Scheme Helps Ease Insurance Cover Problems

Many companies in the coatings industry have been faced with substantially increased demands from their insurers, including higher premiums and, sometimes, even refusals to provide cover.

Many companies in the coatings industry have been faced with substantially increased demands from their insurers, including higher premiums and, sometimes, even refusals to provide cover.

According to the British Coatings Federation (BCF) the coatings industry has traditionally been seen by insurers as presenting a high level of risk despite its good overall safety record.

However, companies who sign up to the Coatings Care programme are perceived as being committed to high operating standards and to having a positive approach to risk management, said the BCF.

Coatings Care is a worldwide umbrella programme for the printing ink manufacturing industry, developed to improve its environmental, safety, health, distribution and product stewardship performance.

In the UK, the Coatings Care programme is led by the BCF, which helps companies take a pro-active approach to pursuing those goals, whilst at the same time demonstrating the industry's commitment to contributing to a sustainable environment, said the organisation.

The attraction to insurers of Coatings Care is that it is based on an umbrella approach that can encompass most existing and proposed standards.

By using Coatings Care as the starting point, it is possible to link health, safety and environment with other disciplines, such as transport and product stewardship, added BCF.

The organisation said that approach is now being recommended to insurance companies by their own trade association.

The Association of British Insurers (ABI) has launched an initiative, called 'making the market work', which gives guidance on best practices and also assesses the level of acceptability of risk-based auditing schemes that are promoted by Sector Trade Associations.

All ABI members who write employers liability insurance are said to support the scheme.

Over 30 such auditing programmes were examined by an ABI panel, of which only seven, including Coatings Care, were deemed to be acceptable.

A BCF guidance document is drawn from members' practical experiences when negotiating with insurers and underwriters and provides guidance on the content of insurance submissions, covering topics including management systems, risk management, quality management, inspections and disaster recovery programmes, said the organisation.

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