By Stephen A. McDermott, CPCU, Captive Programs Director

The PACAH Patient Trust Funds bond program recently added two new members.  Falling Springs Nursing & Rehabilitation Center in Franklin County, and Cedarbrook Nursing Home in Lehigh County recently joined our PACAH Patient Trust Funds Bond program.  

The Pennsylvania Association of County Affiliated Homes (PACAH) provides PACAH member nursing homes with surety bonds as required by federal law.  The PACAH Patient Trust Funds Bonds Program, run in conjunction with the County Commissioners Association of Pennsylvania (CCAP), was instituted April 1, 1997, and currently covers 29 organizations through Traveler's Casualty and Surety Company with over $13 million in bond limits.

PACAH Bonds membership is open to current PACAH members.  The PACAH Bonds program is a CCAP insurance program sponsored by PACAH which began writing business effective April 1, 1997.  The PACAH Bonds program is a two year program that runs from April 1 to April 1, but a home may join the program at any time.  

For more information, please contact Steve McDermott, Captive Programs Director, CCAP Insurance Programs, at 800-895-9039 or email smcdermott@pacounties.org.

PComp's membership meeting at the CCAP Spring Conference was well attended.  The Sunday evening dinner meeting provided a chance for PComp members to review the strong financial position of PComp, and learn about upcoming services and programs.

The Annual Delegates Dinner Meeting is also a time when PComp members are honored for outstanding achievements.  Since 2001 PComp has recognized members, elected and appointed officials, and county employees for their risk management efforts.

Congratulations to these PComp award winners!

By John Sallade, Managing Director, CCAP Insurance Programs

The Pennsylvania Counties Risk Pool (PCoRP) program renews coverage on June 1, 2008 and has good news for its members!  Based on decisions made at the PCoRP Board's April 11 meeting, members are going to see an average cost decrease of 5.8% for the 08 - 09 policy year.

PCoRP was able to negotiate reduced premiums and some expanded coverage from its reinsurers, and this savings is passed along to the members.   In addition, better than expected claims costs resulted in a lower Loss Fund Contribution requirement than last year.  All the current PCoRP reinsurers were retained for another year.

Each member's actual costs will depend on their exposures (property values, payroll, number of vehicles, etc) and their recent claims experience.  Some members may see cost increases, but most should see decreases.

Coverage enhancements include a first time ever coverage for properties in Flood Zone A.   The coverage is limited to $5 million per year for the entire PCoRP program, meaning it is a sort of "first come, first served" coverage.  The $5 million limit sits above the federal National Flood Insurance Program which provides $500,000 of coverage (each, for building and contents).  If the member has no NFIP insurance, the first $500,000 of the loss in Flood Zone A would be the responsibility of the member.

PCoRP's coverage for property loss is being increased to a maximum of $350 million per occurrence (up from $300 million last year).

Overall costs to the members total $11,340,000 which is about $700,000 lower than last year.  The Loss Fund is $5,781,000 of this amount, about 56% of total costs. 

There are a few changes to the PCoRP coverage, mainly to clarify some areas.  Specific wording to explain coverage for lawyers employed by the county (or appointed by the courts) has been added to the Coverage Document.

Renewal packets, including pricing and copies of the revised Coverage Document, will be sent to PCoRP members' local insurance producers in early May, with initial payments due to PCoRP on June 1.

For more information contact John Sallade, Managing Director, Insurance Programs at 800-895-9039 or email jsallade@pacounties.org.

By Lauren Kenes, Insurance Programs Administrative Assistant

We want to thank everyone who participated in the Benefits Networking Symposiums held for the first time this year at various locations across the state. We were very pleased with the turnout, and many of you offered helpful feedback and insight regarding your expectations going into the Symposiums and what you took away from the experience. Your feedback will be used to evaluate what counties need and what we can continue to offer in the future, so thank you!

If you were unable to attend the Symposiums but would like to obtain the information and handouts used, please contact Julia Jackson at 800-895-9039 or send an email to jjackson@pacounties.org.

By Linda Rosito, Insurance Training Director

If you have not yet been able to attend any of the CCAP Insurance Program Workshops, don't worry, May brings plenty of opportunities. There are 8 opportunities for you to earn those loss control credits for your county. Don't miss an opportunity to attend training or invite your staff to attend training this spring. The following opportunities await you.

May 7 - KEYS: The Secret to High Performance Employees *
Scranton Hilton

May 8 - KEYS: HR Law Boot Camp (Advanced)
CCAP North Office, Harrisburg

May 13 - KEYS: Why is Everyone Hard to Work With Except Me? *
Reading Sheraton, Reading

May 15 - KEYS: HR Law Boot Camp (Advanced)
Regional Learning Alliance, Cranberry Twp.

May 20 - KEYS: The Secret to High Performance Employees *
Best Western/Country Cupboard, Lewisburg

May 21 - Leadership: A Few Good Men and Women *
Best Western/Country Cupboard, Lewisburg

May 22 - Prison Risk Management Workshop
Hershey Hotel

May 28 & 29 - County Administration Conference *
Nittany Lion Inn, State College

The asterisk (*) denotes Academy for Excellence in County Government opportunities. 

For assistance regarding training, please feel free to contact either Linda Rosito (ext. 3328) or Jenn Carey (ext. 3364) anytime at 800-895-9039.

