Author Archives: Caroline McDonald

About Caroline McDonald

Caroline McDonald is a writer and former senior editor of the Risk Management Monitor and Risk Management magazine.
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Taking Steps to Douse Factory Fire Risks

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The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) reports that property losses at U.S. factories total nearly $1 billion annually. Between 2006-2010, about 42,800 industrial or manufacturing property fires in the utility, defense, agriculture, and mining industries were reported to U.S. fire departments each year, as well as 22 deaths and 300 injuries each year, according to the NFPA.

“Fire is the No. 1 preventable disaster at manufacturing facilities,” Cindy Slubowski, vice president and head of manufacturing at Zurich, said in a statement. “Most fires are preventable, and the risks can be reduced dramatically.”

In recognition of National Fire Prevention Week (Oct. 5-11), Zurich recommends that factory owners implement a pre-fire plan, starting with these steps:

When initial fire prevention efforts fail, automatic sprinklers are an effective secondary line of defense. They not only can protect property from fire damage, but they also play a major role in helping reduce injuries and fatalities. According to the NFPA, sprinklers have a 97% success rate in controlling fires when sprinklers operate during the blaze.

“Sprinklers are a proven method of keeping fires from raging out of control, which gives building occupants a greater chance to evacuate without injury,” Slubowski said. “On top of that, firefighters face fewer risks while working inside the building to completely extinguish the fire.” She added that insurers can help building owners develop a pre-fire plan that fits their particular manufacturing facility.

In its white paper, “Loss Prevention,” Zurich recommends weekly checks for factories including:

•     Visually checking fire protection control valves that are fitted with breakable seals to verify that they are open. Include valves inside ceilings, in pits, and at fire pumps.
•     Starting and running electric fire pumps via pressure drop for at least 10 minutes and diesel fire pumps for at least 30 minutes, exercising both sets of batteries. Verify that the diesel fire pump’s fuel tank is at least two-thirds full.
•     For dry pipe, preaction, and deluge sprinkler systems, check gauges for proper air pressure to verify that the systems have not tripped. Also check their enclosures for adequate heat to prevent freezing.

Common causes and prevention measures:

 

Spencer Gala Raises $1 Million for Education

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NEW YORK — More than $1 million was raised for the Spencer Educational Foundation at its gala dinner yesterday, when over 750 industry executives gathered to celebrate insurance industry education. This year’s dinner at the Waldorf Astoria set records for both attendance and dollars raised, Spencer said.

Proceeds from the event will help pay for scholarships for students and professionals studying risk management and insurance, as well as provide funds for the foundation’s grant programs.

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Since 1979, the foundation has awarded more than $5.3 million in scholarships to undergraduate, graduate, post-graduate students and risk managers and provided more than $2.2 million in grants.

The event also honored John Q. Doyle, CEO of Global Commercial Insurance for AIG (below left), and Warren J. Mula, CEO of Aon Broking for Aon Risk Solutions (below right), for their contributions to the insurance profession.

“The impressive numbers that we have generated this evening speaks to the incredible generosity of this industry,” Mula said during his remarks.

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“The many insurance companies and brokers, agents and clients that are assembled here today celebrate this special industry of ours.”

He continued, “Clearly the world today is more complex in many ways and much more fragmented than it was when my grandfather began his career. Obstacles to achieving business objectives and seizing opportunities for growth are more complex. To empower economic possibility requires everyone to be smart, agile and involved around the topic of risk. This is the tremendous responsibility we have in our industry. The bar has indeed risen as the magnitude, speed and complexity of risk increases.”

Mula said that the job of risk managers is to minimize risk in order to help organizations take risk. He added that attracting and retaining talent for the industry has become increasingly difficult.

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“Brilliant minds are needed to create technology to deal with the incredible amounts of data that we are all confronted with daily,” he said.

Doyle noted that the industry is all about people and trust and he pointed out that a wide variety of skills and talent are needed for the industry to flourish.

Spencer Educational Foundation Chairman Brion Callori said in a statement,  “We are very appreciative of all the support that the industry continues to provide the Spencer Educational Foundation which allows us to fulfill the educational and professional goals of the next generation of industry leaders. We look forward to another 35 years of delivering exceptional opportunities through our scholarship and grant programs that directly benefit the entire industry.”

In addition to the honoring Mula and Doyle, the gala also featured remarks by:

• St. John’s University senior and this year’s Spencer Scholar, Bailey Noone, who shared her story of how the Spencer Educational Foundation has impacted her life.

• St. Francis College’s Academic Dean, Allen Burdowski, who spoke about the foundation’s $50,000 grant that has helped fund the development of the school’s risk management and insurance curriculum.

• Debra Rodgers, senior vice president of global risk management for Aramark, who spoke of her participation in the internship program and how the grant she receives from the foundation allows her to secure resources to train  future risk management leaders.

EPA, DuPont Reach Settlement Over Pesticide Violations

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Failure to register and label a pesticide with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has netted a penalty of $1.85 million for DuPont, the EPA announced today.

DuPont did not submit reports about the potential adverse effects of an herbicide product called Imprelis, introduced in 2010, the EPA said in a statement. The agency alleges that from October 2010 through June 2011, DuPont distributed or sold Imprelis on 320 occasions with labeling that did not include adequate directions for use, warnings or caution statements to protect non-target plants.

The product was available in 4.5 fl. oz., 1 gallon and 2.5 gallon size containers, and was primarily sold to pest control professionals servicing the lawn, golf, turf and weed control sectors from New Jersey to Wisconsin, the EPA said. Customers who applied the product found that it led to damage and death of some types of coniferous trees, including Norway spruce and white pine.

In June 2011, the EPA started to get complaints from state pesticide agencies regarding evergreen damage related to use of Imprelis. According to the EPA, DuPont reported it received more than 7,000 claims of death or damage to trees. Cases of tree damage and death were widespread in the Midwest, especially Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio and Wisconsin. Indiana investigated more than 400 cases of tree damage related to Imprelis in 2011, the EPA said.

The agency added that media reports put claims as high as 30,000 by homeowners, landscapers, golf courses and entities with crop damage from the use of the herbicide.

DuPont stopped selling the product in August 2011 and in 2013, the Wilmington, Delaware-based company reached a settlement with representative plaintiffs in a class action lawsuit in federal court in Pennsylvania.

Reuters reported that under the settlement agreement, DuPont will pay property owners to remove and replace damaged trees and other losses. Businesses that applied the herbicide to the property of others will also be compensated for customer site visits and other expenses.

The settlement provides up to $7 million in attorney’s fees and also costs for plaintiffs’ lawyers, Reuters said.

According to the EPA:

Pesticide registrants such as DuPont who violate FIFRA are subject to maximum civil penalty of $7,500 for each offense per FIFRA section 14(a)(1), as amended. In determining an appropriate civil penalty amount, FIFRA section 14(a)(4) requires that EPA consider the appropriateness of such penalty to the size of the violator’s business, the effect of the penalty on the violator’s ability to continue in business, and the gravity of the violation.

 

Worst Insurance Scam Artists

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From robbing their own store, to faked deaths, to slip-and-fall claims, to more gruesome crimes, scammers have gone to great lengths to collect insurance.

In the U.S. this amounts to about $40 billion per year, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation—at a cost of $400 to $700 per year, per family, in increased premiums.

According to the U.S. Department of Financial Services, there were 377 arrests made for fraud in 2011; 356 in 2012 and the number dropped to 215 arrests in 2013.

Check out some of the more devious and intricate schemes here:

Graphic by Eamonn Freeman http://www.easylifecover.ie/