While there is a bit of a pause in the construction development activity these days, there is some recent news out of New York and Texas regarding crane safety.

General Liability insurance covers various parties, and this includes named insureds and additional insureds. As risk managers, many people ask us about the difference between additional insureds and named insureds and how it affects them, which we highlight in this blog.

What is a Named Insured?

In a liability insurance policy, the named insured is the policyholder covered under the policy. The policyholder is covered for their legal liability that results in damages as a result of an occurrence. Many liability policies issued to a businesses will cover one named insured, usually, the corporation itself, but there is an opportunity to cover other related entities the insured would like and extend the coverage.

As May is Mental Health Awareness Month, we wanted to raise awareness of a cause that while is a very significant issue, has not been brought to the forefront when speaking about either mental health or human capital risks. 

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention construction occupation has the highest rate of suicide across all careers.

Senior leadership of an organization, which incorporates strategic risk management into their business plan, knows that having a wellness plan in place for their employees is essential. Implementing a robust wellness plan in the workplace encourages healthy activities among employees and puts the emphasis on safety which, in turn, will lead to healthier, happier and more productive employees.

Every significant construction project needs a Builders Risk policy.

Sounds simple enough, but the process of procuring the correct Builders Risk policy starts with an understanding of the project costs, construction timeline, and imagining potential claim scenarios. When an insured purchases an insurance policy, there is an expectation if a loss occurs; the insurance company will make the insured whole again.  This only happens when a Builders Risk policy is designed correctly.  The key to policy design is understanding and identifying the values at risk and how those values align with the actual insurance policy definitions.

Site Security

Protecting a Project’s assets is at the top of the list for most Developers and Lenders these days. Whether it be finances, property, or business, setting up some type of a security blanket for your project assets always adds additional comfort to the certainty of the project and desired outcomes. Most of the time these everyday risks can be covered through insurance; but what do you do when you are faced with protecting a growing (maturing) asset?

The construction industry is changing rapidly and more and more projects are relying on emerging technologies for management and completion. There are now major cyber related concerns regarding “smart” equipment such as cranes and drones and SAAS/IAAS systems used for project planning and management. ‘Connected’ systems utilized by third-parties (general contractors and subcontractors) to share and centralize sensitive data may also expose a project to cyber risks.

3.5 million workplaces celebrate Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day in the United States, is yours one of them?

Take a casual stroll in Manhattan and you can't help but notice that construction is booming. Cranes, scaffolding, and sidewalk sheds are everywhere. And this isn’t just a New York City phenomenon. Ground-up construction and renovation projects are picking up all across the country. Low interest rates and favorable building conditions are resulting in a surge in real estate & development projects.

A case in point is the super sleek and very expensive Millennium Towers building in San Francisco. According to reports from independent consultants, the 58 story building has sunk about 16 inches and tilts about two inches to the Northwest. Settling is a natural process in any construction project and architects and engineers build that into their model; however, 16 inches since 2008 is a cause for concern. And, the sinking isn’t over. According to the August 9th article in Curbed San Francisco, the building is predicted to drop an additional eight to 15 inches into the ground.

Have you protected your worksite from Rattata yet? How about Pidgey or Staryu?

Who? They’re just a few characters from Pokémon Go, the augmented reality game craze that’s got people showing up at PokéStops in all sorts of random places, hoping to track down Pokémon characters on their mobile devices. With more than 30 million users (more than 20 million registered users in the US alone), the game takes players out into real world locations, including retail stores, office buildings, train stations and even construction sites.