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News - April 2007
The Importance of Being Global, Thinking Local in Loss Prevention
Managing loss prevention improvement projects for clients with facilities worldwide is a service GRC consultants take great care in providing and pride in delivering. This important service helps our clients maintain and construct buildings and processes that are adequately protected without requiring costly revisions after the fact.
A case in point: A GRC account engineer received a frantic call from a risk manager whose company was building a new manufacturing facility in China. The urgency of the call revolved around the fact that construction had ceased because of a major conflict involving the fire protection systems.
After investigating and clarifying the problem, the GRC engineer determined the cause of the conflict: Although local management had tried to meet both the local code and the insurance company?s requirements, neither was satisfied. The Chinese Fire Marshal insisted on utilizing locally-manufactured fire pumps and other equipment, while the insurance company demanded FM-approved equipment. Neither party was willing to negotiate. In an effort to end the impasse and satisfy competing requirements, the local project manager had suggested parallel fire protection systems, including two sets of fire pumps, two fire water tanks and two separate underground main systems. Obviously, this duplicate design would make the project over-budget, so it was not a feasible solution. Something had to be done so all parties would be satisfied, and the project could commence.
The effort began with local management offering to install a sprinkler system as a substitute for the Fire Marshal?s requirement for a fire hydrant system. This was rejected. Adding to the conflict of local versus insurance carrier requirements, the sprinklers recommended by the insurance company were desirable for safety, but not mandated by local codes. As a result, the decision was made by local management to eliminate them, much to the chagrin of the risk manager. That?s when the frantic call was made to GRC.
To promptly resolve these issues, the local GRC engineer immediately arranged to meet with the Fire Marshal and project management team to determine what could be done to avoid this dramatic reduction in protection and delay in construction. Knowing the local codes and cultural sensitivities, the GRC engineer suggested that the two fire protection systems be combined. One ?FM-approved? fire pump would be installed alongside a locally-manufactured pump acceptable to the Fire Marshal. One underground loop would supply both the fire hydrants and sprinkler systems. This simple solution resulted in cost savings of over $250,000 and helped bring the construction project back within budget and on schedule.
An independent consultant with knowledge of local codes, languages, cultures and customs is just one of many advantages of having GRC as your loss control partner. Our global network of property loss control consultants work for you by combining experience, knowledge and innovative ideas to solve problems.
For additional information on this story and how it may relate to you, please contact Jerry Basta at gerald.basta@globalriskconsultants.com.
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