they need someone to provide safety inspections and they come to us for that. Regular inspections ensure that any serious defects are picked up and rectified,” says Moore. Of course, there is more to it than just inspections. The raft of legislation can look
“We seek to achieve balance with our customers, to develop a cost-effective range of solutions”
like an alphabet soup, with HSWA (Health & Safety at work Act); LOLER (Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations); COMAH
Understanding the whole risk – and
(Control of Major Accident Hazards), to name
developing solutions
but three. And a further trap for the unwary
“One of the services we offer is TRP – total risk
is the fact that not all regulations – or all of
profile,” says Moore. “we look at the various
a particular set of regulations – apply to all
types of machinery, at how they fail and what
companies, all the time.
causes them to fail – for example, is it designed for the number of operating cycles it has
“Companies can drift into regulated areas
completed when it fails? Do the operators fully
without realising it,” says Moore. “While
understand how to operate the machinery? What
businesses will know that a large installation is
about maintenance – lack of it can cause failure.”
going to be subject to various regulations, the
Some of these aspects are covered in normal
problem is that organisations grow organically.
management operations but not always in the
Take propane tanks, for example. The number
optimum manner.
and size can just drift up until they reach the point where they become major and that point
“We seek to achieve balance with our customers,
could be reached without anyone realising they
to develop a cost-effective range of solutions,”
have breached the threshold. It could be just an
Moore continues. “It’s not just about inspections
additional one or two per cent in storage capacity
but if something is failing often, then maybe the
that takes you over the line where you need a
inspection regime needs to be more frequent.
raft of additional plans and have to meet many
If we go through TRP we can help to identify
more requirements.”
what the underlying cause is and to understand it – whether it is not being operated properly,
Practical resources
or maybe it isn’t designed for what it is doing,
Zurich has created a range of factsheets to help
in which case the answer may be to get a
businesses to understand their potential risks.
new machine – or it could be to change the
They are distributed to the company’s thousands
material in the tool, for example.” Customers
of customers and are also available online. They
will know they have a problem if they are faced
cover everything from pressure systems, through
with repeated failure but they may be using
lifting equipment, fork lift truck operation and
sledgehammers to crack nuts. Zurich will help
across the whole gamut of operations, activities
with root cause analysis, which can identify
and regulations.
routes to improvement – which could be about procedures, training programmes, operations,
“Most businesses, once they understand the
maintenance or any of a number of reasons.
need, will make the effort,” he continues. “When businesses find they are not complying,
“The objective of TRP is to stop wasting money,”
it’s generally a sin of omission, rather than
he says. “If you understand risks, you can get
deliberate avoidance. They either didn’t realise
to the root cause of problems and develop and
they were covered by particular legislation
define optimum solutions. There may often be
or were unaware of the need for a disaster
more than one solution – it’s like travelling from
recover plan, for example. Our position is one
London to Birmingham; there are a number of
of offering education, in both the legislation
ways of getting there but only one will be the
itself and in the area of ‘gaps’ – where people
fastest, only one will use the least fuel – only one
have not thought through or appreciated the
will be the right one. Our objective is to work
potential consequences.”
with our customers find that optimum solution, whatever it is. We have the expertise and
The ‘gap’ in understanding or knowledge is one
resources to bridge that gap.”
that Zurich seeks to bridge. The factsheets are straightforward and accessible but individual
For more information on engineering
circumstances are exactly that – individual.
inspections, please visit:
The only way to get a complete understanding
www.zurich.co.uk/engineering or contact
of risks in particular workplaces is to look at
your insurance broker to learn more about
it individually.
our range of covers.