Monthly Archives: March 2010

by | March 4, 2010 · 4:38 am

Hospitality Industry Risk: Workers’ Compensation Insurance Premiums May Rise Due To Higher Medical Costs, Even As On-The-Job Injuries Decline

“…on-the-job injuries are down, but claims are heftier because of higher medical costs.”

(From a BostonHerald.com article)   The Workers’ Compensation Rating and Inspection Bureau of Massachusetts is seeking a 4.5 percent average increase in policy premiums, effective Sept. 1.

Attorney General Martha Coakley yesterday announced her opposition to the proposed increase, saying the hike would cost small businesses and other employers more than $40 million in extra premiums.

The workers compensation bureau – a nonprofit group of insurers licensed as a rating organization by the state Division of Insurance – says on-the-job injuries are down, but claims are heftier because of higher medical costs. Rates have not risen since 2001.

The group’s request for a 2.3 percent rate increase in 2008 was hit with a lawsuit by the attorney general’s office. The legal move led to a settlement in which insurers agreed to a 1 percent rate reduction – saving businesses some $30 million, Coakley said.

http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view/20100303ag_hits_plan_to_hike_workers_comp/

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by | March 3, 2010 · 4:52 am

Hotel Food-Safety: Inspectors Found Dozens Of Violations At Super Bowl Headquarters Hotel For NFL Employees Who Got Sick During Super Bowl Week

The Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation, which oversees food sellers, inspected the hotel Wednesday and found violations such as open food stored in unclean places, employees handling food with bare hands, lack of handwashing and dirty conditions, the inspection report showed.

Inspectors found a dozen critical food-safety violations this week in the restaurant of the NFL’s headquarters hotel, where 25 league employees here for Super Bowl XLIV got sick from a stomach bug.

The oceanfront Westin Beach Resort in Fort Lauderdale also had failed a restaurant inspection in September, and let its license expire in December by not paying a $457 renewal fee, state officials said Friday.

Health officials were quick to say they did not yet know what caused the outbreak, how the guests got it or whether the hotel bore any blame. Samples were still being tested.

http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/2010-02-05/business/fl-super-bowl-food-illnesses-20100205_1_starwood-hotels-hotel-attorney-stomach-bug

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by | March 2, 2010 · 6:33 am

Hospitality Risk Management: OSHA Proposes New Rules To Track Workplace Muscluloskeletal Disorders

“It will increase the number of recordable incidents by broadening what might qualify as an MSD,” he says. “So after collecting the data for a while, I wouldn’t be surprised to see OSHA announce that there is a major MSD problem and decide to do something about it.”

Ashley Brightwell, a partner in the Atlanta office of Alston & Bird, agrees the rules could lead to “future actions by OSHA to regulate MSDs … and increase the number of citations being issued against employers.”

On Jan. 29, OSHA proposed new rules that would require employers to track and report workplace-related musculoskeletal disorders. While the changes are ostensibly little more than additional record-keeping, experts warn the proposal could likely pave the way for further enforcement and rulemaking by the agency.  

OSHA wants to restore a column to the OSHA 300 log that would record work-related musculoskeletal disorders, such as carpal-tunnel syndrome and rotator cuff syndrome. The rules are identical to those contained in an OSHA record-keeping regulation that was issued in 2001 by the Clinton administration, but was removed in 2003 during the Bush presidency before ever going into effect.  

Critics argued at the time that the definition used to describe musculoskeletal disorders was far too broad to be useful and that the new column wouldn’t contain the type of detailed information that would be needed to address the problem of musculoskeletal disorders.

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by | March 1, 2010 · 6:20 am

Hospitality Industry Risk: Cybercrime Is Targeting Hotels And Resorts As Credit Card Information Is Relatively Unprotected

(From a BlackBookMag.com article)  According to Nicholas Percoco, a cybersecurity researcher for the security firm Trustwave, “The hospitality industry was the flavor of the year for cybercrime.”

In 38% of the security breach investigations Trustwave performed last year, hotels and resorts were the victims. That’s way up from 2008, when the hospitality industry wasn’t nearly so trendy for identity thieves and there were hardly any incidents.

Hotels and resorts tend to have a lot of data–like your credit card info–that is relatively unprotected, making them pretty dreamy for hackers. Last year, both Radisson and Wyndham Hotels reported hacking incidents, and who knows what other hotels got hacked but didn’t report it. So, fork over your personal credit card with care at check-in, or maybe use this as an excuse to charge any and all hotel stays on the company card.

http://www.blackbookmag.com/article/your-hotel-stay-stole-your-credit-card/15885

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