Superintendent of Insurance Gregory V. Serio and Nassau County District Attorney Denis Dillon November 16, 2002 announced the arrest of a Westbury insurance broker for the theft of more than $600,000 from clients and finance companies.

Kirk Castro, 39, owner of Service Insurance Agency, 86 Garden St. Westbury, is charged with one count of Grand Larceny in the Second Degree, a Class C Felony punishable by up to 15 years in prison; two counts of Grand Larceny in the Third Degree, a Class D Felony punishable by up to 7 years in prison; and one count of Scheme to Defraud in the First Degree, a Class E Felony punishable by up to 4 years in prison.

According to District Attorney Dillon, "This office and the New York State Insurance Frauds Bureau received numerous complaints regarding the defendant from insurance companies, insurance sub-brokers and AFCO, a premium finance company. Our subsequent investigation has determined that between November 1, 1999 and October 1, 2000, the defendant stole premiums given to him by his clients and by AFCO, by failing to remit those premiums to various insurance companies which had provided policies to his clients. As a result, numerous clients found their insurance cancelled for nonpayment."

The charges are merely accusations, and the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.

Source: State of New York

WASHINGTON -- Requirements for exiting buildings quickly during an emergency have been rewritten in a user-friendly format that is easier to understand, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration announced today. The revised Exit Routes, Emergency Action Plans, and Fire Prevention Plans Standard becomes effective on December 7, 2002.

The requirements for exit routes have been rewritten in simple, straight- forward, easy to understand terms. For example, Means of Egress will now be referred to as Exit Routes. The text has been reorganized and inconsistencies and duplicative requirements have been removed. The revised rule has fewer subparagraphs and a smaller number of cross-references to other OSHA standards than the previous version.

Employers now have the option of adopting the National Fire Protection Associations' Life Safety Code, instead of the OSHA standard for exit routes. OSHA evaluated the NFPA standard and concluded that it provides comparable safety.

The revised standard, which offers more compliance options for employers, does not change the regulatory obligations of the employer or the safety and health protections provided to the employees of the original standard.

The Exit Routes, Emergency Action Plans, and Fire Prevention Plans standard was scheduled for publication in the November 7, 2002 Federal Register

Source: Occupational Safety and Health Administration

HARRISBURG (Nov. 14) -- Pennsylvania Insurance Commissioner M. Diane Koken today announced the closing of an unlicensed insurance company and the penalty and license revocation of the insurance agent responsible for its illegal arrangement.
"S.E.C.U.R.E. Insurance Co. Ltd. was operating as a pest control liability insurance entity, however, it is not licensed or authorized to do insurance business in Pennsylvania," Commissioner Koken said. "S.E.C.U.R.E. must cease and desist from doing business in Pennsylvania, cancel all policies issued nationwide, return unearned premiums, and pay legitimate claims.

Under the agreement, Reardon's agent and broker licenses, and The Wyomissing Group's ("TWG") agency license, are revoked for 10 years. A civil penalty of $100,000 is imposed.
"Pesticide application businesses are required by the state Department of Agriculture to have liability insurance from a licensed insurer," Commissioner Koken said. "This entity is not licensed, and pest control operators need to be aware that their own licensure may be in jeopardy if they have coverage through S.E.C.U.R.E.

Source: State of Pennsylvania

MARIN COUNTY – Investigators with the California Department of Insurance (CDI) Criminal Investigations Branch’s Fraud Division announced today the arraignment of a Sausalito man on insurance fraud charges.

Todd Demerio Randolph, 39, was arraigned today by a Marin County Superior Court Judge on a four count criminal complaint brought by the Marin County District Attorney’s Office. Randolph is charged with making fraudulent insurance claims and making false material statements in support of insurance claims, each a felony. Randolph is scheduled to enter a plea on November 15, 2002. The charges in this case stem from an investigation initiated by the Special Investigation Unit of USAA Insurance Company, which was later referred to CDI.

Investigators say Randolph and his friend, Regitze Von Luttichau, also of Sausalito, made a total of five separate auto insurance claims to USAA. Von Luttichau and her vehicles were insured by USAA. The claims were for theft of vehicles or for damage to vehicles. Fraud Division Investigators allege that in at least three instances, Randolph rented his vehicles to associates in return for illegal drugs, specifically cocaine. Then at a later date, Randolph allegedly falsely reported that the vehicles were stolen. These false reports were made to police departments and to USAA.

Source: State of California

Houston became the largest city in the country to receive a fire protection classification of "1," which means potential savings for Houston's property insurance premium payers.
The State Fire Marshal's Office (SFMO) today approved the Insurance Service Office's (ISO) recommendation of a rating of Class 1, placing Houston with three other cities in Texas and only 43 communities in the U.S. with the highest fire protection classification awarded. The other Texas cities are Wylie, Frisco and Plano.

ISO classifies communities from 1 to 10 upon reviewing each community's water distribution, fire department equipment and firefighting personnel and fire alarm facilities. The public protection classification (PPC) for Houston had been a Class 2. ISO noted that the city had made tremendous improvements in adding hundreds of new fire hydrants, improving water mains, purchasing new firefighting equipment and adding more manpower to each fire truck.

