Thanksgiving Is the Leading Day for Cooking Fires

Thanksgiving is the Leading Day for Cooking Fires

Tips to Avoid Burn Injury When Deep frying The Thanksgiving Turkey and More


Newswise — Thanksgiving Day has more than double the number of home cooking fires than an average day according to the U.S. Fire Administration. More than 4,000 fires occur annually on Thanksgiving Day as celebrants deep fry turkeys, boil potatoes, bake pies and more. “Cooking remains a major mechanism of injuries for adults, and for children who are underfoot,” said Dr. Richard L. Gamelli, director of the Burn & Shock Trauma Research Institute, Chief of the Burn Unit and senior vice president and provost of health sciences at Stritch School of Medicine, Loyola University Chicago.

The recent trend of deep frying the turkey has ignited an increase in injury. In the United States, more than 141 serious fires and hot-oil burns have been reported from the use of turkey fryers over the last decade, according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission.

Serafino Alfe of suburban Chicago knows. He was deep-frying turkeys for an annual fundraiser dinner a few years ago and ended up at the Loyola Burn Center with third-degree burns—the worst—on his leg.

“I tripped and fell right into the deep fryer,” he said. “Thirty quarts of hot oil poured over my leg and I basically fried myself.”

Alfe said he has used a deep fryer for many years and is always careful. “We put the deep fryers on cardboard and I caught my shoe on the edge and just lost my balance,” said Alfe, who underwent surgery at Loyola on his injured leg the day before Thanksgiving in 2011. “We were using the older fryers that do not have a secure lid and the gallons of hot oil just splattered out everywhere.”

An estimated $15 million in U.S. property damage is caused by deep fryer fires,

“It doesn’t matter if it is a turkey fryer or a conventional oven, you should always take great care when using appliances, vehicles and any other device that has the potential to cause great harm to yourself and others if used in a careless, irresponsible manner,” Gamelli said.

If you’re planning to use a turkey fryer, Gamelli offers these safety tips.

Look for the newer fryers with sealed lids to prevent oil spills.

Keep the fryer in full view while the burner is on.

Keep children and pets away from the cooking area.

Place the fryer in an open area away from all walls, fences or other structures.

Never use the fryer in, on or under a garage, breezeway, carport, porch, deck or any other structure that can catch fire.

Make sure the turkey is dry when placed in the hot oil. Slowly raise and lower the turkey to reduce hot-oil splatter and to avoid burns.

Never cook in short sleeves, shorts or bare feet. Cover all bare skin when dunking or removing bird.

Protect your eyes with goggles or glasses.

Immediately turn off the fryer if the oil begins to overheat.

Make sure the turkey is completely thawed and be careful with marinades. Oil and water don’t mix and water can cause oil to spill over, creating a fire or even an explosion.

Don’t overfill fryer with oil. Turkey fryers can ignite in seconds after oil hits the burner.

Keep a fire extinguisher appropriate for oil fires close at hand and be familiar with how to operate it.

Do not use a hose in an attempt to douse a turkey fryer fire.

If you do burn yourself, or someone else is burned, seek immediate medical attention.

“With some careful preparation, all can gather around the table and enjoy the Thanksgiving dinner they prepared themselves, rather than spending it as a patient in the hospital burn center,” said Gamelli. Loyola’s Burn Center is one of the busiest in the Midwest, treating nearly 600 patients annually in the hospital and another 3,500 patients each year in its clinic.


Released: 11/12/2013 4:20 PM EST

Source Newsroom: Loyola University Health System

Tague Alliance Brings The Agency Growth Seminar To Member Agents

Tague Alliance is always looking for ways to help our member agencies become more successful preferred independent agents!  We brought in the Agency Growth Seminar to train a number of our members in simple but effective ways to dramatically increase their revenue.  We had a great training session and look forward to seeing positive sales growth as a result of the immediately implementable ideas that were provided to the attendees.

The class size was limited to allow for good interaction and a more personal experience.

Talking shop!  The class took the agents through an agency analysis and then into solutions for growth.

