Vol. 4, No. 4 – February 14, 2005

 

DON’T FORGET OSHA RECORDKEEPING 

Beginning February 1, you need to post the summary of workplace injuries and illnesses that occurred during the past year in your workplace. The summary form, OSHA Form 300A, must be displayed through April 30, 2005 in a common area where employee notices are posted. OSHA requires Form 300A be posted, not the OSHA 300 Log. Even if the company had zero recordable injuries or illnesses, the form must still be posted. Only companies that are exempt from federal OSHA injury and illness recordkeeping requirements do not need to comply with this regulation. OSHA has a new publication to help employers and workers understand recordkeeping requirements. For a link to the new handbook, OSHA recordkeeping forms and additional information, go to http://www.dealer.org/html/regulatoryaffairs.html.  

New OSHA Publications on Safety 

Four new publications were recently released by OSHA covering teen workers, concrete and warehouse safety. OSHA sought and received input from NLBMDA on the pocket guide for worker safety in warehousing. The pocket guide covers many of the most frequently cited OSHA standards in warehousing including forklift requirements, hazard communications and lockout/tagout. Copies of all the publications are available on OSHA’s web site. A link to an electronic version of the pocket guide for warehousing is also on the NLBMDA web site at http://www.dealer.org/html/regulatoryaffairs.html. 

Source: NLBMDA Regulatory News, February 2005 

MLA EDUCATION PROGRAMS

Early-bird deadline for Tulsa is Feb. 18 

The Basic Materials Estimating School… This is a two-day school designed to teach participants the basic piece-by-piece estimating of building products usually sold in a full-service lumberyard/home center. Students learn the basics of blueprint reading, how to use the LT1 Guidebook for estimating that contains tables, checklists, construction illustrations and estimating reminders; and finally how to estimate a simple house plan piece-by-piece. 

Feb. 16-17 – Kansas City, Mo.

March 10-11 – Tulsa, Okla. 

Advanced Materials Estimating School… This advanced piece-by-piece estimating seminar is designed to assist the estimator or outside salesperson/estimator who already knows how to estimate but wants some shortcuts and instructions in multi-pitched roofs, including stick framing

and finding wall lengths, floor area, and more complicated house layouts. Students receive the estimating guidebook as part of the class. 

Feb. 18 – Kansas City, Mo. 

Managing Outside Yard Operations… This course is for yard foremen and key personnel supervising the efficient operation of the “outside yard.” Seminar topics include: protecting profit dollars in the yard, customer service in the yard, pre-emptive management and equipment maintenance.  

Feb. 17 – Columbia, Mo.

Feb. 24 – Oklahoma City, Okla. 

Member Pricing: 

Basic Estimating - $425 per person

Advanced Estimating - $300 per person

Yard Foreman Seminar - $310 per person 

Early Bird Discounts available – see registration form for details. 

Complete information and registration forms are available upon request from MLA at 800-747-6529. Or, simply reply to this email and we’ll send complete information today! 

last week in washington 

The inauguration is over. President Bush has delivered his State of the Union Address. He sent a $2.57 trillion budget to Congress – and that does not include supplemental funds for Iraq and Afghanistan or costs associated with restructuring the Social Security system. As the saying goes, the president proposes, Congress disposes. Bush has proposed much; Congress has begun disposing. 

Taxes promise to be the big issue this year. Bush wants to “simplify and reform” what he called an “archaic incoherent” tax code and make expiring tax breaks permanent. So far …  

The president appointed former Sens. Connie Mack (R-FL) and John Breaux (D-LA) to head a bipartisan President’s Advisory Panel on Federal Tax Reform to recommend ways to simplify the federal tax code. The executive order establishing the panel stated that recommendations should “share the burdens and benefits of the federal tax structure in an appropriately progressive manner,” should “better encourage work effort, saving and investment” and be revenue neutral. The panel is to report its findings to Treasury secretary John Snow by July 31. Snow said he would review the panel’s report and make his own recommendations to the president.  

Rep. John Linder (R-GA) has again introduced the Fair Tax Act (HR 25) to replace the current system of individual and corporate income and payroll taxes with a 30% national sales tax imposed on all new goods and services including automobiles, houses, health care and prescription drugs.  

Chairman of the House Ways & Means Committee William Thomas (R-CA) said that payroll taxes are not the way to pay for Social Security and suggested instituting a value added tax. Bush left open funding options for his personal Social Security account plan but did say he did not want payroll taxes raised.

 Senate Republicans introduced legislation to make permanent several tax cuts: current individual income tax rates; lower tax rate on dividends and long-term capital gains; repeal of the estate tax; marriage tax relief; higher child tax credits and expanded adoption and dependent care tax credits.  

