The typical motivation for many companies to invest in a robust property conservation program is their goal to attain “Highly Protected Risk” status that allows them to receive less expensive property insurance rates due to their lower risk profile.
Beyond this cost-saving benefit, having an effective property conservation program makes good business sense because the framework of the property conservation program drives consistency, and weaves loss prevention strategies into the culture of a company until it permeates every decision that is made.
An effective property conservation program utilizes a multidisciplinary approach in which Human Element (management) Controls, Engineering (physical) Controls, and Risk Management Techniques are employed to reduce the frequency or severity of loss. Establishing and maintaining an effective property conservation program can seem like a daunting task, but breaking the task into smaller steps can make the process more manageable. Here are a few considerations to get you started:
Human Element (management) Controls include the following:
- Impairment handling
- Smoking Controls
- Hot work Program
- Preventive Maintenance
- Pre-emergency planning
- Disaster recovery planning
- Business continuity planning
- Employee training
- Site security/surveillance
- Housekeeping
- New construction/renovation controls (including proper site selection)
- Hazard identification and evaluation
- Management of contractors
- Management of change
- Recommendation responsiveness / resolution
Engineering (physical) Controls include the following:
1. Adequate protection and controls against common hazards which include hazards that exist from the presence and use of:
- HVAC
- Plumbing (water damage)
- Electrical
- Jurisdictional objects (boilers and other pressure vessels)
- Other critical equipment for a building
2. Adequate protection and controls against special/storage fire hazards such as:
- Aerosols
- Cold storage
- Flammable liquids
- Hanging garment storage
- Idle pallet storage
- Synthetic non-woven materials
- Carpet rolls
- Roll paper
- Rubber tire storage
- Automatic storage and retrieval systems (ASRS)
- Carousel storage
- Conveyor systems
- Rack storage
- High-intensity discharge (HID) lights
- Lift trucks
- High-volume low-speed (HVLS) fans
- Combustible dust
- Flammable and Combustible liquids (ignitable liquids)
- Combustible metals
- Commercial cooking exposures
- Industrial cooking exposures
- Dip and coating tanks
- Electroplating
- Fuel dispensing
- Gases
- Hydraulic fluids
- Intermediate bulk containers (IBC’s)
- Process ovens/furnaces
- Refrigeration (ammonia)
- Spray paint/powder coating operations
- Welding/hot work
- Woodworking
3. Adequate protection and controls against natural catastrophe hazards that pose a risk to a given facility such as:
- Flood
- Hail
- Tornadoes
- Hurricanes
- Wind Storm
- Brush Fire
- Earthquake
- Lightning
- Landslide/subsidence/sink hole
- Freezing
- Volcanism
Risk Management Techniques include the following strategies to manage the risk of loss, with the goal to achieve the lowest total cost of risk.
- Risk Transfer (insurance)
- Risk Financing (captives)
- Risk Control (mitigation)
- Risk Avoidance
Those are just some of the pieces of the puzzle that make up a robust property conservation program. It may take some time to get there, but the path is clear when you follow the steps in the process one-by-one.
Again, we know that establishing and maintaining an effective property conservation program can seem like a daunting task, but help is out there! The expert fire protection engineers at Harrington Group are just a click away. Fill out the contact form below, and we will contact you today![gravityform id=”1″ name=”Contact Us”]