ACE UK Launches Retail Sector Risk Management ‘Self Assessment Tool’

ACE UK has launched a self assessment tool for its clients in the retail sector to enable them to gather detailed risk information from multiple sites and to compare these against best practice benchmarks for a range of exposures.

ACE said its ACE Global Engineering Network (AGEN) developed the AAA Self Assessment Tool “for retailers with a number of different locations, such as supermarkets, DIY stores and electronics and white goods retailers. It is ideal for retail chains comprising just a few locations through to much larger enterprises with significant numbers of outlets.

“Its aim is to help risk managers, or those responsible for insurance programs, to obtain risk information across different categories of exposure including management controls, security, fire protection, special hazards, employers and public liability.”

The bulletin noted that the online tool also “enables a retailer’s individual local shops to provide information on aspects of the company’s operating procedures and loss prevention programs by utilizing a simple questionnaire via a dedicated website. Risk managers will then be able to access consolidated information or drill down to an individual location’s data, allowing an assessment of each location’s compliance with the company’s risk management procedures. This can then facilitate the implementation of a program of risk improvement if necessary.

“Ratings are provided for the exposure category areas using ‘A’, ‘AA’ & ‘AAA’ to demonstrate the retailers level of performance against each category of risk assessment.”

Paul Brooke, Supervising Engineer at AGEN added: “Our considerable expertise in the retail sector has given us unique insight into its standards of risk management. One specific trend we have observed is a consistent failure for some property risks to meet best industry practice. The AAA Self Assessment Tool will help risk managers to tackle this issue head-on by making the identification of exposures and the pinpointing of deficiencies easier.”

In addition to the AAA Self Assessment Tool, AGEN has published a retail industry fact sheet which provides an in-depth analysis of property risk management issues. The fact sheet includes an overview of special hazards associated with the sector, industry trends, loss information and property loss prevention recommendations. It also includes a benchmarking chart showing the industry average rating for each of 21 categories typically reviewed during an AGEN survey.

The newly created tool follows ACE’s launch in May of a “comprehensive insurance product providing cover for traditional risks and also new and emerging exposures such as environmental liability and data and network security failure.”

Pat Drinan, Director of Corporate Risk commented: “We have been delighted with the success of ACE Retail since launch and the AAA tool further enhances our position as the leading insurer specializing in risks faced by large to medium companies in this sector.”

Source: ACE UK

Topics Risk Management