In other action, the Senate passed the Class Action Fairness Act to make it easier for large multi-state class action lawsuits to be sent to federal rather than state courts. House and Senate leaders negotiated terms of the bill before the Senate vote with the understanding the House would approve the Senate bill if it arrived without amendments. It did. The House is expected to pass the bill this week and send it to the president who said he would sign it.  

Rep. Sam Johnson (R-TX) introduced the Small Business Health Fairness Act (HR 525) with 53 bipartisan co-sponsors. It would allow trade associations to establish association health plans under which member companies could pool purchasing resources to buy health insurance at lower rates. In the Senate, Republicans are proposing legislation to create affordable health coverage options and group purchasing arrangements for individuals, especially those who work for small businesses.  

Source: NRHA, February 14, 2005; Last Week in Washington is published as a member service by the National Retail Hardware Association 

HIPAA Security Rule Compliance Date 

A rule implementing the Health Insurance Portability & Accountability Act (HIPAA) has a compliance date of April 20, 2005, with an extension to April 20, 2006, for small health plans (those with annual receipts of $5 million or less). 

Called the Security Rule, it adopts standards for security of electronic protected health information to be implemented by health plans, health care clearinghouses and some health care providers.

 Unless employers have access to personal health information about employees, they may not be covered by this rule. According to the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, “The statute does not cover all health entities that transmit or maintain individually identifiable health information. Section 1172(a) of the Act provides that only health plans, health care clearinghouses and certain health care providers are covered.” Non-covered entities include employers, public health organizations, medical schools, universities, research organizations, plan brokers and non-EDI providers. 

However, employers who sponsor health plans and receive personal information protected by HIPAA from the health plan would be covered by the security rule.

 This alert is for those who are viewing, recording, and saving health information. Members should avoid all these activities unless they have undergone the proper HIPAA training. As an employer, you do not need to view, record, or save health info, and if you don't, this should not be an issue. 

Further information: www.cms.hhs.gov/hipaa/hipaa2/regulations/security. The HIPAA security rule is at Title 45, Code of Federal Regulations Part 164, sections 302-318 (45 CFR 164.302)  

TRAINING WITHOUT TRAVEL

 NLBMDA will hold their Training without Travel Teleconference on “How to Handle an OSHA Inspection” on March 10. Information on complying with OSHA requirements will be presented by Ron Koons, a well-known OSHA and safety consultant. The OSHA training teleconference provides a 45-minute presentation, 30-minute question-and-answer session and written materials. The member price, per site, is just $95. For more information and registration forms contact NLBMDA at 800-634-8645 or go to http://www.dealer.org/html/education.html#training.    

MBMDA 2005 SHOW 

The Mid-South Building Material Dealers Association has announced their 2005 Show, scheduled for February 24-26 in Gulfport, Miss. MLA members are invited to attend as guests. If you’d like more information, contact MBMDA toll-free at 877-828-3315. 

LUMBER NEWS – QUICK GLIMPSES 

New Homes Sales Set a Record for 2004, But Unsold Inventory Grew in December… Sales of new single-family homes for 2004 topped one million and set a new annual sales record for the fourth consecutive year, according to U.S. Commerce Department figures released today. Total new single-family home sales for the year reached 1.183 million, an 8.9 percent increase from the previous annual record of 1.086 million set in 2003.

However, the shares of U.S. homebuilders tumbled Monday after a government report showed sales of new homes slowed in December, while the inventory of homes being built with no committed sale grew. The supply of new homes was at 4.8 months’ worth in December, the highest since June 2000.  

Source: LBM Daily, February 1, 2005

 AHP Legislation Introduced in House… A bipartisan group of lawmakers led by House Employer-Employee Relations Subcommittee Chairman Sam Johnson (R-TX) introduced legislation in the House this week allowing association health plans (AHPs).

 The Small Business Health Fairness Act (H.R. 525) is aimed at expanding access to quality health care for the uninsured by allowing small businesses to pool together and purchase insurance at a lower cost for their workers. The bill is strongly endorsed by President Bush and was co-sponsored by Education & The Workforce Committee Chairman John Boehner (R-OH), Rep. Nydia Velazquez (D-NY), and Rep. Albert Wynn (D-MD), among others.

 “This common-sense legislation puts small businesses on equal footing with large corporations and unions when it comes to providing health care to their employees,” Johnson said Feb. 2. 

The House passed nearly identical legislation last year by a vote of 252-162, but it did not reach the Senate floor for consideration. Opposition to the bill will come from the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association (BCBSA), which claims AHPs would not solve the uninsured problem in America and would raise premiums for many small employers. AHPs are endorsed by a broad coalition of more than 160 organizations, including ASAE, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the National Federation of Independent Business.

