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National Pre-Disaster Standards Called For

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Establishing state and local building codes would insure resilient construction and stop the cycle of spending to rebuild after disasters such as hurricanes, according to the Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety (IBHS). The organization said it supports the Building codes4BuildStrong Coalition’s National Mitigation Investment Strategy, which calls for a comprehensive federal plan to improve disaster resilience across the U.S.

The plan focuses on investment in pre-disaster funding using unspent, non-FEMA grant program funds to reduce damage caused by natural disasters—funds that were established in the wake of Hurricane Sandy, IBHS said.

“We can’t keep doing things the same way, with lives and communities being destroyed over and over again by disasters, year after year,” said Julie Rochman, IBHS president and CEO said in a statement. “The National Mitigation Investment Strategy will help break this cycle of destruction.”

Building codes3

The Strategy recommends:

  • establishing a new FEMA-administered resilient construction state and local building code grant program to help qualified states defray cost of enforcing building codes
  • increasing FEMA funding for pre-disaster mitigation activities by $100 million per year from fiscal years 2016 to 2020
  • passing new congressional initiatives to create resilient construction incentives for states, builders, and individual homeowners

Building codes2

According to the BuildStrong Coalition:

The reality of the nation’s current disaster policy is this: costs associated with natural disasters in the United States continue to rise, and the federal government is absorbing more and more of the costs as sympathy for victims often creates a political expediency for billions in off-budget, unaccountable federal spending that is allocated for cleanup and recovery. The result is an endless cycle of destruction where cities are rebuilt only to be devastated again by the next big storm. A new approach to federal disaster policy is needed.

The report looks into why more needs to be done before a disaster and describes ways to target more resources to building codes. Doing so through a new national disaster policy focused on pre-disaster mitigation will benefit homeowners and building owners that are of the most immediate concern post-storm.

 

Company Growth and Compliance Challenge Risk Managers

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Risk management is maturing and is playing a larger role in insurance companies, both strategically and with their compliance objectives.

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As a result, the key task for chief risk officers is to help their company achieve balance between upstream and downstream activities, according to Accenture’s 2015 Global Risk Management Study of risk management in the insurance sector.

“Neither an unfettered approach to growth, nor an excessive focus on compliance, will deliver the desired outcomes.

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Instead, the risk function should steer a course between an informed, connected risk agenda, and the need for a sustainable and innovative strategic business direction,” the survey found.

While organizations mostly agree that risk management has helped their long-term business growth (85%), a large number believe that silos of business functions are hindering the effectiveness of their risk management programs.

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According to the report, because of the continuing low interest rate environment, which creates pressure on margins and returns, insurers are looking into other areas for growth, making it “increasingly urgent for the risk function to become more engaged in the evolution and reinvention of the business in order to anticipate and steer clear of competitive threats.”

To do this, respondents to the study are:

  • Working to understand what the new environment implies for both the risk management function and the business – and whether CROs and their teams currently have what they need to meet the requirements
  • Seeking to identify areas where there is a gap to be closed, with priorities that include:
    • Getting to grips with digital
    • Strengthening data and analytics capabilities
    • Developing operational risk management in a more systematic way to turn it into an enabler of sustainable, profitable growth
    • Ramping up the focus on recruitment and retention
    • Building a more consistent risk culture at all corporate levels.

The study also found that digital is playing an important role in growth:

Accenture-Global-RM-2015-InfoGra

Great ShakeOut Brings Awareness to Earthquake Dangers

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New research into earthquake activity in the United States has revealed that nearly half of all Americans are at risk of potential ground shaking from earthquakes. This is almost twice the previous estimate of 75 million, according to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS).

“The new exposure estimate is nearly double the previous 2006 estimate of 75 million Americans in 39 states, and is attributed to both population growth and advances in science,” William Leith, USGS senior science advisor for earthquake and geologic hazards and co-author of the study said in a statement. “Populations have grown significantly in areas prone to earthquakes, and USGS scientists have improved data and methodologies that allow for more accurate estimates of earthquake hazards and ground shaking.

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ShakeOut

To bring awareness to this potential danger, a number of organizations worldwide are participating today in the Great ShakeOut, which encourages individuals and organizations to develop contingency plans and practice earthquake drills.

During the drill, participants practice “drop, cover, and hold on,” the recommended safety action to take during an earthquake.

ShakeOut 1

Take cover under a sturdy desk or table, and hold on to it securely. If there is not a desk or table nearby, drop to the floor against an interior wall, then protect your head and neck with your arms.

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Avoid exterior walls, windows, hanging objects, mirrors, tall furniture, large appliances, and kitchen cabinets filled with heavy objects or glass.

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While on the ground, look around and see what objects could fall during a potential earthquake, and make sure to secure or move those items after the drill.

The Great ShakeOut recommends that organizations:

Meet with department heads to review plan and obtain their buy-in, if necessary, and determine what level of drill your organization will conduct and who will participate. Consider drilling at a higher level to engage staff to be more effective during a disaster. (Drill manuals are available in ShakeOut regional website in the Resources section)

  • Level 1 – Simple: Drop, Cover and Hold On
  • Level 2 – Basic: Life Safety Drill
  • Level 3 – Intermediate: Decision-Making Drill
  • Level 4 – Advanced: Business Operations Drill

Create a drill/exercise plan that includes an overview of what your drill will consist of (even if just drop, cover and hold on), what you expect to happen during the drill, and a feedback session after the drill to identify strengths and weaknesses

  • Inform employees/staff participants of date and time of drill, your expectations for their participation, and the benefits of the drill
  • Encourage suppliers, vendors, contractors, partnering organizations, and others in your network to participate – as a means of protecting your organization – and share ShakeOut resources with them. (Consider other tasks that can protect your organization and supply chain, such as having service agreements in place to ensure that the services or products you rely on will be available after disaster)

Create an employee awareness campaign:

  • Post ShakeOut banners and signs throughout your organization to encourage and remind employees, vendors, and customer to participate
  • Initiate an email campaign to employees, staff, and customers with information and tips on how to prepare at home and work
  • Encourage employees to post a ShakeOut-related safety message on their outgoing email messages.

