September 5, 2008 – ECR Incorporated of Walnut Creek, California entered into an agree-ment last month to offer Xanthos Systems’ Workplace Risk Management Platform® (WRMP®) to their clients. 

Workplace Risk Management Platform® is a web-based interactive solution designed to significantly improve the workplace safety environment, reduce losses and better manage risk for the employers.  The solution is very easy to use.  With just a few clicks of a mouse, the proprietary software Safety Selector®, pulls from a massive database of historical injuries and illnesses and assigns them to a specific industry, occupation and hazard associated with the organization’s business.  Within minutes, each employee has a customized safety curriculum specific to the risks associated with performing their jobs.  Minimal computer or safety experience is needed to use the system.

The Platform® reporting system allows ECR and the companies they service to create reporting formats to track usage of the system, enabling each to correlate employee and corporate usage with loss sensitivities, loss prevention or reduction and other statistically-based risk factors.  It is anticipated that use of this system will provide significant risk-related behavior characteristics and data for provision to the employer's insurer or other worker's compensation risk bearing mechanism, so as to assist in x-mod, and other loss management.

WRMP® also allows employers to effectively communicate with employees through the messaging center.  If there is a particular risk, such as a severe heat day, employers can send messages to their employees through any devise such as a computer or a cell phone, about safety rules to follow.  The Platform® also has a document management system that allows flow of information between ECR and their clients and employees.  “We can post IIPP Plans (Injury and Illness Prevention Plans) to our customers’ secure sites with instructions for placement at the organization,” said Mark Aniello, President of ECR, Inc. “Workplace Risk Management Platform® becomes an electronic filing cabinet for our customers to put all of their safety, risk management and ISO compliance information.  It creates a trail of accountability for them to mitigate risks around many compliance issues.” 

“ECR is a perfect fit for our solution.  Mark has a tremendous dedication to providing outstanding value to ECR’s customers” said Michael Allen, President of Xanthos Systems.  “We are working diligently with ECR to get as many employers as possible up and using the Platform® this month and will continue with implementation through the end of this year”. 

ECR customers can go to www.ecrinc.com and sign up for the service.  There is a link on the front page of the website that will direct to sign-up options. 

Dear Clients, Prospective Clients, Partners and Friends:

Commodore Insurance Services has joined the Workplace Risk Management Platform® client list.  According to Dan Murphy, President/CEO of Commodore Insurance Services, ”In my 32 years in the insurance industry, I have never come across a product like the one designed by Xanthos Systems.  Their product will allow insurance companies and brokers to deliver loss control and risk management services to even the smallest policyholders and at a cost that is affordable to everyone.  We think that providing the Xanthos product to our clients will give us a significant competitive advantage in our marketplace."
 
Xanthos Systems is very excited to include Commodore among our client/partners.  Our ability to provide Commodore’s clients with an easy-to-use, first-class safety program, including a complete risk management program, is a “win-win” for Commodore and its customers.  For those interested, you can visit our website to see the joint Commodore/Xanthos press release along with copies of previous newsletters.
 
It is fascinating to hear people express the opinion "What about my employees who do not use the Internet” or “Many of our workers do not have Internet connectivity”.  In actuality, Internet connectivity and usage is pervasive throughout all aspects of our society and growing by leaps and bounds.  Perhaps it is us, the older generation, that is Internet-challenged.  Below is just a sampling of a large research endeavor Xanthos Systems undertook to see what Internet usage really exists:

How fast is the Internet growing?  Very fast! It took 38 years for radio to reach 50 million users, 13 years for television, and only 5 years for the Internet.     - CyberAtlas.com  

How big is the Internet's surfing world? Google's index now stands at over 8 billion pages. There are now over a billion Internet Users, and that number is growing rapidly.  

What are your average surfing habits according to Nielsen Net Ratings? Each month you usually visit 59 domains, view 1,050 pages allocating 45 seconds for each page and spend about 25 hours doing all this net activity! Each surfing session lasts 51 minutes. 

Demographic Profile of US Adults who use the Internet
June - September 2007 (% of Respondents in Each Group)


Gender: Male 78%; Female - 75%

Age: 18-30 (Generation Y) - 91%; 31-42 (Generation X) - 90%; 43-61 (Baby boomers) - 79%; 62-71 (Matures) - 56%; 71+ (After work) - 29%

Race/Ethnicity: White - 78%; Black - 68%; Latino* - 75%

Education: Less than high school diploma - 41%; High school diploma - 69%; Some college - 86%; Advanced college degree - 93%

Family Annual Income: <$40,000 - 61%; $40,000+ - 91%

Geographic Locale: Urban - 76%; Suburban - 80%; Rural - 66%; Total - 76%

Note:  n=2,796; *English-speaking only
Source:  Pew internet & American Life project and the Graduate School of Library and Information Science at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign report *Information Searches that Solve Problems:  How People Use the Internet, Libraries and Government Agencies when They Need Help, * December 30, 1997 (www.eMarketer.com)

Internet Usage and Population Growth
2000 - population 281,421,906 (users 124,000,000) 44.1% pop (source - ITU)

2001 - population 285,317,559 (users 142,823,008) 50% pop (source - ITU)

2002 - population 288,368,698 (users 167,196,688) 58.0% pop (source - ITU)

2003 - population 290,809,777 (users 172,250,000) 59.2% pop (source - ITU)

2004 - population 293,271,500 (users 201,661,159) 68.8% pop (source - Nielsen/Net Ratings)

