Heat Stress

3 Important Tips : Drink plenty of water to keep body fluid levels up. Get out of the heat occasionally. Be alert to early warnings of heat stress, both in yourself and in your co-workers.

Heat stress needs to be taken seriously

Working in a hot environment puts stress on the body's cooling system. When heat is combined with other stresses-like hard physical work, loss of fluids, or fatigue-it may lead to heat-related illness, disability, or even death!

The body is always generating heat and passing it to the environment. The harder you work, the more heat your body has to lose. Heat leaves your body in several ways:

• transfer from skin to air.
• evaporation by perspiration.
• exhaling hot air.
• touching a cool object.

Individuals over age-40 need to take extra care when the weather is hot, because our ability to sweat declines as we age. However, heat stress can also affect individuals who are young and fit.

Water is crucial to helping the body adjust to high temperatures. The rate of water intake must equal the increased rate of water loss by perspiration to keep body temperature normal. When it's hot, drink plenty of water!

Your body must work even harder to get rid of excess heat when conditions are both hot and humid. Unfortunately, perspiration can't evaporate as readily under muggy conditions. The process is easier if the surrounding air is moving. That's why we welcome a cool breeze, or turn on a fan when the air is "sticky".

Sickness and accident rates increase when heavy work is done at temperatures above 30 degrees.

Don't push yourself beyond your limits. It could be harmful to your health, and could put you at increased risk of having an accident.

Heat stress hazards

Following are three common conditions that can result from the body overheating.

Heat cramps: Heavy sweating drains the body of salt, which cannot be replaced by simply drinking water. Painful cramps occur in the arms, legs, or stomach while on the job, or later at home. Move to a cool area at once if cramping is experienced. Loosen clothing and drink cool, lightly-salted water or a commercial fluid replacement beverage. Seek medical aid if the cramps are severe, or don't go away.

Heat exhaustion: Inadequate water and salt intake causes the body's cooling system to break down. Symptoms include heavy sweating, cool, moist skin, body temperature over 38 degrees, weak pulse, and normal or low blood pressure. The victim is likely to be tired, weak, clumsy, upset, or confused. They will be very thirsty, and will pant or breath rapidly. Their vision may be blurred. Get medical help immediately! Heat exhaustion can lead to heat stroke, which can kill. Move the person to a cool, shaded area. Loosen or remove excess clothing. Provide cool, lightly-salted water. Fan and spray the victim with cool water.

Heat stroke can kill a person quickly! Once the body uses up all its water and salt, sweating ceases. Temperature can rise quickly. You can assume a person is suffering from heat stroke if their body temperature is over 41 degrees, and any of the following symptoms are present:

• weakness, confusion, distress, strange behavior.
• hot, dry, red skin.
• rapid pulse.
• headache or dizziness.
• In later stages heat stroke, a victim may pass out and have convulsions.

Call an ambulance immediately if heat stroke is suspected. The victim' s life may be on the line ! Until help arrives, move the victim to a cool area and remove excess clothing. Fan and spray them with cool water. Offer sips of water if the victim is conscious.

Heatwave guidelines

The following measures should help prevent the development of heat-related illnesses.

1.    Slowdown in hot weather. Your body's temperature regulating system faces a much greater workload when temperature and humidity are high.

2.    Heed early warnings of heat stress, such as headache, heavy perspiration, high pulse rate, and shallow breathing. Take a break immediately and get to a cooler location. Watch for heat stress signs among your co-workers.

3.    Dress for hot weather. Lightweight, light-colored clothing reflects heat.

4.    Drink plenty of water. Don't let yourself "dry out".

5.    Increase your salt intake, preferably by adding salt to your food. (Consult your physician if you are on a salt-restricted diet.)

6.    Try to get used to warm weather gradually. Take it easy for those first two or three hot days. Your body will have a better chance to adjust if you take it slow.