Review and use materials in the Resources section of your regional ShakeOut website:

• Drill broadcast audio/video recordings

• Earthquake safety recommendations for people with disabilities, for people in stores, etc.

• Custom flyers for many organization types

Hold a drill on ShakeOut day (or an alternative date)

  • Have post-drill discussions to hear what people learned and plan next steps.

Still Time for Last Minute Hurricane Preparations

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Hurricane Joaquin is threatening to hammer the East Coast this weekend. Joaquin reached Category 3 status late Wednesday and is expected to strengthen to a Category 4 on Thursday. Even if the storm veers from the East Coast, it is still expected to bring strong winds, pounding surf, heavy rain and flash flooding.

Joaquin track

While it may be late to start contingency planning, there is still plenty that can be done to minimize damage to property. For example, rooftops can be checked and needed repairs made, and fuel tanks and generators can be readied.

Zurich offers these tips for protecting commercial property. They are broken down into “easy actions” 48 hours from landfall and “tough actions”  36 hours from landfall.

Zurich preparation

Easy actions – 48 hours from landfall

About two days before a hurricane is expected to affect your location, begin implementing the easy actions. Easy actions include:

  • Review the hurricane emergency action plan with all involved personnel
  • Check building roofs. Make repairs to coverings and flashing as time allows
  • Remove all loose items from the roof, secure equipment doors and covers, and remove debris
  • Verify roof drains are clear of trash and other obstructions
  • Fill fuel tanks serving emergency generators and other vital services

Verify dewatering pumps are in service and working.

  • Verify outside storm drains and catch basins are clean
  • Remove debris from outdoor areas that may become “missiles”
  • Remove loose, outdoor, inactive equipment
  • Back up computer data
  • For healthcare, verify 96 hours of supplies are on hand
  • For manufacturing:
    • Ship out as much stock as possible
    • Verify all stock is skidded at least 4 inches above the floor
  • For new construction projects:
    • Remove loose equipment
    • Secure and protect material storage
    • Temporarily brace new construction
    • Secure roofing and items on the roof
  • For heavy industry (chemical and petrochemical):
    • Inventory tanks and vessels with enough material to secure them against the forces of buoyancy should they be exposed to flooding, surface water runoff or storm surge.
    • Maintain contact with suppliers of pipeline delivered materials. Those suppliers may also be making shutdown preparations.
    • Verify you will have the necessary supplies to safely shut down your process. This is especially important for processes such as olefins units, which take several days to bring down. Natural gas and oxygen are just two pipeline supplied materials to consider.
    • Verify compressed air supplies needed for control purposes.
    • Remove any accumulated rain water from storage tank spill containment areas.
    • Allow time for Emergency Response Team members who will remain on site to go home and take care of their personal needs. Based upon your specific needs, add to the list of easy actions, as these are just general concepts and every facility has its own requirements.

Tough actions – 36 hours from landfall

At 36 hours before anticipated landfall, time will be limited. Make sure you will have the staff needed to complete all of the tough actions, and leave plenty of time to evacuate personnel who will not be remaining on site (reference jurisdiction and/or authority’s announcements and requirements). The tough actions may include:

  • Protecting or relocating vital business records
  • Removing all loose outdoor storage or equipment
  • Anchoring portable buildings or trailers to the ground
  • Securing outdoor storage or equipment that cannot be moved
  • Installing manual protection systems (such as shutters, plywood covers and flood gates)
  • Raising critical equipment off floors (such as PC towers)
  • Moving critical equipment from basement and other below-ground areas
  • Covering critical stock and equipment with waterproof tarpaulins
  • Initiating an orderly shutdown of production equipment and systems that rely upon normal power
  • Turning off fuel gas services
  • Turning off non-essential electrical systems
  • Verifying all fire protection systems are in service (such as water supplies, fire pumps, sprinklers, fire alarms and special extinguishing systems)
  • For manufacturing:
    • Stopping incoming shipments of raw materials that will be exposed to damage
  • For heavy industry (chemical and petrochemical):
    • Removing and securing cable tray covers and controlling wiring radiant barriers. These are features that frequently become wind-borne debris when exposed to high winds.
    • Removing or securing scaffolding

Add to the list based upon your specific needs.

Tough-tough actions

There can be a few tough actions that take so long to complete they need to be started during the easy action period. Exceptional discipline will be required to make the decision to implement these very tough actions. These actions may include:

  • Setting up flood barriers at all first floor doors and entrances
  • Temporarily closing up buildings under construction to avoid entry of wind-driven rain
  • Installing manual shutters on multi-story buildings
  • For manufacturing, shutting down processes that will be exposed to damage
  • For heavy industry (chemical and petrochemical), shutting down processes that take several days to bring to a safe shutdown (such as olefins units)

It is absolutely essential to recognize when you have a tough-tough action. The overall plan must recognize their existence. And, the needed guidance and authority must be provided to those who will be charged with making the decision.