Much was said in the previous edition of the Chemical Industry Journal in the way of Industry 4.0 and the Internet of Things.

There is a new tide of technological advancement and as Cisco’s Maciej Kranz pointed out, ‘the most important decision you can make now is how to be a part of it’. Harnessing the power of big data, chemical factories can forecast problems before they occur. Well just in the way that businesses in the chemical industry must adapt to changing trends, so too must the insurance for them. OAMPS Hazardous Industries’ insurance proposition for the chemical industry does not just adapt however, it leads the way.

A commercial combined insurance policy will typically include cover for material damage, business interruption, employer’s liability and public/products liability as standard. Disasters can happen, factories and equipment can be damaged but these events should be covered depending on the cause. The risks associated with handling Chemicals are well known, but can be mitigated by training of staff and adherence to correct procedures. In the event that things do go wrong personal injury as well as property damage may result. The financial costs of this too should be covered. With over 30 years of experience in this sector, OAMPS understands that these standard covers alone are not enough. Under our proposition, chemical companies also enjoy enhanced Professional Indemnity and Product Recall cover, which is all the more appropriate in a landscape of ever changing REACH and COMAH regulations. The Chemical Industries Association found that 80% of companies asked, expect to increase or maintain R&D spending in 2017. Here too we provide cover for R&D activities including the cost of repeating development work after an insured loss.

At OAMPS we understand that businesses in the chemical industry are committed to loss prevention and so we take an interest in their risk management programmes. OAMPS clients are usually offered free risk management surveys by experienced engineers. These ascertain whether the business’ existing risk management procedures are adding the value they intend or whether they are in fact simply adhering to procedures that may themselves be flawed. In this way, we do not just arrange pay out when the loss happens but we provide advice to prevent the loss from happening.

Should the worst happen, chemical businesses can be reassured by the access that they receive to our 24/7 emergency spillage response service – one of the most celebrated features of our offering. Our sister company OHES Environmental provides a 24 hour incident reporting line. Chief Scientific Advisor at OHES, Bill Atkinson, explains what happens when a call is placed to them to report a spillage, ‘The Incident Advisor will answer the call directly on a recorded landline and ascertain the facts of the spill. They will make an assessment of whether the incident requires the intervention of the emergency services or whether another response (e.g. a specialist clean-up) can be effected’.

Bill then discusses a recent incident that OHES were involved in, where ‘a batch of a corrosive and oxidising steriliser product had reacted after some containers were not adequately sealed and allowed rainwater to seep in. The fire service attended and, under our advice, isolated each of the containers in the pallet and placed the worst affected into an overdrum for disposal. We then arranged for a response team to collect and dispose of the rest of the affected batch’.

In over 9,000 incidents handled by OHES, no client has been prosecuted for causing pollution when OHES managed the emergency response. We get to the problem fast and find a solution that works for you. We also model ourselves on being easy to do business with and our in house claims team means we can achieve exactly this. OAMPS customers enjoy continuity in our service from their initial enquiry to the moment the accident arises. Other industries look to the chemical sector to lead the way in embracing change. The sector can do this more easily with the right insurance in place.

Contact us to find out more:

OAMPS Hazardous Industries

Kings Court, 41-51 Kingston Road, Leatherhead, Surrey KT22 7SL

Telephone: 01372 869762

Website: www.OAMPS.co.uk

Email: Ian.Peach@OAMPS.co.uk