7.    Get out of the heat occasionally. Physical stress increases with time in hot weather. Take breaks in a cool, shady location.

8.    Don't try to get a suntan while you are working! It's harder for your internal cooling system to work through sunburned skin. Wear a hat and long-sleeved shirt to prevent burning (which we know can increase the risk of skin cancer.)

Finally, let's take a moment to review some of the "Do's" and "Don'ts" of preventing heat-related illnesses.

DO: Drink plenty of water. Take breaks in a cool, shady area. Watch for symptoms of a heat stress, both in yourself and co-workers.

DON’T: Ignore symptoms of heat stress. Try to get a suntan while working. Try to "keep up" with the rest of the crew, even though you feel ill.

Who is Most Likely to be Killed by Lightening?

From 2006 through 2012, 238 people were struck and killed by lightning in the U.S. Were most of these deaths during leisure or work activities? Were more deaths while people were playing golf or soccer? The National Weather Service (NWS) has tallied statistics and has some advice, too.

Answer 1: Far more people were killed by leisure activities than at work, according to the NWS:

• 64% leisure activities
• 17% daily routine
• 13% work, and
• 6% of cases unknown.

Daily routine includes walking to or from a vehicle, waiting outdoors for transportation, walking to or from home, and yard work.

The breakdown by type of work:

• 34% farming/ranching
• 9% construction
• 9% lawn care
• 9% roofing
• 6% working on a barge
• 6% military, and
• 25% other.

Included in the other category were deaths related to loading trucks, surveying, door-to-door sales, logging, mail delivery, utility repair and work at an amusement park. Fatalities that occurred when traveling to or from work were categorized as daily routine.

Is golf a big factor?

Answer to our second question: More are killed by lightning while playing soccer than while golfing. Here’s a partial breakdown of leisure activities:

• 11% fishing (largest number of lightning deaths due to leisure activities)
• 6% camping
• 6% boating
• 5% soccer, and
• 3% golf.

The common belief that golfers are responsible for the greatest number of lightning deaths was shown to be a myth. Why is that the case?

The NWS “has made a concerted effort to raise lightning awareness in the golf community since we began the campaign in 2001,” said John Jensienius, a lightning safety specialist with the NWS. “We believe our outreach has made a huge difference since lightning-related deaths on golf courses have decreased by 75%.”

In other words: Safety training and education work.

Some advice for outdoor workers from the NWS when thunderstorms threaten:

• Stay off and away from anything tall or high, including roofs, scaffolding, utility poles and ladders.
• Stay off and away from large equipment such as bulldozers, cranes, backhoes, track loaders and tractors.
• Don’t touch materials or surfaces that can conduct electricity, including metal scaffolding, metal equipment, utility lines, water, water pipes and plumbing.
• Leave areas with explosives or munitions.

If workers hear thunder, they should get to a building or enclosed vehicle.

Advice if someone is struck: Lightning victims don’t carry an electrical charge, are safe to touch and need urgent medical attention. Cardiac arrest is the immediate cause of death. Some deaths can be prevented if the victim receives the proper first aid immediately. Call 9-1-1 and perform CPR if the person isn’t responsive. Use an automated external defibrillator if available.

The Era of Business Cards Is Dead

It's time to ask yourself: How many business cards have you collected that never again see the light of day?

Seriously. This is an important question.

I have seen people at networking events using their phones to type contact information right there on the spot. Fast-forward a few years, and maybe all of us Google Glass-wearing techies can just look at each other to swap contact info. Here's to the future.

I propose skipping the formal and mindless business card exchange if you really want to develop a professional relationship with a contact. Try these alternatives instead:

Stick to Your Inbox

There's nothing worse than having to scour your email for the contact information of someone you need to call quickly. I've remedied this task with help from WriteThat.Name. This tool acts as your personal email assistant to keep all of your contacts automatically updated.