How to maximize cross‐line selling by Taping the income potential of your book of business

Setting the Stage
“Most people already have the knowledge and ability to increase sales results.  What they don’t
have is the knowledge about how to put it all together, manage it and make it happen.”
Scott Channell

The Agency Growth System has four distinct features:

• A Sales and Marketing System that generates a dependable and reliable source of new business.
• Simplified Goal Setting
• How to Tracking and Measure for Results
• Staff Accountability

Problems and Challenges
Here is the reality of what you face on a daily basis: The average household owns 7.1 policies.
The average agency has a household penetration of 1.9 policies which means 5.2 policies are in some
other agency’s book of business. The numbers don’t get any better when you analyze life and
financial services. On average 1 in 12 households will purchase some form of life or financial
service from someone in the next 12 months. Over the next 7 years, statically, 100% of your book of
business will purchase life or a financial service from someone else.  It isn’t a question of “if”
they leave; it’s a question of “when.”

The problems and challenges that face insurance agencies never seem to change. Every agency has the same basic questions:

• How can I increase New Business?
• How can I improve Profits?
• How can I improve Retention?
• How can I accomplish all of this with the least amount of effort?

The Solution is Simple
Faced with limited resources and time, The Agency Growth System provides an agency with
ready‐to‐deploy field proven sales and marketing strategies where much of the work is already done
for you, not by you.

• It is low impact for the staff and the client
• It is specifically designed to redefine the agent’s role as a Profession Insurance Advisor
• It focuses on what I believe is our Professional Obligation and that is to ask questions, identify problems and offer realistic solutions
• It is a systematic and dependable way of producing a steady follow of new business.

The Agency Growth System Workshop

The participants will leave the workshop with a customized “Game Plan”, for their specific agency,
that can be immediately implemented and produce measurable results in days not weeks or months.

Implementation
The Agency Growth System takes the guesswork out of increasing sales and agency profitability by
giving the agency a unified approach to establishing an Agency Sales Culture based on simple easily
implemented strategies.

The sales strategies include:

• Policy Review / Cross‐line Selling
• Internet Sales
• Targeted Markets
• Life and Financial Services

Agency Growth Systems will provide implementation assistance and coaching for 30 days. We will do
what is necessary to make you successful.

The Philosophy
The philosophy behind the Agency Growth System is simple:    “Stop selling insurance!”

"I believe our Professional Obligation is to ask questions, identify problems and offer realistic
solutions. This means providing client with advice on all of their policies regardless of who
controls them. If we can accomplish this in a professional manner, clients will give you the opportunity to provide the policies they want."  Harlan Warthen

Tague Alliance End of Summer BBQ

The Tague Alliance staff had a great time with some of our members and partner insurance companies last Friday!  Thanks to everyone who showed!

Here is a link to our Facebook page so you can check out some of the photos:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Tague-Alliance-Insurance-Services-Inc/157544370966

Or check out our Google+ photo page:
https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos/106526333406563306309/albums/5926877271664455649

Tague Alliance - Insurance Industry Report Out Now

At Tague Alliance we try to keep our members updated on what is happening in the insurance industry so we all have a better idea of the trends that will have an impact on our agencies and our clients.  Read the report below for a ton of good information:
http://www.treasury.gov/initiatives/fio/reports-and-notices/Documents/FIO%20Annual%20Report%202013.pdf

Wineries and Fire Hazard

Agents in our Southern California territories have great opportunities to write business for Wineries. Below is an article on the unique fire hazards associated with wineries. If you have questions about placing winery business, feel free to contact Tague Alliance for more info, and available markets (contact info at the end of the article)

Written By:

Laurie Infantino AFIS, CISC, CIC, CRIS, ACSR, CISR
President, Insurance Community Center, Insight Insurance Consulting




On July 12th of this year, The Insurance Community University taught a class on Wineries that was sponsored by AmWINS Insurance Brokers. That class discussed the distinctive exposures that a winery operation has and the unique insurance coverages that are available in the industry.

