Increasingly insurers are concerned about the risks they insure and require a risk analysis to be conducted. Before a system can be designed or a system proposal put together and a specification drawn up, a risk analysis will be required.
The risk analysis will form the basis of the systems proposal because based on this information the best system design with adequate detection can be offered to the client.
I know from experience that many surveyors omit the risk analysis and go directly in to the system design.
Although surveyors who do this are subconsciously conducting a risk analysis, it's often not sufficient. The risks associated with premises will, of course, change over time but the initial analysis will form a start point and, as the risk changes, a client can be offered solutions to meet those changes.
A risk analysis should consider all the possible risks at the premises. There is no one particular method for conducting a risk analysis but what you have to ensure is that all the risks are considered and the system designed is suitable to protect that risk.
The most common method of conducting a risk analysis is the to use the ABC of risk. This can sometimes include P, therefore the ABCP risk factor. (A, the area, B, the boundary, C, the contents and P, people).
We can't cover all the possible issues on risk analysis in this small article but here are the types of issues you should think about when carrying out a risk analysis.
Cost is always a nightmare when competing with other companies ... but what is the cost of not providing adequate protection?
The four basic stages
There are four basic stages in risk assessment, which you will need to consider:
1. The overall risk
2. The grade/level of system
3. Costs
4. Customer /insurer requirements
We will come back to identifying the overall risk and how to achieve this later. Evaluating the grade/level will now be significant because the new European Standards have a grading system and, based on the risk evaluated, a grade of system is associated. The level of risk is clearly based on the grade of the system.
This is fundamental since once a grade of system is determined it dictates what the system will consist of.
Considering the costs is always a surveyor's worst nightmare when competing with other companies. But it's worth saying here that you should consider the cost of NOT providing adequate detection and a suitable system design to meet the needs.
It's always useful to have the input of the client and insurer if the insurer is involved. They will be able to explain their requirements and expectations of the system and provide detailed information, which cannot always be observed on an initial survey.
Evaluating the risk needs to be structured, thorough, systematic and methodical. Risk analysis based on the ABC(P) of risk should consider:
A (area):
What type of area is it? Rural? Inner city? Industrial? The location of the premises will be significant and particularly its history in terms of previous thefts and current statistics on crime rates.
Consideration of the access to the premises is also important in terms of roads, motor ways and rail networks, which provide easy access for burglary to take place.
B (boundaries):
The boundaries surrounding premises are an important consideration. You will need to decide if the boundary wall, fence is adequate and, if the premises dose not have a boundary wall or fence, should it have one?
If it does have a boundary installed is it adequate, in good repair, clear of scaling aids? Does it have adequate external lighting? If it doesn't have external lighting, is it required? Are the external facades of the building secure and in good repair, (doors, locks, windows, etc?) What aids are there to assist potential intruders, (ladders, drain pipes, stacked pallets, trees, vehicles etc) which will allow access to the building?
C (contents):
The contents of a building is significant ... As an example these are insurers' risk evaluations:
Extreme high risk: Cameras, baby wear, computers.
Very high risks: DIY stores, cycles, opticians.
High risk: Footwear, musical instruments.
The location of premises will be significant, particularly its history in terms of previous thefts and current crime statistics
This is just a flavour to put things in perspective measured against what you may be surveying and what you may consider at this point to be low and high risk. Consideration for contents once you know what they are will be:
a) where are they kept?
b) how attractive are they?
Fire, theft, health & safety
The type of risks you are surveying may be more than simply preventing burglary. You may also consider in your evaluation the risks of, fire, theft, health and safety, breeches of confidentiality, flood and vandalism.
Once the risk analysis has been determined the system proposal and system specification can be designed.
Where insurers are involved they are very keen to have a summary of the risk analysis conducted together with a system specification which is clear stating:
1. Conventional or confirmed alarm system
2. Type of confirmation and configuration
3. Clear list of equipment
4. Type of signalling (single channel, dual path)
5. Method of unsetting.
Based on this information the insurer will be able to determine, in most cases, the possible level of risk; whether or not the system provides adequate responses and early detection and whether it will either deter or minimise the loss insured.
The SSAIB are currently staging a series of courses around the UK for people involved in conducting risk analysis. The course is designed to provide individuals with the skills required to conduct a structured risk analysis.
The course is five hours in duration and has presentations from the industry perspective and contributions from the insurers and BT RedCARE.
(The SSAIB – Security Systems and Alarms Inspection Board – is based at 131 Bedford Street, North Shields, Tyne & Wear, NE29 6LA. Tel 0191 296 3242 or website: www.ssaib.co.uk).
Source
Security Installer
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