WriteThat.Name scans the signatures of the people you're emailing, extracts their information, and merges it with contacts on your email and phone. The best part of this tool is that your contacts aren't just on your phone; they're also in the cloud for safekeeping.

If you want to keep things as simple as possible, ask new contacts to shoot you an email prior to saying goodbye. This method can be easily implemented with WriteThat.Name and is also a great way to ensure you never miss a chance to follow-up with someone you've met.

Get Smarter With Your Smartphone

If you prefer a software solution rather than a business card, Bump might be the app for you. Available for iPhone and Android, the best part of this app is its ability to transmit information from your phone to your computer. It might be a challenge if you're looking to Bump contact information from someone who doesn't have it downloaded--but 125 million Bump downloads so far indicates the odds are relatively good you'll find someone with the same app.

If you're not quite ready to go completely cardless, try LinkedIn's CardMunch app. It turns business cards into contacts. If you collect a business card at a networking event, simply snap a picture with your camera and let the app works its magic. The picture is immediately converted to a contact, and it also links directly to your new connection's LinkedIn profile information and connections you have in common.

I've only scratched the surface of business card alternatives. What do you use?

How to Master Your Internet Presence

In the not so distant past, being visible to someone searching for information on an Internet search results page required a fairly decent website and some basic knowledge about search engine optimization. While an agency website is still the cornerstone of your Internet presence, it is no longer nearly enough.

In today’s interconnected world, being visible to prospects that are searching for insurance information requires a much broader Internet presence than a single website.

Following is a list of some of the areas that every insurance agency needs to explore in order to expand their visibility and become “findable” on the Internet.

Agency website(s): As just mentioned, an agency website is a cornerstone of your strategy. It is your home-base that everything else you do should point to. Your existing website should be transformed into a customer service portal specifically designed for current clients. Your prospecting and marketing website(s) and/or landing pages are then designed for the specific type of business or line of coverage you are marketing.

Website content: Every agency needs to consistently update their website with fresh content. I know what some of you are thinking: How can I write a article? When will I have the time? I can assure you that creating new information to put on your site is much easier than you think.

Fresh updated content will help increase your findability on search engines. They like fresh content and they reward you with a higher possibility of showing up on a search engine results page.

Google+ Local: Insurance search terms remain the most expensive paid terms on Google. Most organizations simply can’t compete with the advertising budgets of the large insurance companies. But any size organization can compete when they maximize their local search presence. Every agency with a physical location needs to claim their Google+ local listing, Facebook Place and LinkedIn Company Page.

Facebook: Every agency needs to have a well-designed Facebook page for your agency. This is an important first step. Facebook advertising should also become a vital part of your marketing budget.

LinkedIn: Insurance salespeople know that the core of their success is based on being able to network effectively. LinkedIn provides a platform that allows you to network with other business owners, just as you do with Rotary or Chamber meetings. Every person in your agency should have a fully complete LinkedIn profile.

Twitter: I don’t care what people are having for lunch—but Twitter has become much more than a narcissistic listing of the details of your lives. For me, it has become another research tool. If someone I trust tweets information about an article they found helpful, I’m more likely to read that article. Search engines also index tweets in real time. Tweets will help increase your Internet presence.

YouTube: Video is big—really big. YouTube is a great site to help you build your video presence. You can create videos that explain coverage or provide information in an emergency.

Mobile: “There’s an app for that” is a phrase everyone is hearing more and more. Add to this the dramatic increase in tablet platforms like the Apple iPad and the Motorola Xoom. Mobile is big and will just get bigger. Your agency needs a customized agency mobile app.

Text: The average teenager sends over 4,000 text messages a month. Text is how a growing number of your prospects and clients communicate—not just with friends but with everyone. What are you doing to make text a communication option for your clients?

Ratings and reviews: Consumers have a voice today unlike any time in the past. But, this option makes most agency owners very nervous. “What if someone gives us a bad review?” is a question I hear often. A negative review is your opportunity to know about a problem, take steps to try to correct the problem, and then let others know how you handled the issue. A negative review is your opportunity to shine. If you receive a lot of negative reviews, then you have other problems that management must address.

