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What causes equipment to fail? Here are some examples: Power surges and electrical exposures Air conditioning or heat related equipment, such as boilers  Technology Solar panels, wind turbines and other alternative energy sources Mechanical breakdown of your production equipment such as CNC machines - which can also occur from a power surge  How can you prevent equipment breakdown in your manufacturing business?  The best way to start is by formalizing your preventive maintenance program.

The manufacturing industry is booming, adding 29,000 jobs in just one month. But as we've seen insuring thousands of manufacturing operations, with the good comes the bad. Risk is a normal part of the manufacturing industry. People working in manufacturing might face dangers every single day. Safety and risk management should always be top of mind so that both you and your company are protected. From importing risk to dust exposure, risk management is vital to your company's bottom line. It's

Crop protection technology such as pesticides, herbicides, insecticides and fungicides prevent thousands of harmful insects, diseases, and weeds from damaging crops. Fertilizers such as phosphorus, potassium, urea, and lime also help increase crop yields by replacing nutrients. All of these different agricultural chemicals are essential to farming. While agricultural chemicals provide a lot of benefits, there are also some serious consequences if they are not properly handled. It is very

There are many challenges that restaurant owners face after a natural disaster. Damage equipment, unsafe building conditions and damaged or spoiled food can make reopening the doors to your establishment very difficult. Here are some best practices to use before you start serving dishes to hungry customers again.  With food products: Discard all food and packaging materials that have been in contact with flood water. An exception would be if the food is sealed in a hermetically sealed

f you have experience with any part of the manufacturing industry, you know that keeping the workers healthy and safe is not just the right thing to do - it's critical to staying productive. We've spent a lot of time looking at the conditions that lead to unhealthy or even dangerous situations for workers in manufacturing operations. In the insurance business, this is what we do - identify risk and how to mitigate and manage through it to keep businesses, well, in business. Three areas here -

When it comes to restaurant associations, it all started with eggs. Eggs, you ask? The price of eggs, in fact. In 1917, egg brokers tried to demand 65 cents for a dozen eggs. Sounds great today, but in 1917 that was seen as outrageous. Fortunately, the industry's first association, the Kansas City Restaurant Association, had formed a year earlier. They were able to organize an egg boycott, which led to a price per dozen eggs of 32 cents. It also led to the development of the National Restaurant

Fall is peak season for combine fires. The drier conditions and the buildup of crop residue make for a textbook fire atmosphere. You can help reduce fire risk by taking proactive measures: Clean the unit after each day's harvest. This will help cut down on the crop residue. Extensive buildup of caked-on grease can increase the risk of fire. Oil or crop residue should be cleaned with a pressure washer. Complete proper maintenance without delay. Worn bearings and belts could cause a spark

Most of the restaurant owners I've worked with got into the business because of their passion for food and the incredible social experiences surrounding food. Fortunately, a lot of them are also good business people (although unfortunately, I've met a chef or two whose dream of running a restaurant collided with a lack of business experience). When it comes to insurance, even the most seasoned (pun intended) business people in the restaurant industry may be likely to focus only on the obvious

For exit signs to do their job, employees and management need to be aware of not only their placement but how to properly maintain them as well. My examples come from the restaurant industry, but they would apply to other hospitality-related operations as well. Properly marked exit signs help protect a restaurant's customers as well as its employees.  Signage must be present in both the "front of the house" (dining room) and the "back of the house" (kitchen).    From an occupational safety