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.

Travelers Shares Best Practices at Fleet Safety Webinar

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

As many people start to head out of their homes and back to the office, the roads have become much busier than we’ve seen during the height of the pandemic. Distractions are at a high and people are out of practice.  Implementing a Fleet Safety program for your business can significantly lower the risk of accidents and cost of claims. Thanks to Travelers, our clients got an inside look on Fleet Safety best practices at our Thursday, May 13, 2021 webinar.

Jose Pineda, Senior Risk Control Consultant, walked the webinar attendees through developing a comprehensive fleet safety program.

The Fleet Safety webinar is part of the RM365 Advantage Safety Star Program™. If you are interested in achieving your Safety Star, register today.

Culture Works Gives Remote Recruiting Advice During Live Webinar

Author, Emily Marasso, Media Communications Assistant, Rancho Mesa Insurance, Services Inc.

Social distancing is becoming our “normal” and many businesses have resorted to tele-commuting and doing more meetings remote. In the current employment climate, how can an employer be sure they’re hiring the right fit for the company, virtually? Thanks to Culture Works, on Tuesday, September 29th, 2020, Rancho Mesa clients got an in depth walk through of best practices for remote recruiting and interviewing in a live webinar.

Kristi Pestore, CEO of Culture Works, and Melisa Meral, Culture Operations Specialist for Culture Works spent about an hour providing insight on how to execute effective remote interviews and how to attract and retain employees. 

We are in a digital age, so getting a potential candidate to click on your job posting and then follow through with submitting an application can be difficult. Key things Kristi and Melisa mentioned are both monetary and non-monetary benefits. It’s as simple as asking your current employees what they like about their jobs. It usually has nothing to do with the wage, but about the company culture. Highlighting cultural things like quarterly group lunches or holiday events can spark interest, causing a potential candidate to inquire and learn more about the company and position.

Another important thing to remember when remotely interviewing is to be prepared. If you have multiple interviewers, make sure you are all on the same page prior to meeting. Do your research on the applicant, as well. It never hurts to do a quick search on popular business-based social media platforms to see how an applicant represents themselves online.

The webinar ended with a brief question and answer segment. Some of the questions asked were, how many interviews should you conduct with a candidate? Can we ask about their past wages? And, what are some suggestions for multiple candidate virtual interviews? To find out the answers to these questions and maybe get answers to some of your own questions, watch the recorded webinar. 

To sign up for other Rancho Mesa webinars, visit our website at www.ranchomesa.com/workshops-and-webinars.

Understanding California’s New Class Codes and Rates Webinar

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

On Wednesday, September 26, 2018, Chase Hixson and Sam Brown, insurance brokers at Rancho Mesa Insurance Services, presented a critically important webinar on six newly proposed class codes targeting nonprofits, healthcare, social services, and schools.

Mr. Hixson and Mr. Brown outlined the impact to California employers and why the Workers’ Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau proposed such profound change to the existing classification system. To follow that information, they detailed how the changes will offer both disadvantages and benefits to Rancho Mesa clients.

“Crafting a successful strategy that is unique to each client will dictate whether the new classifications will help or hurt clients,” notes Mr. Hixson. “The key is in the planning and execution of the strategy.”

The webinar’s audience also learned which operations will fall into each of the new class codes and the nuances to each.

Lastly, the two presenters touched on Rancho Mesa’s strategy to help clients navigate reclassification and a timeline that will yield the best results.

For more information, please contact Sam Brown or Chase Hixson at (619)937-0164.

Rancho Mesa Hosts Selling Safety Workshop

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

Rancho Mesa clients gathered at the Selling Safety Workshop on Wednesday, September 20, 2017 held at Toward Maximum Independence in San Diego's Murphy Canyon area.  Berkshire Hathaway Homestate Companies' Steve Hamilton, delivered the presentation to the audience in the room and online viewers from across the country.

Convincing employees to be proactive and safe is a difficult task. Fancy slogans and colorful posters will only take your company so far.  The key to a successful safety programs is meaningful buy-in at all levels.  This requires “selling safety” on a daily basis.  This presentation was designed for company owners, supervisors and foremen who have ultimate responsibility for implementing safety programs.

The workshop was streamed live online and is available to clients within the Risk Management Center.

To learn more, contact Rancho Mesa Insurance at (619) (619) 937-0164.