2005 - population 299,093,237 (users 203,824,428) 68.1% pop (source - Nielsen/Net Ratings

2007 - population 301,967,681 (users 212,080,135) 70.2% pop (source - Nielsen/Net Ratings)

2008 - population 303,824,646 (users 220,141,969) 72.5% pop (source - Nielsen/Net Ratings)

Reviewing the charts above puts to rest any arguments against online risk management or loss control:  91% of 18 to 30 year olds; 90% of 31 to 42 year olds; and, 79% of 43 to 61 years olds routinely use the Internet, not to mention the fact that 91% of the households with income of over $40K per annum use the Internet.  We need to realize that the younger generation has grown up with Internet connectivity.  They are connected via their PC, laptop, cell phone, etc.  It is time we wake up and realize the power of the WEB.  If you would like additional information or data on Internet usage just contact me at info@xanthossystems.com.

Thank you for your continued support and interest.
J. Michael Allen, President

OSHA's Top Ten Violations in 2008

OSHA announced its list of the most cited standards for 2008, and it is similar to those cited in previous years.  Employers need to review these safety standards since they are the ones most likely to be addressed during any worksite inspection. The standards listed here are the Federal 1910/1926 standards.  For those in California, it is important to note that the Safety Orders requiring written safety programs for general industry and construction (CCR 3203/CCR 1509-1510) are almost always among the most cited of their standards, and they are in addition to the standards cited by the Federal OSH program.

1. Scaffolding on construction job sites. The failure to provide adequate work platforms, when there is a fall exposure, is a vital concern for OSHA because of the many serious fall injuries that occur each year. If you erect scaffolding so that workers can work at height, you must follow all of the standards required for the construction and maintenance of this scaffolding.
2. Hazard Communication: This is an important standard since exposure to hazardous material can often result in very serious and long-term Illness or death. The most often sections cited are: failure to develop and maintain a written program, failure to train, failure to label containers of hazardous materials and failure to have an MSDS for each hazardous material in the worksite.
3. Fall Protection: Most of the citations for Fall Protection were related to fall exposures on residential construction worksites and included failure to install guardrails, failure to provide protection for steep slope roofs, failure to protect walking/working surfaces and failure to provide barrier protection on low slope roofs.
4. Respiratory Protection: This standard requires employers to establish and maintain a respiratory protection program where exposures exist. The most common violations were for failing to establish a written program, failure to provide medical evaluation to determine the employee’s ability to wear a respirator, failure to provide the appropriate respirator for exposures and failure to train and fit test employees who are required to wear respirators.
5. Lockout/Tagout: This standard establishes the minimum requirements for control of hazardous machinery maintenance. The primary violations cited by OSHA included failure to develop, document and utilize procedures for the control of potentially hazardous energy, failure to periodically inspect the procedure, failure to train employees on the procedure, failure to ensure that tagout devices will hold the energy-isolating devices in a safe position and failure to have the program in writing.
6. Electrical-wiring Methods: This standard covers the grounding of electrical equipment, wiring and insulation. The most often cited of the standards include failure to use flexible cords correctly, failure to enclose electrical connections within a junction box and cover, failure to install temporary wiring correctly and failure to provide strain relief on electrical cords.
7. Powered Industrial Trucks: This OSHA standard applies to industrial forklifts, hand trucks and related equipment. The frequent violations included failure to ensure that operators were properly trained and competent to operate the trucks, failure to certify that operators are trained, failure to take damaged trucks out of service, failure to evaluate truck operator’s operating skills at least once every three years and failure to inspect the truck before placing it into service.
8. Ladders: This standard applies to all ladders used in the workplace. The common violations were issued for not extending the ladder at least three (3) feet above the landing for which the ladder was used to gain access, using the top rung of a stepladder, using a portable ladder with structural defects and not inspecting the ladder before using it and using ladders on unstable or non level surfaces.
9. Machine Guarding (general requirements): The most often cited machine guarding violations included failure to provide one or more methods of machine guarding, failure to guard the Point of Operation of machines exposing employees to injury, failure to anchor fixed machinery, failure to guard blades and failure to properly attach the guard to the machine.
10. Electrical-(general Requirements): This standard applies to requirements for designing electrical systems. The most often cited sections were failure to install the electrical systems according to factory instructions, failure to keep work spaces clear, failure to guard electrical equipment, using electrical equipment that has recognized hazards and failure to identify disconnecting means and circuits.

We urge that you review the standards that apply to your operation and take action to ensure that you are in compliance with these standards. There can be no doubt that OSHA Compliance Officers will include most or all of the standards listed above when conducting “Wall to Wall” inspections of your workplace. While first time violations cited by OSHA may result in small fines, the cost of penalties can increase substantially when the exposures are related to serious injuries or during a follow-up/repeat inspection. The cost of complying with these standards is low compared to the consequences of not complying. This should be an important component in your Injury and Illness Prevention Program.
 
Chuck Mitchell has more than 40 years of Risk Management experience and has written numerous safety and health related articles throughout his career.  He has a Master's Degree in Safety Engineering from the University of Southern California and was appointed as an adjunct professor for USC since 1984.  Over the years, Chuck has taught Risk Management or safety at several colleges and universities.  He has also held senior level management positions at Insurance companies and in manufacturing.  He has a CSP designation and is a registered safety engineer in California.

Xanthos Systems LLC, 2893 Sunrise Blvd, Suite 206, Rancho Cordova, CA 95670

(916) 631-0942 / (916) 631-0944 fax/ info@xanthossystems.com