Traders Combined - The Easy Way For Business Owners To Save Time & Money

As a business owner or manager, you more than most will know that customers nowadays are demanding more, for less. And if your business also demands this from your suppliers and service providers, here are some ways you can get it from your Insurance Broker.

Depending on which industry you work in you will no doubt have your own individual needs, concerns and worries.

For manufacturers these could be falling sales, competition from abroad or Government policy changes over CO2 emissions.

For retailers it could be increased competition from supermarkets or the internet.

And for someone with an out of town factory it could be trying to increase sales at the same rate taxes or interest rates appear to be rising.

The bottom line is whatever type of industry or trade your business is in you have numerous issues to deal with on a daily basis before you even start to think about your customers and suppliers.

And yet despite this apparent need for people in business to make their lives easier it is surprising to see many traders still choosing to have their numerous Insurance policies with many different insurance brokers and companies rather than under a single Traders Combined Insurance policy.

The result of this is that many Traders and business owners pay too much for their insurance and they spend time (that they simply cannot afford to waste) on looking after them.

Here a just a couple of reasons why business owners should seriously consider a Traders Combined Insurance policy when their insurance is next due for renewal:

1. All your risks together. By opting for a combined policy your vehicles, your staff, your premises and your profits can all be protected under one policy. No longer do you need your buildings insured with one Broker, your Business Interruption and Liabilities with another and your Fleet with yet another. Just all your risks under a Commercial Combined Insurance policy.

2. Time Savings. Gone are the days of many different types of cover with different renewal dates and provided by different companies. Just your Combined Insurance policy with a single renewal date. If you need to make a change you just need to ring one broker rather than hunt around your paperwork to find out who it is insured with. And if you chose the right broker they should ring around all the main Insurance companies to find you the best deal.

3. Money Savings. By putting all your risks under a Traders Combined Insurance policy you can very often benefit from savings on your premiums as many providers offer discounts. At a time when getting value for money from your service providers then making savings by getting a policy that is easier to administer could be just what you need.

Traders Combined Insurance can save you time and save you money and that is why it works.

Construction Safety in the Modern World – Your Responsibility as a Client

For people and businesses in the construction industry safe and efficient working practices should always have been at the forefront of your mind. Recent changes in the law have now seen the onus for safety extend to the client or persons having construction or building work carried out.

This article looks at the implications the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2007 may have on clients, contractors and workers in the construction industries. And the first part of this article looks at Your Responsibilities as a Client.

To begin with it’s perhaps worth looking at what the CDM regulations are and put simply they have been introduced to ensure construction projects are safe to build, use and be maintained whilst delivery good value to the client. As well as this they have also been put into place to ensure through good health and safety planning projects are well managed and problems and unexpected costs are kept to minimum levels.

For some this may seem like yet more regulation and unnecessary paperwork and processes but in reality the CMD 2007 regulations have been introduced to ensure construction and building work is done by competent people who work safely and efficiently.

When it comes to requirements of clients (or the person having the work carried out) the regulations don’t apply to domestic clients. A domestic client is defined as being someone who will or does live in the premises where the work is being carried out. The premises at which at work is being done must not also relate to any trade, business or other undertaking for the client to be deemed as domestic.

So if you’re a non domestic client under the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2007 you have to:

1. Appoint the right people – trade associations are a great way to find designers and contractors who are competent, have sufficient resources and will carry out work safely.

2. Allow enough time for your project – failing to allow for adequate time for the design, planning and construction is likely to mean more chance of it being unsafe or of a poor quality.

3. Information is vital – to ensure your project runs smoothly you have to ensure that your construction team is told what you want, how you will use it as well as details of the site, structures and hazards as this will allow them to plan, budget and work to your exact requirements.

4. Communication and co-operation – injuries, overspending at a later stage and misunderstandings can all be kept to a minimum if you, your contractors and your designers communicate and co-operate as much as possible.

5. Management – having adequate and suitable management in place is vital for construction projects as they can be extremely complex due to the various types of contractors and tradesmen all working together. And as some of these contractors are involved in high-risk activities (for example, roofing contractors and scaffolding contractors) then it is important that management arrangements are in place to ensure all work done is safe and is completed in a timely manner. Clearly contractors like roofers and scaffolders will have their own ways of working and protection in the form of construction insurance, roofers insurance, scaffolders insurance and contractors insurance but management of all parts of the project and checks should be done to ensure all parties are working with safety in mind.