PPC ratings are a clear indication of fire protection and are factored into residential and commercial property insurance rates. The SFMO conducts arson investigations, fire safety inspections, issues licenses for companies and individuals working in the fire alarm, extinguisher, sprinkler and fireworks industries and approves ISO's recommendations for public protection classifications. ISO is a New York-based advisory organization that serves the property and casualty insurance industry by providing inspection and statistical services.

WASHINGTON -- In an agreement signed today, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration and the Small Business Administration pledged to work together to help small businesses reduce their ergonomic hazards through increased outreach and education.

The memorandum of understanding was signed by Administrator Henshaw; Thomas M. Sullivan, Chief Counsel, SBA Office of Advocacy; and Michael Barrera, SBA National Ombudsman.

Under the agreement, OSHA and SBA will establish an information sharing process to distribute ergonomics program information to small businesses. The partners also will create a referral procedure to submit small business input on industry and task-specific ergonomics guidelines.

The SBA's Office of Advocacy agreed to distribute OSHA ergonomics information and gather comments from small businesses in various industries. In addition, the Office of Advocacy will promote small business access to ergonomics information through The Small Business Advocate and electronic regulatory communications.

The SBA's National Ombudsman will also disseminate OSHA small business resources and educational materials on OSHA's ergonomics plan at regional hearings and fairness boards, small business roundtables, and in its monthly electronic publication RegFair Report.

Source: Occupational Safety and Health Administration

WASHINGTON -- A collaborative working relationship designed to further protect workers in the airline industry was cemented today when OSHA signed an Alliance with a group of 13 airlines and the International Air Transport Section of the National Safety Council, OSHA Administrator John Henshaw announced.

OSHA and the airlines agreed to share best practices and technical knowledge, focusing on ergonomics. Ergonomic issues related to the handling of passenger checked baggage will be addressed by exploring methods of promoting communication, outreach, training, education and a national dialogue.

Over the next year, OSHA and the participants will review ways to improve OSHA's e-tool and conduct a one-day seminar for participating airlines and other interested aviation participants on OSHA's Voluntary Protection Programs. Plans also call for a seminar with the airlines and OSHA personnel to discuss ergonomic issues, solutions and limitations related to handling passenger-checked baggage.

The Alliance participants will discuss ideas for ergonomic improvement associated with handling of checked baggage during a national safety-related conference and possibly other venues. Finally, OSHA and the Airline Group will develop a biomechanics-training module for workers who handle checked baggage and make that module available free-of-charge to all airlines.

A team of Alliance members will meet at least quarterly to develop and execute an action plan, determine working procedures, and identify the roles and responsibilities of the participants. OSHA will also offer the opportunity for representatives of the Occupational Safety and Health State Plan Association and the association of state Consultation Projects to participate in the Alliance.

Source: Occupational Safety and Health Administration

A new regulation to help consumers maintain vehicle tires more safely was announced today by the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). The rule requires that manufacturers provide additional consumer information and more accessible tire labeling.
The new regulation, to be phased in beginning in September 2003, also will allow consumers to more easily identify tires affected by a safety recall.
Key provisions of the new rule include the following:

• The Tire Identification Number (TIN), which includes information to help identify tires subject to recalls, must be shown on both sides of a tire. (On one side, the TIN can exclude the tire’s date of manufacture.)
  
  
• All characters in the TIN must be at least one-quarter inch high, to increase readability.
  
  
• In nearly all passenger vehicles, the placard that provides information on proper tire inflation and load limits for a vehicle, must be mounted in a standard place: on the post next to the driver’s side (known as the “B-pillar”).
  
  
• The vehicle placard must be printed in a defined format involving colored lettering. This includes the requirement that tire inflation pressure information be printed in red, yellow and black on a white background.
  
  
• The placard must include information on the maximum weight that a vehicle can carry safely (taking into account the weight of both cargo and occupants).
  
  
• Vehicle manufacturers must provide more tire safety information in the owner’s manual.
  
  

The new rule came in response to a mandate in the Transportation Recall Enhancement, Accountability, and Documentation (TREAD) Act of 2000. Covered by the new regulation are the manufacturers of all new passenger vehicles that weigh 10,000 pounds or less – including cars, sport utility vehicles, vans, pickup trucks, small buses and small trailers. Also covered are companies that produce new or retread tires for any such vehicles manufactured after 1975.
The improved tire-related labeling will be required for vehicles manufactured after Sept. 1, 2003. For tires, NHTSA is phasing in compliance requirements for those tires covered under the new rule as follows:

• 40 percent between Sept. 1, 2004 and Aug. 31, 2005
  
  
• 70 percent between Sept. 1, 2005 and Aug. 31, 2006
  
  
• 100 percent by Sept. 1, 2006
  
  

A NHTSA research study released in August 2001 found that 27 percent of passenger cars on U.S. roadways are driven with one or more substantially under-inflated tires. Moreover, 32 percent of light trucks (including sport utility vehicles, vans and pickup trucks) are driven with one or more substantially under-inflated tires.

Source: Department of Transportation