Feeling overwhelmed?

We recommend that you spend 30 minutes each day working on mastering your Internet presence. Make a list of what is the most important for your agency and simply begin the process. It is more important for you to start than to worry about making everything perfect. You will make mistakes. Some items won’t work well for you. That’s OK. Learn and keep moving forward.

Keep in mind that mastering your Internet presence is not a project that you complete; it’s a process that you need to build into your marketing, sales, and customer service strategy.

Written by: Steve Anderson

How to gather useful feedback from your clients

Do you know what your customers think about your products and services?

Successful business owners know that no matter how busy they get, it's critical to take time to get customer feedback - to know exactly the type of service and experience their clients are getting. It's why shows like Undercover Boss exist today. In the event that you don't make it onto the show but are still looking for some valuable feedback, there are some easy ways to incorporate customer feedback into your business culture.

We heart feedback

First off, let me congratulate you on making the wise choice to pursue feedback. Understanding your customers' opinions will not only help you improve quality, it can give you insights into what new products or services you might offer in the future. Knowing what you're doing right also helps guide you about where to focus your energies, and it may even give you fodder for marketing. Plus, customers love to know that they have a voice and are being heard. (Who doesn't want to have their opinion matter?)

Back in the day, feedback used to mean having a suggestion box or maybe a form on your website (if you were tech savvy). Today, there are many low-cost approaches out there to help you take the pulse of your customers. Here are 4 easy ways to make customer feedback a core part of your business. 

Conduct an online survey

Most companies get occasional fan mail - and those pesky critical e-mails from time to time. But before you jump through a bunch of hoops to correct whatever the squeaky wheel might be complaining about, it might be a good idea to survey more of your audience. It's a great way to determine what's a burning issue and what's merely an isolated incident. If you have email addresses for your customers, conducting an online survey can be a great way to get a variety of feedback from a large audience in a fairly short amount of time. A few tips regarding your survey: keep it short (5-10 questions) and only ask information that you really need/want responses for. If you're looking for a great online survey tool, we recommend SurveyMonkey, whose low-cost and web-based survey solutions are a natural fit for small businesses on a budget. 

Once you've developed your survey, your next step is to get your customers to take it. We recommend offering an incentive for survey participation. (Bribery may be the best policy here!) You could enter them into a drawing for a free product or service - or offer a discount on their next purchase.

Ask for feedback via Facebook or Twitter

If you're just looking for some quick feedback, it could be as simple as posting a question or poll on your Facebook wall or via Twitter. This is a great way to get fast insights into new products, new branding or even new store locations or lines of business. If you have new marketing colors for your logo that you just can't decide between, post both (clearly marked A and B) and ask your friends or Twitter followers which they think represents your company the best. 

Conduct a focus group

Focus groups are representatives of customers whose job is to provide you with information on their needs and preferences. This is a great way to ask follow-up questions and really dig deep into your customers' minds. Gather together some of your best (or a random assortment of recent) clients. Put them in a room and ask the tough questions. Really listen to what they say. You might be surprised by what comes out of their mouths! Additionally, it might help you realize that you have 2-3 types of customers: those who want convenience vs those who value personal attention. Whatever the case may be, you can use that information to help you target more of these valued customers in the future - as well as really take to heart the honest feedback they offer. 

Use a feedback form

Another approach to getting customer feedback on an ongoing basis is a hosted feedback form. The point of a feedback box is to get small feedback from users on an ongoing basis. Most likely, if customers have a minor issue or suggestion, they won't reach out for support. (As opposed to how they come screaming if the problem is big enough.) If you have a feedback box, it offers a place for people to easily tell the company when something isn't working quite right. It's conveniently placed on your web page so it's easy to find, but it's also out of the way if they don't need it. Feel free to experiment with different locations to see which one encourages the most feedback from your customers. Once again, make it simple and easy to use, or you'll probably miss out on the feedback it was designed to catch. 

