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Specialty Lines
Often risk management is delivered by Captain Obvious (cue the superhero trumpet flourish). In the CCAP Academy class I teach, I define risk management as structured common sense. Risk management analysis is very straightforward and looks at operations from the standpoint of "what could go wrong" or "how can we prevent something bad from happening?" In my opinion, the problem with risk management is that we all have other things to do which become higher priorities, and the time to sit down and look for those obvious things we should be doing is just not available. This is one of the reasons Safety Committees are so helpful - the group gets together and for a period of time, doesn't have to concentrate on the normal day-to-day county operations, and can focus on identifying risk management issues and coming up with common sense solutions. It is also the strongest argument for a full time county risk manager. No one else has the time for all the components of a risk management program, and typically, without a risk manager the parts are split up among several people. This makes it harder to detect trends, develop viable solutions, and see the risk management as a whole. Both the Pennsylvania Counties Risk Pool (PCoRP) and the Pennsylvania Counties Workers' Compensation Trust (PComp) provide members with a credit for employment of a part time or full time risk manager. The PCoRP and PComp boards believe in this incentive, and are willing to reduce costs for insurance coverage accordingly. If you are considering the establishment of a risk manager position, let us know. We can provide you with sample job descriptions and help with training the risk manager. In addition, if you are curious about what a risk manager does, attend one of our County Risk Manager Council meetings this spring (see the Glimpse training catalog for locations and dates). Make sure you contact us when you need help with something, John Sallade |
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PComp Annual Membership Meeting
The annual dinner meeting of the Pennsylvania Counties Workers' Compensation Trust (PComp) membership will be held during the CCAP Spring Conference, on Sunday, March 23, at 6:00 p.m. The meeting will be held at the Harrisburg Hilton. An email invitation has been sent to all PComp members and their local insurance producers. There is no cost to attend, and spouses or guests are welcome, but preregistration is required in order to ensure a correct dinner count for the hotel.
After dinner, PComp staff will provide an update on the workers' compensation program, and the 2014 PComp Awards will be presented. There are no bylaws changes being proposed for action by the members.
To register, send an email to Tona Faust at CCAP or call Tona at (800) 895-9039 x 3357. |
New Year Brings New Members in Several Programs!
With the start of 2014 comes growth in CCAP's insurance programs. Welcome to the following new members:
Tax Collector Bond Program - four new members joined this program, bringing total membership to 52 counties: Dauphin County, Indiana County, Potter County and Wyoming County. Thanks to the counties' local insurance producers for their assistance: Chip Bayer, Keckler Heitefuss Brandt Insurance, Hershey (Dauphin); Paul Haines and Colleen Mazey, The Reschini Group, (Indiana); Pamela Hunt, Nicklas Insurance Group, Coudersport (Potter); and Nancy Tinna, Welch Insurance Associates, Tunkhannock (Wyoming).
The Pennsylvania Counties Workers' Compensation Trust (PComp) - two new members joined PComp: Warren County and Carbon-Monroe-Pike MH/MR. Thanks to their local insurance producers for their assistance: Dave Pearson of Garrison-Simonsen in Warren, and David Lewis of Brown & Brown Insurance in Bethlehem.
The Pennsylvania Counties Risk Pool (PCoRP)- Westmoreland County joined PCoRP on January 1, 2014, bringing membership to 52 (48 counties and 4 county related entities). Thanks to Beth Cassatta of A.J. Gallagher in Johnstown for her assistance with this new member. |
Online Claims Reporting Issue Fix
Recently we have received a large amount of emails and telephone calls regarding a critical error message when attempting to access a claim form on our online claims website located at https://onlineclaims.pacounties.org The critical error message is due to compatibility issues with Internet Explorer and SharePoint. To help address these errors more promptly we ask that you please follow the instructions below to attempt to resolve the error message before contacting us.
- Click close on the error message
- Press the [ALT] key on your keyboard to make the MENU BAR appear
- Click on TOOLS located on the MENU BAR (see below for picture)
- Click on COMPATIBILITY VIEW SETTINGS (see below for picture)
 5. In the Compatibility View Settings check all the
boxes and Click CLOSE. (see picture below) 
6. Please attempt to reload the form. If you are
still experiencing technical issues please contact
Megan Hook for additional technical assistance.
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| Global Harmonizing System
The Globally Harmonized System (GHS) of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals is a worldwide initiative to promote standard criteria for classifying chemicals according to their health, physical and environmental hazards. GHS was developed by the United Nations as a way to bring into agreement the chemical regulations and standards of different countries. In short, it is an international attempt to get all countries on the same page. GHS is not a law unto itself; rather it is a system with components countries can adopt into their own systems. It uses pictograms, hazard statements, and the signal words "Danger" and "Warning" to communicate hazard information on product labels and safety data sheets in a logical and comprehensive way. The primary goal of GHS is better protection of human health and the environment by providing chemical users and handlers with enhanced and consistent information on chemical hazards.
The most important benefit of GHS is enhanced health and environmental protection through greater clarity and consistency in information provided to people who may be exposed to chemicals. GHS is designed to provide clear, consistent label messages to chemical handlers and users, emergency first responders and the public. Signal words, pictograms, and hazard statements will have the same meaning in all settings, domestically and internationally.
In the United States, there are four key agencies that regulate chemical hazard classification and communication. The Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the Department of Transportation, the Consumer Product Safety Commission and Interagency Coordination. Each of these agencies currently has its own system, with classification criteria and use of symbols, signal words, and hazard statements differing between the agencies. For example, the signal word "caution" has a different meaning on non-pesticide consumer product labels than it has on pesticide labels and products with the same hazards may bear different signal words. This can cause confusion and result in increased risk. The standardization of these elements under GHS will promote better understanding, thereby increasing protection. Consistency of hazard communication on chemical labels will also help emergency first responders more easily and accurately identify what hazards are present in emergency situations.
Another major benefit of GHS is that implementation will reduce barriers to trade and facilitate compliance by eliminating the need to comply with multiple hazard classification and communication systems. Companies will only have to classify once for all authorities that implement GHS worldwide. This will reduce the need for testing and evaluation for multiple classification systems, domestically and internationally.
For more information, contact the CCAP Loss Control Department at (800)-895-9039; or email us at:
Gary Nicholson, Loss Control Services Manager
Maureen McMahon, Loss Control Specialist
Andrew Smith, Loss Control Specialist
Dennis Cutler, Loss Control Specialist |
| Quote of the Month
"The future belongs to those who
see possibilities before they
become obvious."
- John Sculley |
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