10 Risk Futures - Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty

RISK
FUTURES
A day in the life
XXXXXXXXXXX
Risk assessment
of the Mercedes-Benz
truck plant
Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty has a worldwide team of risk engineers
who support its clients in risk control and management of their risk. But how
does a risk assessment actually work and what are the most important
steps? Read a first-hand report on a risk visit at one of our large client's production
plants in Wörth near Karlsruhe.
ANNIKA SCHÜNEMANN
In a loss-control program, it's quite common to hold a
preliminary meeting the evening before things get serious.
The aim is to outline the expectations of the risk
engineer and customer and determine the approach for
the next days is a common practice. Having met during
earlier inspections, Stefan Kippert, a risk engineer at Allianz
Global Corporate & Specialty, and Eberhard Hess,
the employee responsible for risk engineering in the
property division of Daimler, have been working together
for many years. The day begins at about 7:30 in the
morning with a trip to Wörth. The first impression is
overwhelming – with its nearly 2.5 million square meters,
the plant resembles a small city. It even has its own
heating supply station and wastewater-treatment faci-
10 Risk Futures
lity. The activities at the site are kicked off by the plant supervisor
(or, in this case, a substitute for the supervisor)
who greets all of the participants in the risk assessment.
The Mercedes-Benz Wörth plant produces a huge variety
of trucks and special-purpose vehicles such as the
UNIMOG, often deployed as a municipal utility vehicle,
and the Econic, frequently used as a garbage truck.
Then things get serious, and the risk assessment group
(consisting of the AGCS risk engineer, an employee from
plant technical services, the head of plant safety and
Eberhard Hess) enters the assembly line area. Stefan Kippert
has inspected this plant before and thus knows
exactly what to look out for. For him, the main hall is not
only the heart of production, but also the core element
in terms of risk management. A sprinkler system protects
the entire hall from fires. But, particularly when
renovating, it’s important to think about risk management
and retrofit the sprinklers, especially when scaffolding
remains in place for a long time. It is fascinating
to observe how the engineer carefully examines exactly
those places the average person would walk right past –
dazzled by the appeal of the huge commercial vehicles
produced here. From time to time, Stefan Kippert disappears
into a machinery chamber or adjoining room,
writes assiduous notes and asks the plant workers
specific questions about the risk management of the
various areas.
Involving the risk experts early on
Stefan Kippert explains: “For many new buildings,
renovations and changes of use, Allianz Risk Consult ing
is already involved in the planning process. This is a huge
advantage because we can introduce risk management
considerations early in the development process. But after
this point, too, small changes such as installing
smoke alarms in containers can often contrib ute to overall
safety.”
A significant part of production is paintwork: After
assembly, the driver’s cabs are brought to the painting
area where they have to show their colors. Now it gets exciting:
Because of cleanliness standards, a protective
Regular checks are
essential at the Wörth
plant, which covers
almost 2.5 million
square meters.
Risk Futures 11

Truck production
takes place on three
assembly lines.
suit is required, and visitors and workers alike must
enter a wind booth where they are blown clean from
head to toe. In general, painting vehicles is similar like
with anything else: The first step is to degrease the cabs
in various baths. Then the cabs are bathed in a cathodic
dip painting, which is followed by a “filler” – the undercoating
that evens out the surface. Only after these
steps are complete will the layers of paint and final coat
be applied that determine the actual color, which could
be any one of more than 200 shades selected from the
choices available.
To some degree the process is fully automated: There
are computer programs for the individual model spec -
ifications. This means the robots just have to recognize
what model they are working with so they can activate
the correct paint program. Here, fire protection primar -
ily works through CO2 as solvents are in use. Although
the amount of solvent-based paint continues to de -
cline, such steps as the rinsing between the various
colors still involves solvent.
Over 1 million configuration options
Truck production takes place at a fast clip on three
assembly lines and parts such as tires, seats and
dashboards are delivered “just in time” – which means
there is barely any storage area. Production of specialpurpose
vehicles looks a bit different. Here, a limited
number of units are produced and the lion’s share of
the work is finished by hand. For the non-specialist, a
truck is a truck, but there’s actually a lot more to it.
Trucks licensed for the road are so steep to climb into
that you can almost get dizzy doing it. In contrast, the
Econic has an entrance as low as a city bus, which is
one of the reasons it is often used as a garbage truck.