Once you've conducted all your research, make sure you pay attention to the feedback. It doesn't necessarily mean that you'll opt to act on every single suggestion, but it's at least worth consideration. If you're collecting feedback from your customers consistently, you're building your business in the right direction. Experiment with various methods above and find the right combination that works for your business.

Qatari Stadiums for the 2022 FIFA World Cup

The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), the world governing body of soccer, selects the host country for the World Cup, in which the selected country hosts soccer games in preselected cities and stadiums. For the 2022 World Cup, there were five bids in the finals: Australia, Japan, South Korea, Qatar and the United States. The committee votes on who should have it until one country receives the majority of the votes, with the lowest country being eliminated each round. One single country failed to receive a majority of the votes until the final round of voting. The last two countries standing for the right to host the most spectacular tournament in all of sports were the United States and the small country in the Persian Gulf, Qatar. The final votes came in and with 14 votes to 8, Qatar was selected as the 2022 host of the FIFA World Cup.

Although there is controversy regarding to how Qatar won the bid, whether it was through merit or alleged bribery, one must admire Qatar’s innovation and creativity regarding their plans for their stadiums for the event. If you haven’t seen the plans for this tournament yet, the pictures have been released of all 12 venues that they plan to build/renovate for the games. These are some spectacular stadium ideas. There is a lot of planning and organizing that Qatar has to do in order to be ready for these games in the summer of 2022. One of the concerns is that Qatar is very hot in the summer. One suggestion has been to move the games to the winter, which has not been done before. The other idea that has been thrown out there has been the idea of a large scale air conditioning system that will keep the players cool, despite a temperature of around 100° outside during the summer. This is one of the innovative ideas, but not the most spectacular.

If you haven’t seen some of the stadiums, they are building 9 and renovating 3 more in order to complete their stadiums for the 2022 World Cup. Here is a video of the Official Qatar 2022 World Cup Bid, which shows the first 5 stadiums that they have proposed. If these 5 spark your interest, there are plenty of websites in which you can visit in order to look at pictures of these stadiums. My personal favorite is not shown in the video. It is called the Doha Port Stadium (image provided below). One of the spectacular things about this stadium is the fact that one of the main means of transportation to this stadium is via water taxi. Another one of my favorites not pictured in the video is the Lusail Iconic Stadium, which I also provided a picture for below. Regardless of one’s opinions on the validity of Qatar hosting the World Cup, one still must marvel at the architectural and design aspects of these stadiums. Let’s hope they are finished in time and look this spectacular come 2022.

 Above: (Doha Port Stadium)

 Above: (Aerial view of Doha Port Stadium)

Above: (Lusail Iconic Stadium)

Congratulations, Recent Graduate!

The Hagerman Group is very proud to announce and celebrate the recent accomplishment of one of our own, Adel Davenport. Recently, Adel graduated from Indiana Tech with a Bachelor’s Degree in Accounting. Along with completing her Bachelor’s Degree and going to classes on campus, Adel is also both a full-time parent and a full-time accountant. This type of determination and effort should not be overlooked, because not only did Adel graduate, she excelled in her studies. When she finished her Associates degree, she was top of her class with a 3.98 GPA and earned Summa Cum Laude honors. Although she wanted to continue her education, Adel then paused her studies in order to make more time for her kids. Once they got a little older, she resumed her studies and just recently received her Bachelor’s Degree and finished with Cum Laude honors. This is not the end of the road in regards for her education, as Adel will begin her pursuit of a Graduate Degree in accounting beginning in September. Adel, from everyone at The Hagerman Group, we are very proud of your accomplishment and congratulate you on your achievement! Also, we wish you the best of luck on your path to a Graduate Degree!