The Most Difficult Risk To Manage In Construction
In the construction world, risk is everywhere. Our job is to help protect our clients from risk that is seen and unseen, and we have become proficient at that over the years. But with every client, there always has to be liability insurance in place to protect against things that cannot be foreseen. When you hire a new employee, it is up to you to make sure the employee is qualified. When you set up a new work site, it is up to you to make sure the site is secured. But no matter how much vetting or security checking you do, there are some risks that become extremely difficult to manage.
Medical Issues
A sudden heart attack that strikes a crane operator as they are moving a heavy piece of machinery can become a disaster for any construction company. To help prevent these kinds of issues, most construction companies require annual physicals for their employees. But those physicals cannot prevent the sudden types of medical issues that can turn into significant risk problems.
When an unexpected medical event occurs, we make sure there are measures in place to protect the company and help the employee. But the magnitude of the financial stress an unforeseen medical event can cause is something no one can predict.
Employee Conduct
Construction companies have some of the most comprehensive vetting procedures in the business world, but that still cannot prevent a distraught employee from causing serious issues on a work site. It is impossible to predict when good employees may turn into liabilities, and it can happen to even the most reliable employee with years of experience.
The vetting process for employees includes tests for almost every conceivable contingency, but sudden events are impossible to predict. A normally stable employee could get docked pay in a manner they see as unfair and decide to take it out on the work site. It happens regularly, and it is a risk that is impossible to predict.
The Weather
It is always surprising to us how many of our construction clients do not understand the importance of protecting against unexpected weather events. Strong winds or intense rains can cause project delays, damage equipment, and even set a project back a few weeks.
The weather is becoming more and more predictable, but it is also becoming more intense. Strong rain storms and heavy blizzards seem to be annual events that can strike quickly. There are risk mitigation measures that can be put in place to protect against unexpected weather events, but prolonged weather issues could become unforeseen problems that the company may not be able to endure.
The Outside World
No matter what a construction company does to try and secure a job site, elements from outside of the job site remain a threat. From something as basic as a car crashing into a crane to something as unlikely as a plane crashing into a skyscraper under construction, planning for risk that comes from literally every source available outside of the job site is a big task.
It is bad enough that a construction company has to deal with all of the seen and expected risks that come with their business, but it becomes even more challenging when those hidden risks start to occur. The most difficult risk to manage in the construction world is risk you don’t see coming, and that is why you need to rely on our experienced experts to make sure that your company is covered at all times.