<div id="readability-page-1" class="page"><div><p>Learning the hard way is human nature.</p><p>Throughout history, it has taken fires, floods and windstorms to teach companies and people the value of preemptively making themselves less vulnerable to both current and, especially, future hazards. Hard lessons eventually evolved into standard practices like ensuring adequate stormwater drainage or installing fire protection systems. </p><p>Despite such modest progress, people are still prone to learn the hard way. The most prevalent hazard where this occurs is flood. Even after rising sea levels, storm surge and/or erosion damage shoreline properties, the general trend continues to be rebuilding in the same place with minor if any improvements to reduce vulnerability. </p><p>Similar challenges arise following wildfires, which are increasing in number. Eager to return to normal, resolute communities rebuild again with similar vulnerabilities to those that existed before the fires. </p><h2>When risk and insurance are afterthoughts, everyone pays</h2><p>The fundamental challenge here is that development, or redevelopment, occurs with a heavy focus on most cost-effectively meeting the requirements of the owner in the short term. Near or at completion, the need to protect investments, including property and operations from inherent risks, becomes evident. Measures to address those risks over the long term, including the purchase of insurance, most often occur at that time as afterthoughts. </p><p>Repeating patterns of putting value at risk, and failing to exercise forethought during development, has resulted in rising insurance rates and in some cases insurance itself becoming extremely difficult to obtain. Property ownership becomes a financial risk in itself, with protection as an afterthought.</p><h2>How many businesses have disaster plans?</h2><p>Compounding the challenge of value at risk is lack of a plan to respond to or recover from an adverse event. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation sees a “critical gap in disaster preparedness” among America's small and medium-sized businesses: Ninety-four percent of surveyed businesses said they would recover if affected by a disaster, but only 26% had an actual disaster plan in place.</p><p>My colleagues see preparedness gaps, too. In a recent FM survey, risk decision-makers on average estimated that their insurance would cover <em>only hal</em>f of their potential losses due to extreme weather. Only 28% of risk decision-makers said their organizations had fully embedded “risk engineering” in the design and construction of new sites.</p><p>These are serious shortcomings at a time when investors and regulators are pressuring businesses to fully manage weather-related threats, both within and beyond their own operations (i.e., including their supply chains). Property owners need to check their human nature and move loss prevention from afterthought to forethought.</p><h2>How data centers and renewable energy developers manage risk </h2><p>Rather than being an afterthought, risk management should inform site selection, design, engineering, construction and operational decisions of properties before ground ever breaks. Fortunately, we are seeing examples of progress in sectors like data centers and renewables.</p><p>Investors in data centers, though intent on getting facilities built quickly, know it’s extremely important to think ahead and prioritize risk management, including insurance. To protect their enormous investments, they need large insurance limits that cover construction risks (e.g., a crane tipping over), property loss (e.g., the crane landing on trucks), workmanship problems, and scheduling problems (like when a supply chain glitch results in missed deadlines). Insurance must also cover post-occupancy risks like fire and storm damage as well as the high potential value of resulting business interruption.</p><p>Renewable-energy developers are another segment practicing admirable forethought. After a number of large losses, leaders are adopting research-based engineering guidelines and best practices to protect solar panels from hail and wind. The industry is also working hard to prevent loss around battery energy storage systems (BESSes), which are at risk of fire and explosion. In both areas, one can expect new levels of resilience because financers, developers and communities are thinking ahead.</p><h2>Where to find detailed risk engineering guidance — at no cost </h2><p>My team does a few things to help make resilience a forethought. We decided 20 years ago to publish, free of charge, the detailed engineering guidelines we share with our business clients. These loss prevention data sheets – there are hundreds – spell out in great detail the materials, techniques, operational decisions and planning required to prevent loss in a wide range of occupancies. Guidelines cover risks like natural hazards, construction, fire suppression equipment, boilers, machinery, warehouses and the behavior of human operators.</p><p>Any facilities manager or risk manager can use the guidelines to understand, quantify and mitigate their property risks. Industry organizations and governments often adopt these guidelines into third-party standards and local building codes. </p><p>At the global level, another resource we offer at no charge is the FM Resilience Index, a definitive ranking of 130 countries and territories according to the resilience of their business environments. The ranking’s 18 drivers cover a wide range of vulnerabilities, including corruption, greenhouse gas emissions, political risk, water stress, climate risk, fire risk, cyber risk and seismic risk exposure. The index helps companies evaluate new sites for offices, factories, suppliers or new markets. </p><p>Rankings, guidelines, research, engineering and a loss-prevention mindset are essential ingredients for learning the easy way – and for being prepared to stay in business when others unfortunately don’t. By prioritizing forethought, you can leave the hard lessons to your competitors.</p></div></div>

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<p>Businesses often treat risk and insurance as an afterthought, leading to vulnerabilities during disasters. Despite lessons learned from past events like floods and wildfires, many companies lack disaster plans, with only 26% having one in place. This negligence results in rising insurance rates and financial risks. However, sectors like data centers and renewable energy are prioritizing risk management in their operations, adopting best practices to enhance resilience. Resources like free engineering guidelines and the FM Resilience Index are available to help businesses mitigate risks effectively.</p>

Why Businesses Treat Risk And Insurance As An Afterthought