The Occusurv Team shares their Feb 2023 Inside-Insights.

Hey there!

Can you believe another month has already gone by? We're almost at the end of the first quarter of the year, and time seems to be flying by. At Occusurv, we've had a busy month, which is just the way we like it.

Fortunately, we didn't have any incidents this month like muggings, stabbings or thefts like we did in January. We got away "scot-free," as they say. However, we did face some challenges booking a bunch of surveys this month for some reason. Some survey appointments took a long time to confirm. To give you an idea one specific account took 17 emails to-and-fro to confirm a survey date which is way more than usual.

In Durban, we ran into heavy resistance from tenants in business parks and multi-tenanted buildings who refused to let us onto the site. This made it tough for us to complete proper survey reports. However, we've found that if tenants are notified beforehand by landlords or managing agents that surveys will be conducted, they're usually pretty cool with it.

We did have another incident where we arrived on site with the property management agent, only to find out he hadn't arranged anything with all the tenants yet . So, we had to reschedule the appointment. It's all just part of the challenges we face in our industry, you know? In addition, we had some technical issues with our systems, but thankfully they only lasted for a day or two.

This month we surveyed a wide range of interesting sites from mohair, blankets, chemicals and glue manufacturing risks to wine farms and restaurants directly on the beach. I believe it's true that your immediate environment may affect the way you perform, and some of these wine farms nestled between the mountains look like such a relaxing place to work from or work at.

In February, we also surveyed many warehousing risks, of which the majority had the same non-compliance issues with stacking heights. The challenge of non-compliant warehousing where stacking heights are the issue, is that it cannot be solved within a 30-day notice period. In the majority of cases, we found that these insured clients will have to spend considerable amounts of money to become compliant with SANS101287. The issue not only relates to stacking heights but also floor space and aisle separation among others. The downside for the underwriters, however, is the time period attached to these types of non-compliance rectification processes, which could take many months and often more than 12 months. So balancing the act of relationship management with the client or broker vs risk mitigation and appetite comes into play.

Some of our surveyors are also currently studying for the IFE March exams, so work/study life is always a bit of a juggle. Good luck to those guys!

We're also really excited to announce that we're soon launching our new system for our underwriter clients. This platform will allow them to easily and efficiently handle all their RRR with just a click of a button. It's going to be a game-changer, as it'll eliminate the need for all those manual follow-up emails between brokers and clients.

Your monthly #OccusurvTip: every challenge you face is an opportunity to learn and grow. Embrace the challenges, and you'll come out stronger on the other side.

That's all for now. Thanks for reading, and we'll catch you next month!

The Occusurv Team