Improve Operational Health, Maximize Flexibility to Mitigate Drought Risk

Denise GillinAgribusiness, Insurance, News, Risk Management

By Gina Ekstam for AssuredPartners According to NOAA, the average global surface temperature was the sixth highest for August 2021 since global records began in 1880. Further, the U.S. Drought Monitor reports that over 46% of the contiguous U.S. experienced moderate to exceptional drought in August. These extreme weather conditions are impacting ag operations across the country. Decreased water availability leads to production losses, increased pests and diseases, and lower livestock productivity. Matt Carstens, president and CEO of Landus in Ames, Iowa, adds, “drought conditions affect weed and fungi control, changes the products that are stored, and impacts the health of livestock. Operationally, severe weather events can lead to supply chain and infrastructure disruption. For example, a lack of corn …

Infrastructure Lacks Critical Funding

Denise GillinBusiness Insurance, News

By Kevin Rettberg for AssuredPartners With the September House passage of the latest infrastructure spending bill tagged somewhere around $3.5 trillion, there is still one issue that this bill has not addressed: commercial truck parking. To understand why this is an issue, we need to provide context. It goes without saying, but there is consensus that our nation’s highways and roadways are infrastructure, and as a country there is a continued investment of billions of dollars to maintain and improve them. Another point of agreement, especially having gone through the COVID pandemic, is that our commercial truck drivers are the lifeblood of our economy. Finally, the work that has been done in the industry to make the job safe is …

Flagger holds up stop sign for traffic in construction zone

OSHA’s Top 10 Most Frequently Cited Violations

Denise GillinNews, Risk Management

By Toby Graham for KPA Hot off the press… the new OSHA Top 10 list is here! Every year OSHA compiles a list of the ten most-cited standard violations from the previous fiscal year.  OSHA publishes this list to alert employers about these commonly cited standards so they can take necessary steps to find and fix recognized hazards before OSHA shows up. The 2021 fiscal year statistics, which ended Sept. 30th, have just been released. They show some slight changes from the 2020 list. Not surprisingly, the list’s actual violations stayed the same as the previous year, though some standards moved up or down. Click to see the complete list>>>

Businessman pointing dollar currency icon, Successful money financial investment concept

Firm Insurance Market Expected to Last into Next Year

Denise GillinBusiness Insurance, Personal Lines

By Gavin Souter for BusinessInsurance.com Introduction by Jeffrey Gelburd, Vice President, Murray: As we head into the busy year end property / casualty renewal season, it is important to get a head start and have your best foot forward when negotiating renewal terms. With the exception of cyber liability, which is still very much in flux, rate increases on some lines have slowed down, and underwriters are interested in writing new business. After over two years of rate increases and takeaways, it’s in the best interest of insureds to market their program. Progress can now be obtained in negotiating improvements so anyone with good loss experience should use that to their advantage in renewal negotiations. Click to read Firm Insurance …

To Pay or Not to Pay: Is That the Question?

Denise GillinBusiness Insurance, News, Risk Management

By Scott Sinder for LeadersEdge We are on the heels of the 20th anniversary of 9/11, and many of us lived the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act debates that followed. The widely shared expectation at the time was that 9/11 was just the first of what we thought would be a long litany of terrorist events on U.S. soil. But those never materialized, and, to date, not one claim has been paid through the TRIA program. The recent exponential growth in “ransomware” claims, however, seems to have bucked that trend. There is a spate of more well publicized cases—Colonial Pipeline and CNA?—but as Alejandro Mayorkas, secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, recently noted, the overall “rate of ransomware attacks …