 Source: ASAE Inroads, Vol. 20, No. 5, February 3, 2005, A publication of the Public Policy Division of the American Society of Association Executives 

Bush Administration Asks for $867 Million for FY 2006 Forest Thinning Program… The Bush administration is planning to ask Congress to increase funding to $867 million in fiscal year 2006 for a plan to help reduce the risk of wildfires in federal forests, a senior administration official said on Thursday. Current funding stands at $811 million for the FY2005 forest management plan.  

Environmentalists have criticized the program as a way to give logging companies more access to timber under the guise of forest protection.

 Source: LBM Daily, February 4, 2005 

Canada to Place Request Before WTO for a Final Ruling… Canada is planning to ask the World Trade Organization to order the United States to refund the countervailing and anti-dumping duties levied on Canadian softwood by the U.S. government. The United States was unable to prove that its lumber industry has been injured by Canadian softwood imports.

 Canada expects that the WTO will rule that all U.S. duties that have been collected since early 2002 on Canadian softwood be returned. If the request is approved by the world body, the ruling will be final and not subject to appeal.

 Source: LBM Daily, February 10, 2005 

‘Flexible Spending Accounts’ Bill Introduced In Senate… A bill that would make it easier for more employees to take advantage of Flexible Spending Accounts (FSAs) was introduced in the Senate Feb. 8 by Sens. Jim DeMint (R-SC) and Ken Salazar (D-CO). 

The “Flexible Spending Account Enhancement Act of 2005” would allow up to $500 of unused FSA funds to be carried over for use in the next year, or contributed to a Health Savings Account (HSA). FSAs are tax-free employer-sponsored benefit plans that reimburse employees for qualified health care expenses. 

“[The current] ‘use-it-or-lose-it’ rule ends up penalizing workers and it just doesn't make sense,” DeMint said this week. “Our bill makes a common-sense change to FSAs that will help families deal with rising health care costs.”

 DeMint previously introduced this legislation in the House, where it was approved last year by a vote of 273-152. No action was taken last year by the Senate. 

Source: ASAE Inroads, February 10, 2005, a publication of the Public Policy Division of the American Society of Association Executives 

Logging in the Amazon Now Permitted, But Not Without a Battle… The news was released by the Brazilian government over the weekend: in a stunning turnaround, logging is now to be permitted in the Amazon. For over a year, loggers protested the Brazilian government's anti-logging position in the Amazon, threatening escalating acts of civil disobedience and vandalism.

In its statement regarding the restoration of logging licenses, the government asserted that it had “not given in to any pressure or backed away from any of its previous decisions.” 

Rather, the change was to end “the impasse facing productive sectors” in the Amazon. Ownership of the land by those logging operations that had taken possession of state lands may now be thrown into doubt as the registry of large landholdings in the area was canceled last year.  

Source: LBM Daily, February 14, 2005

Does your insurance company require you to report your INVENTORY values?

 After large losses such as the 2004 Florida hurricanes, many businesses may face unpaid losses. Sometimes these include insurance penalties, which can apply when insurance is written on a “reporting” basis. 

Many businesses report their inventory values monthly to their insurance companies.  Final premium is based on the average of the reported values. Most “reporting forms” have requirements that must be met to avoid a penalty at the time of a claim. It is important to be aware of these to protect your business. 

Reported Values Must Be Accurate

Values reported must be 100 percent accurate or the claim’s payment will be reduced. The report must show the full value of the covered property on the date of the report. Keep in mind that the insurance value of stock is usually not the same as “book value.”  Other factors such as inflation can change the values. It’s also important to determine whether accurate figures are available for the day of the report and that the values come from reliable sources based on insurance values.

Reports must be received on time.

Most insurance companies expect a new client’s first report of values to accompany the initial application for insurance. If the first report is not received before a claim occurs (a couple days after coverage starts, for example), the insurance company will pay no more than 75 percent of the amount that otherwise would have been paid. 

Penalties may also apply to subsequent reports. Insurers generally will not pay more than the values last reported for a specific location, regardless the limit of insurance. 

 The insurance company will only pay losses at locations that were listed on the last report. 

Reporting values higher than the limit of insurance does not increase the limit.

When values are likely to exceed your limit of insurance, you must contact the insurance company to increase the limit.  

How can you avoid these reporting hassles and possible reduced claims settlements?

Your association recommended carrier, Federated Insurance, does not use a “reporting” form in its Lumber Pac® program.  Rather, they set your contents limits 25 percent higher than your peak inventory values (plus the cost to replace your furniture, fixtures and equipment).  But your premiums will be based on your prior year’s average inventory values.

 Contact your local Federated marketing representative for more information about their insurance and risk management programs for lumber dealers.

                                        MLA is proud to endorse….

 THOUGHT FOR THE DAY 

“The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now.” – Chinese Proverb