6. On site Welfare facilities – you should ensure that workers on your site have been provided with adequate welfare facilities before work starts including any information needed for the health and safety file.

7. Workplace design – it is up to you to make sure your design team complies with the standards set out in the Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992 if your project is for changes to an existing workplace (e.g. office or factory) or if the project is for a new workplace.

In addition to the above requirements as a client you also have to make sure you do the following for notifiable construction projects with the definition of notifiable construction work being that which lasts longer than 30 days or involves 500 person days of work.

For these projects you also have to ensure that:

8. You appoint a CDM co-coordinator – although CDM 2007 doesn’t mean your Construction Design and Management co-coordinator has to supervise or monitor work on site you should appoint one before the initial design and preparation stage. Their role will range from helping you select competent designers and contractors to making sure the Health and Safety Executive is notified of your project.

9. You appoint a main contractor – a main or principle contractor will plan, co-ordinate and manage work on notifiable jobs whilst construction work is being done

10. You have health & safety plans – Work shouldn’t commence on site until the principal contractor has produced a construction phase health and safety plan that ensures that work will be carried out safety

11. You keep a health & safety file – the health & safety file should contain a record of health and safety information and should be given to your at the end of your project by the CDM co-coordinator. This file should be used in the future by anyone who is looking to maintain, repair or demolish the building.

Failure to comply with CDM 2007 from a clients’ point of view could result in construction work being stopped by HSE or your local authority. Likewise failure to take the necessary steps to ensure good health and safety procedures are in place could dramatically increase the chances of a dangerous or fatal incident occurring whilst your construction work is carried out. And in the most serious cases you could even find yourself open to prosecution.

Make sure your site is safe – you have a duty to do so.

4 Reasons Why Childcare Has To Improve

According to the latest results released by the Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (or OFSTED) 4% of childminders, nurseries and creche facilities were deemed as inadequate for inspections carried out between April 2006 and March 2007.

The good news of course is that 96% of childcare providers inspected were deemed as adequate or better with 3% rated as outstanding, 54% good and 39% satisfactory.

However for the 4% of childcare providers in the Getting on Well: Enjoying, Achieving and Contributing report who were judged to provide inadequate childcare some of the reasons citied for their rating included:

1. Insufficient range of toys and activities, so that children wander aimlessly

2. Adults with lack of knowledge of how to guide children's learning

3. Lack of regular observation

4. Lack of opportunities to engage children's interest

5. Poorly-organised environment

Another piece of good news from the report seems to be that once a childcare facility has been rated as inadequate steps are often put in place to bring it up to a satisfactory standard. This is highlighted by the fact that inspectors returned to almost 300 childcare providers who were previously deemed as unsatisfactory and upon re-inspection 85% of these had improved.

Clearly however the bad news is that 4% is 4% too many when it comes to inadequate childcare and therefore OFSTED, the Government and Childcare providers are working together to make sure standards improve.

The fact is most childcare facilities are run extremely well with hard working, dedicated and totally professional staff who love what they do and are good at their job. For the 4% of nurseries, childminders and crèches who remain unsatisfactory lessons could certainly be learnt from the vast majority who do such an excellent job in educating and looking after our children.

And for the good of our society as a whole it is imperative that standards amongst carers and educators of children continue to improve. This is because research shows that there is in many cases a direct link between high quality early years learning and care and improved intellectual, social and behavioural development in the future.

Mark Burdett, Marketing Manager of The UK Nursery Insurance Brokers Northern Counties had this to say about OFSTED’s latest results, “We provide Nursery Business Insurance and other types of Business Insurance to many different types of childcare providers and what strikes me most is how hard people in the childcare industry actually work. It is clear that if 4% of childcare providers aren’t meeting certain standards then improvements will need to be made but I don’t think the vast majority of parents should feel the need to unduly worry as the childcare facilities in the UK are amongst, if not the, best in the world.”

Mark went on to add, “Northern Counties provide protection and peace of mind in the form of Nursery Insurance and I know the vast majority of childcare providers are also doing all they can to make sure the children in their care are happy, safe and develop in the right way.”