One of the coverages that we did not discuss, in any detail, was the simple peril of fire. On July 19th , just seven days after the class, Wines and Vines Magazine reported two significant fire losses that affected two different wineries; July 7th at Oakstone Winery in California and a few weeks earlier, in late June, Milleta Vista Vineyards near St. Paul, Nebraska. Both fires occurred in the early morning and were total loses. The buildings; inventory and equipment all went up in flames. Owners of both wineries intend to rebuild their facilities.

While fires are rare in the wine industry they tend to be catastrophic and hard lessons are learned following the flames being put out. The largest winery fire in 2005 on Mare Islands in the San Francisco Bay Area, which was caused by an arsonist, destroyed more than 4.5 million bottles and caused in excess of $54 million dollars in loss. Many wineries have still not recovered from that loss.

The cause of loss at the Oakstone Winery was not definitively determined but it was determined to have started on the side of the building near an electrical panel and forklift charging station. The cause of the loss at Milleta Vista Vineyards was still under investigation in late July. The fire destroyed the restaurant and wine storage portions of the business.

The article in Wines and Vines Magazine quotes Guy Colonna, a division manager for industrial and chemical fires at the National Fire Protection Association as having said: “there are no fire codes specific to the wine or beer industries”. He said; “ the single most dangerous aspect of winemaking is the risk of asphyxiation for staff working in confined spaces, often in the presence of carbon dioxide from fermentation or from inert gases for flushing out oxygen. “ Colonna went on to remark that while he does not think that “fire risk” is unique to wineries that the greatest hazard is provably from electrical systems and all the water used in winemaking”. His belief was that if wineries were compliant with current building and fire codes that the risk would really be minimal.

What is important in this discussion is the absence of any ordinances specific to the industry; that many wine operations are in older buildings; that many of the wineries do not have sprinkler systems AND if there is a loss that they will have to build in compliance with codes in effect at the time of the loss. It is , also, not uncommon for wineries to be operating out of converted buildings such as a home. In such cases the winery operation must comply with industrial and commercial codes.

Case in point is the Oakstone Winery. The building at Oakstone was built in 1966 and did not have a sprinkler system or a water supply because codes did not require these codes in place when the buildings were built.

With any winery loss that involved inventory or wine in process, we have to be cautious of the valuation clause found in the specific winery programs. Replacement of finished wine is close to impossible which then brings up the complex issue of determining if the insured has a business income loss. Most often finished wine is insured at selling price, however, in a total loss such as these two wineries that may easily incur a loss of income due to their not being able to produce wine for the foreseeable future.

Insurance lessons learned from these most recent winery fires include:

1. Making certain that wineries have Building Ordinance Coverage

2. Determine if the Building Ordinance Coverage covers “building ordinances in affect at the time of loss or building ordinances in affect at the time of replacement. With rare exceptions Building Ordinance Endorsements/coverage cover ordinances in affect at the time of loss which could limit the amount of coverage available

3. Make certain wineries have Loss of Income coverage AND that they have Building Ordinance on their Loss of Income and Building Ordinance Increased Period of Restoration

4. Review the valuation clause that is found in the policy for both the structural loss and inventory loss

5. Make certain that all equipment is covered properly in terms of amount of coverage; value of items; and whether the equipment is insured as part of the winery program as equipment that includes mobile equipment.

Tague Alliance, an SIAA Member:  Ph (760) 729-1143, email: info@taguealliance.com

Additional insured, waiver of subrogation, & primary & non-contributing on GL policy

Here is a great Q&A from Marjorie L Segale regarding Waivers of Subrogation, Non-Contributory wording, etc.


Answer Written by:

Marjorie L. Segale, AFIS, CISC, RPLU, CIC, CRIS, ACSR, CISR
Director of Education, Insurance Community Centr, LLC
President, Segale Consulting Services, LLC



QUESTION:

Question about adding an additional insured, waiver of subrogation, and primary and non-contributing on the GL policy.


