancho Mesa clients were sent various resources to assist them with their Heat Illness Prevention strategies.  They included:

• Heat Illness Presentation - OSHA - English/Spanish (PDF)
• Trainers Guide - English (PDF)
• Trainers Guide - Spanish (PDF)
• Worker Fact Sheet - English (PDF)
• Worker Fact Sheet - Spanish (PDF)
• Poster - English (PDF)
• Poster - Spanish (PDF)
• CalOSHA Indoor Heat Illness Prevention (PDF)
• OSHA's Heat Safety Tool (App for Android and iPhone)

• Employer Sample Procedures for Heat Illness Prevention - English (PDF)
• Employer Sample Procedures for Heat Illness Prevention - Spanish (PDF)
• Heat Illness Prevention Training Materials 2015 - English (PowerPoint Presentation)
• Heat Illness Prevention Training Materials 2015 - Spanish (PowerPoint Presentation)
• Protect Yourself from Heat Illness English/Spanish (PDF)
• CalOSHA's Heat Illness Prevention (Webpage)

Rancho Mesa strives to provide relevant workshops and trainings for its clients.  Visit the Workshops page for a current list of upcoming workshops.