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Remember that scene in a “Charlie Brown Halloween”, where every time Chuck (as Peppermint Patty would call him) and his friends went trick or treating all the kids would receive a luscious treat but Charlie Brown wouldn’t get what they did? His friends would scream out what was tossed into their bag, and Charlie Brown would then say in a low, sad voice, “I got a rock.”

 

Well, the next time Santa gives you a rock or a piece of coal on Christmas Eve, you may want to think twice before you toss it out into the abyss because the person who mined that rock so that the big guy could drop it off at your house risked their life at approximately the same rate of risk as, well, oh,…an insurance agent!

 

“An insurance agent?” you ask. “How can that be?” “What is Loguercio talking about?” “Has he lost his mind?” “Does he have rocks in his head?”…stick around and I’ll explain.

 

The recent explosions at West Virginia's Big Upper Branch coal mine and the oil pipe leak in the Gulf of Mexico have brought to light some of the inherent dangers of underground mining, along with the costs of insurance claims arising from such disasters. Although one might surmise that this is certainly one of the most higher-risk industries, in actuality it remains near the low end on the list of occupational injuries and deaths in the United States, and with that claims paid.

 

The United States Government tracks every single reported accident in the workplace; from the slightest sprained ankle to fatal events; and has found that on average only about .0036 percent of all workers injured on the job will die from those injuries that they have sustained on the job each year. That’s the good news. Now here comes the bad for all of us working from an office.

 

If you are like most insurance agents, you are probably reading this magazine from behind the perfectly measured height of your desk, while seated in an ergonomically designed chair, resting your wrists on a cushioned pad in front of some strangely shaped keyboard. Therefore, you’re most likely very safe and secure…sure you are…keep reading. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, deep-sea fishermen and loggers take part in the deadliest of trades. As noted within these statistics, fishermen die at a rate of 35 times that of all workers, and loggers die at 32 times the overall rate. Per a report published by Fox News, the following are figures from two years ago, and indicate some of our country's most vital industries:

 

2008 Fatalities Rate per 100K

 

Total (all occupations) 5,071 3.6

 

Fishers and related fishing workers. . 50 . . . . . . . . 128.9

 

Logging workers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82 . . . . . . . . 115.7

 

Aircraft pilots and flight engineers . . 90 . . . . . . . . 72.4

 

Structural iron and steel workers . . . 36 . . . . . . . . 46.4

 

Farmers and ranchers . . . . . . . . . . . . . 317 . . . . . . . 39.5

 

Refuse and recyclable material collectors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 . . . . . . . . 36.8

 

Roofers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69 . . . . . . . . 34.4

 

Electrical power-line installers and repairers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 . . . . . . . . 29.8

 

Driver/sales workers and truck drivers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 815 . . . . . . . 22.8

 

Coal mining . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 . . . . . . . . 21.9

 

Mining (all) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175 . . . . . . . 18.0

 

Construction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 966 . . . . . . . 11.7

 

Sales and office workers . . . . . . . . . . 354 . . . . . . . 1.1

 

As far as occupational hazards are concerned, government statistics indicate that coal miners are five to six times likely to die from an accident in the workplace than the total national average. However, although these numbers indicate that sales and office workers are killed on the job at the lowest rate per 100,000 of those workers, more sales and office workers die in the line of duty than coal miners each year! This statistic even includes the explosions and cave-ins that stun the coal belt every year.

 

On the other hand, in addition to the inherent dangers of working underground with explosives, noxious gasses, and the ever present threat of a cave in, coal miners are two times as likely to suffer broken bones, and typically spend up to four times the time recovering from these injuries than those who work above ground. As in many of the other industries that are listed above, a coal miners use of heavy equipment very often puts them at a risk much greater than most other professions, but still more sales people die from their occupation than coal miners each and every year. For example, in 2008 a total of 26 coal miners were killed in work related incidents. Unfortunately this number was almost matched in one day at the Big Upper Branch Mine, where 25 were killed recently in a single night. 2006 also showed a rise in coal miner deaths, mostly because of the Sago Mine disaster in West Virginia. That explosion trapped 13 mine workers for two days, stealing 12 out of 13 lives. That same year: 354 sales people were also killed on the job.

 

Here are the government's figures on annual coal mining fatalities since 1992:

 

2009: Unavailable

 

2008: 26

 

2007: 28

 

2006: 47

 

2005: 22

 

2004: 26

 

2003: 27

 

2002: 25

 

2001: 42

 

2000: 40

 

1999: 35

 

1998: 30

 

1997: 32

 

1996: 39

 

1995: 43

 

1994: 41

 

1993: 40

 

1992: 60

 

Yes, this occupation is certainly an extremely hazardous job, and is normally accomplished under some of the most unbearable of working conditions.

 

However, these strong and brave men and women continue to go down under every day for many hours at a time, risking their lives, so that we can benefit by the fruits of their labor…and to maintain the honor of Santa as one of their most famous customers.

 

Belonging…

 

A few months ago in this column (March 8th, 2010 edition titled “You’re a WHAT?!”) we talked about insurance industry organizations, and the benefits of being a member. I asked you to please forward to me a few examples of why (or even why not) you should be a member of an insurance related organization, and to share some of your experiences with us that you have had as a participant of any insurance industry affiliated association. Many thanks to all of you who replied so quickly, as your responses were all very positive, and none were to the contrary. Most of the replies that I received spoke to the typical reasons that most people join any form of industry organization, ranging from education, to networking, to employment searching, to even those looking to buy or sell their businesses. However, there was one response that arrived in the form of a copy of a letter that they had written to their organization, which immediately stood out in my eyes. Please allow me to share it with you today:

 

“Dear PIA:

 

I recently had a serious problem concerning the insurance department, and the only person I could think to turn to was Harvey Leff, one of your directors. Harvey, as usual, dropped whatever he was doing to help me. He came up with an excellent suggestion, referring me to one of his many contacts in the insurance industry. One mention of Harvey, and his referral took the time to review the matter with me and steer me in the right direction. This was advice that I could not get from almost anyone else, going beyond legal advice. I am bringing this to your attention because this is the type of service that I and my broker friends constantly get from Harvey and from the PIA. It was at Harvey’s urging, incidentally, that I joined PIA. At the time I remarked that I wished I had known of PIA many years ago. Hardly a day goes by that I do not call PIA for advice or to get a suggestion from your weekly news letter.

 

I am writing to thank you for your services and for having the good sense to have someone like Harvey Leff to represent you”. Of course the composer of this letter, Dick Mayo, was referring to our dear friend, Harvey Leff, of Brooks Insurance Group in Manalapan, NJ. Harvey is a long time member of a few different insurance industry organizations, and is always there to help when someone needs something. Thanks, “Harvella”, for all you do, for all of us, in this thing of ours!

 

All was quiet on the convention front the past couple of weeks; however we have a few conferences on the horizon that we will be talking about very shortly. Until then, thanks for taking another walk with me around the neighborhood, and I’ll be back real soon with some additional stories about the people who make our business one of the greatest in the world!