Stan Alexandropoulos, Underwriting Agencies of Australia (UAA) Group Chief Executive Officer, explains the importance of insurance and how it contributes to a sustainable future, at the recent Crane Industry Council of Australia (CICA) National Conference and Exhibition.
“The presentation followed the sustainability theme of the overall CICA event. It was designed to highlight where we think some of the vital changes for the industry will come from, and how we ensure the partnerships between the crane and lifting industry and insurers, particularly UAA, remains sustainable,” said Stan.
“We’ve been insuring cranes and mobile equipment for 50 years, but I doubt we’ve seen an environment where things have changed so significantly and quickly, as they are today. Obviously, COVID provided a set of unique challenges which led to unprecedented times, and it continues to be that way. Faced with the challenges of climate change and emerging technologies, for example, the team at UAA is focused on a sustainable future for the business to ensure we are there to support the crane and lifting sector for another 50 years.”
Stan goes on to discuss how the industry can help itself, UAA and the general insurance industry.
“From a sustainability point of view, there are issues that are beyond our control. It will take time to have any kind of influence on them and these include the environment and the economy.
“As an industry the crane and lifting sector is a critical player in what happens in Australia and all over the world.
“The crane and lifting sector is critical to the success of infrastructure projects, to the mining and resources sectors and to the emerging renewable sector. None of this happens without the crane and lifting industry,” said Stan. “The industry is essential for driving large developments across the country and making a significant contribution to the economy and to the community at large that benefits by utilising these infrastructure projects. From UAA’s perspective, unless we have the right insurance in place, none of this happens.
“You need that safety net in place. People aren’t going to take financial risks if they are not confident there is a structure in place supporting them. Insurance is the key enabler in everything we do, but we still see too many occasions where its importance is overlooked. It is still one of the last issues that people think about, and yet it is vital to operational sustainability. Obviously, it ensures sustainability when it comes to critical issues relating to financial protection, risk management for crane operations, and also the long-term viability of the whole industry,” said Stan.
The burning question is do Stan and the UAA team see the crane and lifting industry getting with that program? Is there a greater understanding of the importance of making sure crane operators have the right insurance in place for each project and for each crane? Is the right level of insurance coverage starting to resonate with the industry?
“It is definitely starting to resonate, but I think more work does need to be done. Obviously, there’s a lot of work happening between UAA and CICA regarding safety and training, which is absolutely helping. We need to continually reinforce that message across to the industry and I think CICA is doing a really great job getting that message across,” said Stan.
“In the past, there’s no doubt that we’ve had some teething problems regarding wind farm projects that could have been handled better by some of the larger crane companies. I think we are still relatively new to renewable energy projects, compared to the Europeans who have been doing this for years, but once again, UAA worked with the industry to try and work around the issues and find solutions.
“That’s a large part of the sustainability conversations we are having. Obviously, we are working with CICA, but we are also working directly with our clients and finding solutions to problems when they arise.
“As an industry, it is critical that we find the solution before government regulation steps in, or even worse, the insurance company such as our security in QBE, walks away. We need to ensure they continue to make money because we rely on them for the sustainability of the insurance and crane industries,” said Stan.
The crane and lifting industry continues to evolve at a rapid rate with a lot changing in a relatively short period of time. The crane OEMs are designing larger, heavier lifting capacity machines that were only dreamed of 10 years ago. Everybody connected to the industry needs to move with this program, including UAA. Stan explains how UAA addresses the new challenges.
“A lot does fall back on insurance companies such as UAA. We have specialised in cranes, heavy mobile plant and equipment for 50 years and we’ve obviously seen immense change over this period. As with all industries, there continues to be a massive number of technological advancements in the crane industry.
“We are now seeing the integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the administration of businesses, boosting productivity and operational efficiencies. New battery-powered and other types of clean fuel and renewable energy-driven machines are gaining momentum. Telematics is providing greater insights into the day-to-day functioning of cranes, providing data to crane owners which is helping to streamline maintenance and servicing programs on crane fleets,” said Stan.
“Obviously, many of these developments bring additional risks that we need to understand. From an insurance point of view, we are continually evolving our products to ensure we’re covering these new and evolving risks in the crane industry. We are focused on providing the client with the correct cover on new risks associated with clean energy machines and batteries, the storage of batteries and the potential for fire. We need to make sure our pricing is accurate and that we are covering the risks – which is really what sustainability is about,” he said.
As crane OEM’s design, engineer and manufacture far larger capacity cranes to lift larger and heavier components the risks involved increase exponentially. Stan explains how UAA manages the premiums to sustainably cover these increased risks.
“UAA is one of the few insurers in Australia that has the capacity to cover the 850t plus capacity cranes and obviously the sums insured that come with those. At the same time, we need to work with CICA and our clients to discuss the additional risks that come with these larger projects making sure they’ve got the adequate cover, working with their insurance brokers to make sure they’ve got adequate lift damage cover. Depending on what they are lifting, there are occasions where we need our clients to push some of that risk back onto the contractors rather than carry it all themselves.
“In the past, we’ve had plenty of situations where we’re lifting things like Rolls Royce engines for planes and we’re insuring equipment being lifted that are worth millions and millions of dollars. In some instances, we need to be able to push that risk back to the contractors, but we can cover high sums insured. We need to work with the client and understand the actual risk. If they’re not sure, their default position always needs to be to go back to their insurance broker to ask the questions. In turn, if their insurance broker is unsure, they’ll come back to us as the experts in this field. We’re there as a knowledge base for both the client and the insurance broker.
“Insurance brokers cover a full gamut of industries, and they need to know a bit about everything. For crane and lifting clients, we’re there as knowledge base to help work through the risks and put strategies in play to mitigate those risks. A good example of this is the work we did on ‘walking cranes’ on wind farms.
“Not only did we work with our direct customers and our brokers to find a solution that worked for everyone, but we also worked on the unfair contract terms our clients had to sign with the large wind farm companies. They were putting certain time parameters on moving the cranes from site to site and not allowing enough time to demobilise the crane or have them in a safe enough position to actually move from site to site.
“This was an instance where we worked together with a number of clients who were able to push back to the wind farms saying, ‘We are not going to get insurance for this work, so we need to come up with a solution.’,” said Stan.
George Grasso, UAA Group’s Executive General Manager, Claims and Procurement, presented at a number of CICA wind farm-specific seminars. Stan said a number of large contractors were in attendance and heard the issues relating to the high-risk perspective and took this onboard, which helped the industry as a whole.
UAA will be the Platinum Sponsor of CICA’s 2025 National Conference and Exhibition in Brisbane.
“From UAA’s perspective the cranes and lifting industry is the heritage of the company. That’s how the company started,” said Stan.
“It is an industry dear to our hearts and it’s an industry we’re very keen to continue to support. We’ve supported it for 50 years and, as I said, we’re looking for at least another 50.
“We’re proud to be the Platinum Sponsor of CICA. They do a fantastic job, and we view our relationship as one of collaboration where we’re helping them with information on the types of risks and claims we are receiving.
“Collaboratively, we are working on industry issues such as better training for crane operators, but we are also examining the exposures that will come with these new technologies.
“For UAA, it’s an honor to continue this sponsorship and support the industry as much as we can. We obviously benefit from the industry but wherever possible we are trying to give back in terms of making the workplace safer, providing the right levels of cover with the right level of premiums, providing a sustainable future for everybody.”