By Bob Lauzonis, Loss Control Specialist/CCAP Insurance Programs

Every county, large or small, has both economic and human-welfare reasons for establishing and maintaining an effective Accident Prevention Program.  If you begin with the safety regulations and standards, employers must provide their employees with a workplace that is "free of recognized hazards."  It's that phrase that can help unlock the secret(s) to preventing accidents, injuries and property loss on the job.

Okay, maybe it's not much of a secret.  You already know that to prevent accidents you have to identify and eliminate workplace hazards.  But if the statistics (i.e. claims data, accident reports, experience mod, etc.) are to be believed, that is something a lot of busy supervisors, department heads and administrators have apparently been failing to emphasize enough to protect their employees, county property and safeguard the public.

Accident prevention is ongoing; it is a process that builds on itself; day after day after day.  Remember, regulations and standards are only the beginning.  They identify many of the general hazards of your county's business operations. But then there are the insurance and safety professionals; the Claims, Loss Control and Underwriting staff at CCAP.  We welcome the opportunity to work with you, offer interpretations and analysis of regulations, provide loss reports and to spotlight those concerns and problems that are common to your workplace. Where we can, we will suggest helpful guidelines and recommendations.  Next, there are your own observations - the County's Administrator, Loss Control and Claims Coordinators, Risk Managers, Safety Supervisors and other county employees - working together to identify on-the-job hazards that are unique and or are expected in employee work areas, using formal and informal safety inspections, audits and hazard analysis.

Let's remember some of the basic and common terms that we find in accident prevention.  An "accident" is an undesired event that results in physical harm to a person or damage to property.  An "incident" or "a near miss" is an undesired event that has the potential to cause a serious accident.  A "hazard" is a circumstance that increases the likelihood or probable severity of a loss (bodily injury and/or physical damage).  For example, the storing of explosives in a home basement is a hazard that increases the probability of an explosion.  A "loss" is death, injury or damage; that is a basis for a valid claim for the indemnity under the terms of the insurance policy. Finally, we have "prevention."  Prevention is an active assertive process of creating methods, conditions, procedures, opportunities, experiences and attributes that promote the well being of people; protecting county assets and helps to reduce the frequency and/or severity of losses.  REMEMBER: All accidents are incidents, but not all incidents are accidents. Right?

But no matter where you get your information about job hazards, to be useful, hazard identification ultimately must flow into analysis, diagnosis, and corrective action. In fact, you could visualize the accident prevention process as a circle: Observation, Hazard Recognition, Analysis, Diagnosis, Planning and Action.

As each hazard is identified--whether through reading safety standards, consulting other guidelines, or making your own observations - the circumstances must be analyzed, the problem must be diagnosed, a plan of action must be developed, and then effective corrective action must be taken.  Throughout the process you have to ask lots of questions.  For example: Is it a physical hazard or a health hazard?  How does it threaten my employees or the general public?  How can this hazard be eliminated, or at least minimized?  What specific steps do I need to take to prevent accidents, protect county workers, safeguard equipment and protect the public?

Employee Involvement: Key Words

This kind of approach can certainly help identify the hazards that could cause accidents and hurt county workers.  Also it can help you take action to eliminate the risks, but you can't do accident prevention alone.  You need to get your employees involved, too.  Without their understanding and cooperation, nothing you do will really work in the long run to stop the accidents and injuries.  Stimulating employee involvement in accident prevention isn't always easy, but the following "10 key words" can help to unlock secrets and build a strong safety and risk management foundation:

1)   Ownership.  Give employees responsibility for planning and conducting safety/hazard inspections, for analyzing their own data on work hazards, and for designing safety checklists.

2)   Leadership.  Set an example. Make sure each county employee will take necessary steps to prevent accidents.  That means wearing proper PPE and taking the same precautions as your workers.  Be on the lookout for potential hazards and point them out to your workers.

3)   Understanding.  Emphasize that hazards put county employees' personal health and safety at risk. Understanding the "why" of safety is a strong motivator.

4)   Commitment.  Work to get commitment to the idea that safety is a number one priority from all county employees.

5)   Goals.  Set clear standards for workplace behavior--and enforce them.

6)   Competence.  Train employees well so that they have the information and develop the skills they need to work safely and avoid accidents.

7)   Feedback.  Praise employees who identify and correct hazards, or who report problems they can't fix.

8)   Involvement.  Use every opportunity to encourage employees to play an active role in workplace safety and accident prevention.  If you see a hazard, do more than just correct it.  Use it as a learning experience to help workers become more alert and more sensitive to potential danger on the job.

9)   Responsiveness.  Make sure employees respond promptly to identified hazards and take immediate steps to correct them.

10)   Persistence.  Remember that accident prevention is an ongoing work challenge.  It's something each county employee will have to focus on every day, always improving, always setting new safety objectives, and always making steady progress toward achieving them.

Additional Information

For more information, Contact CCAP Loss Control Department at 800-895-9039; or email us at:

Bruce Mitchell, Loss Control Services Manager; bmitchel@pacounties.org

Gary Nicholson, Senior Loss Control Specialist; gnicholson@pacounties.org

Greg Cunningham, Loss Control Specialist; gcunningham@pacounties.org

Bob Lauzonis, Loss Control Specialist, blauzonis@pacounties.org