The answer was the waiver of subrogation is automatic if entered into before the loss and add the primary and non-contributing endorsement. My understanding it is the other way around. The primary wording was included and you had to endorse the waiver of subrogation (CG 2988). I read the policy (CG 00 01 10 01)and found the primary wording on page 11 of the GL policy and found on page 12 you must do nothing to impair the rights to recover.

In my list of GL endorsements I couldn’t find anything about primary and non-contributing.

Am I correct or did I read the question and answer wrong?


Submitted by Insurance Community Member


ANSWER:

Well, you hit upon the one question that I included just to be a total geek. I am impressed that you went to the policy to look before writing to us.

Here's what I want you to go back and check out. Remember to read the policy, not as the coverage for your own insured, but rather view the coverage as provided for an Additional Insured.

Waiver of Subrogation:

The CGL automatically allows a waiver of subrogation. Condition Number 8 begins with a stern statement that the insured's rights are given to the insurance company and "you must do nothing AFTER loss to impair" those rights. The policy therefore allows subrogation waiver prior to a loss, but forbids waiving those rights after a loss occurs. The main purpose of obtaining the Waiver of Subrogation endorsement is to have an express agreement, but actually is not needed and if you read the endorsement is a little restrictive in the application of the waiver.

Policy Language:


8. Transfer Of Rights Of Recovery Against Others To Us

If the insured has rights to recover all or part of any payment we have made under this Coverage Part, those rights are transferred to us. The insured must do nothing after loss to impair them. At our request, the insured will bring "suit" or transfer those rights to us and help us enforce them.

Primary, Non-Contributory

Other Insurance Condition Number 4:

There are two main paragraphs regarding the issue of other insurance: Primary and Excess

The language under the first paragraph says that the general liability policy is primary unless other primary insurance also applies. If there is other primary insurance available to the insured (think additional insured here) then under the next paragraph the policy says it will share on a contributory basis with the other insurance. Paragraph b. of this condition says that this insurance will be excess over other valid and collectible insurance for the named insured. This language, therefore, has no impact on the Additional Insured.

So, the purpose of primary, non-contributory is to modify paragraph a. Primary Insurance as it applies to the Additional Insured. Since the Additional Insured has their own separate insurance, there would be two primary policies available for the Additional Insured. From the standpoint of the AI, they are transferring risk to your insured and wants their own insurance program to be excess over your insured's policy.

Policy Language:

4. Other Insurance

a. Primary Insurance

This insurance is primary except when Paragraph b. below applies. If this insurance is primary, our obligations are not affected unless any of the other insurance is also primary. Then, we will share with all that other insurance by the method described in Paragraph c. below.

b. Excess Insurance

(1) This insurance is excess over:

(b) Any other primary insurance available to you covering liability for damages arising out of the premises or operations, or the products and completed operations, for which you have been added as an additional insured by attachment of an endorsement.

Want to become a member of SIAA to obtain direct agency appointments? You can call Tague Alliance for more info: (760) 729 -1143, or email at info@taguealliance.com

Tague Alliance 8th Annual Awards Dinner

At Tague Alliance we put a very heavy emphasis on profitable growth with our partner insurance companies and each year we celebrate our results at the Annual Awards Dinner.  This gathering is designed to bring all our constituents together (members, carriers, and staff) to deepen our relationships and reinforce our the value of our partnerships!

The value that SIAA as a national group brings to our local Tague Alliance members is huge, and as a local SIAA Master Agency in California Tague Alliance is able to deliver deep value to our member agencies and partner carriers.  We are very blessed to have an extremely talented and experienced group of carrier executives supporting Tague Alliance.  As we all know nothing starts without a sale, so thank you to all our member agencies who are the horsepower behind Tague Alliance.  Of course, without our Tague Alliance staff supporting the entire effort we would not be where we are today.  It takes all of us contributing to be successful!

Thank you to everyone for your commitment to growing profitably!  Below is a link to our photos and a small montage of photos.  See you all at our 9th Annual Awards Dinner.

8th Annual Awards Dinner Photos

Photo montage on YouTube