Health & Safety (Risk Management)

Risk Management is a term often used in the Insurance Industry and which can easily translate into 'Health & Safety'.

Risk Management is a tool used to identify, quantify and minimise exposure to damage and financial loss.

Financial Loss can take many forms in addition to the repair or replacement cost of any physical damage sustained.

An iceberg analogy is sometimes used to illustrate the hidden and often unquantifiable, financial consequences of an incident taking place, whether this be the loss of specialist machinery, the interruption of having a vehicle off the road or the lost production following an absent injured member of staff.

Insurance goes hand in hand with Risk Management and in some cases is simply common sense e.g. the fitting and use of appropriate locks on exterior doors.

Risk Management can also be sophisticated and may require specialist assistance to set up appropriate systems to help identify and quantify risks and to then decide upon measures to help minimise the exposure.

Property Damage

Risk Management is often considered in terms of Property Insurance, particularly exposure to Fire and Theft. However did you know that the largest cause of Property Damage claims in the UK is water damage ?

Susceptibility to flood and poor maintenance of roofs and guttering (particularly valley gutters), results in the greatest value of Property Damage and Business Interruption claims. The 2007 summer floods have also served a devastating reminder of the extent of damage possible.

Liability Insurance

Most businesses recognise Risk Management in the form of Health & Safety Procedures, undertaking Risk Assessments and writing Method Statements for their own premises, or at contract sites or customers premises, where unknown hazards may present themselves.

In todays society, Risk Management is not only about identifying and minimising the physical risks present, but also about having the systems and documentation to demonstrate that, in the event of an incident, all appropriate steps had been undertaken.

Motor Fleet Insurance

When operating a business fleet of any size, some may consider vehicle accidents to be an inevitable consequence of being on the road.

This may or may not be the case, however a study of a fleet claims experience can help identify accident trends that, with the application of Fleet Risk Management, may help reduce accident frequency and claims costs and over time, improve the Motor Fleet insurance premiums being charged.