The abundance of options is also reflected in the risk
assessment: It just doesn’t make the grade to only inspect
assembly, painting and interior finishing. Stefan
12 Risk Futures
Stefan Kippert makes sure that all pipes and tubes are in the right place.
The Wörth plant even has its own fire department with training facilities for professional and
volunteer fire fighters.
Kippert must also check component manufacturing
(e.g. drive-shaft production), the industry park where
various Daimler suppliers are located and assorted
warehouses like the hazardous-materials storage for
flammable liquids. He also has to examine the new development
and test center, the test stands for trucks
and special-purpose vehicles, the sprinkler control
center and the roof.
Going beyond spot checks
Asked whether the inspection of such a gigantic site
can only be carried out using spot checks, he replies:
“No. You certainly can’t look at everything, but as the
insurer, we have the responsibility to go beyond spot
checks. Of course there’s no such thing as 100 percent
certainty, but we must cover as many contingencies as
possible.” To achieve this, he will also calculate an initial
“probable maximum loss” for the customer that
will appear in his risk report. This calculation
addresses the damage that occurs if a major element
in the safety concept fails, for example if the primary
sprinkler controller breaks down. This approach
differs from “maximum foreseeable loss,” which is
also calculated, in that it does not address the “worst
case scenario” that assumes all safety-related equipment
malfunctions.
After three days of risk inspection and somewhat tired
legs, there’s still a highlight to come: A pump test is
being held in one of the four existing sprinkler control
centers. It’s getting really loud and really warm, but the
pumps are delivering the goods. Stefan Kippert has
examined the details of the existing test logs and
would now like to directly experience the fire-extinguishing
system to be convinced of its effectiveness.
The Wörth plant enjoys the advantage that it has an
almost unlimited supply of water because of its loca -
tion on the Rhine River. But in an emergency, the water
must, of course, be transported using pumps. A plant
like Wörth has its own fire department. Wörth even has
its own training facilities where not only the full-time
professional fire fighters receive instruction, but also
volunteer fire fighters who work at the plant.
An effective customer relationship is the key
At the final meeting, the risk consultant informs
management about his observations. A remarkable
experience that proves that an effective customer
relationship built on a foundation of trust is the key
factor of success. In general, the assessment of the
plant has turned out to be positive – it constitutes a
good example of successful risk management.
Suggestions for improvements are discussed directly
with the customer.
A short side trip into fire
protection/a primer on
sprinklers:
• More than 130,000 sprinklers are installed in the
Wörth plant.
• To ensure their reliability is absolutely fail-safe,
several pumps supply the sprinkler systems – the
Wörth plant has a total of six (one has an electric
engine, five have diesel engines).
• There are hanging and upright sprinklers. These
can be distinguished by the type of spray plate
used by the sprinkler.
• Sprinkler qualities are noted on the sprinkler:
VdS2092 and CEA 4001 are used at the Wörth
plant.
• The first sprinkler was invented in the United
States in 1874 by Henry S. Parmalee.
• Sprinkler systems are reliable and effective. In
buildings where sprinklers were in use, up to 98 %
of all fires were controlled through the sprinkler
system. This approach uses water very effectively
to fight fires because only the sprinkler above the
area of the fire is activated.
Alternatives include:
• Fire departments alerted through a fire alarm
system: Here, a sufficient water supply to fight the
fire, small fire zones, a fireproof building structure
and good accessibility should be ensured. But then
again this concept is only suitable for moderate
fire loads.
• Fire-extinguishing systems on the basis of inert
gases: relatively expensive, only effective in closed
rooms, danger of re-igniting as a result of hot
spots, danger of suffocation (with CO2).
• Water-fog fire-fighting systems: relatively
expensive, only effective in closed rooms
• Oxygen reduction: only possible in airtight rooms,
high ongoing costs, permanently restricted
access.
• The most common temperature that sets off
sprinklers is 70°C. Sprinklers also differ in their
behavior when they are triggered: There are
normal and quick-trigger sprinklers.
STEFAN KIPPERT
Allianz Risk Consultant
stefan.kippert@allianz.com
WWW.DAIMLER.COM
ALLIANZ RISK
CONSULTING (ARC)
Allianz Risk Consulting
has a network of about
100 property risk
engineers worldwide
that applies a consultative
approach and
works together with its
clients to explore the
best options to reduce
or at best prevent
losses.
Risk Futures 13