Mission: Preventing Accidents - a risk engineer from Allianz Insurance

Rüdiger Beauvais of Munich is at home all over the world. He used to build power plants. Today he assesses them as an employee of Allianz insurance company. His report determines whether and under what conditions a plant will be insured. Today he is traveling through Andalusia. Iberdrola power company wants to expand the insurance protection for one of its power plants. But before Allianz signs a contract, it wants to know the risks. Armed with questionnaires and a notebook, Rüdiger Beauvais inspects everything from equipment to duty rosters. Miltiades Arsenopoulos accompanied the risk engineer on his rounds. --------------------------------------------------------------- It's half past eight in the morning in the mountains of Andalusia. The start of a rather special working day for Rüdiger Beauvais from the Allianz insurance company. The German national is a risk assessor - a sought-after, but feared man. Beauvais' job is to assess the risks and dangers for the insurer at power plants, primarily in Spain and Latin America. Today, he's going out to see a new power plant. Rüdiger Beauvais, Risk Engineer: "As an insurer, we're interested in the performance here; whether there's been any problems with these machines. I'm going to try and discuss this today with the power plant managers and the relevant department heads." The power plant belongs to the Spanish electricity giant Iberdrola. An important client for Allianz. Now the terms of the company's insurance package are up for renegotiation. As part of the process, Beauvais is going to give the new plant a thorough going over. Rüdiger Beauvais, Risk Engineer: "Sure, plant operators are not necessarily going to lay all their cards on the table during what amounts to an inspection. In my experience, the more frequently you go to an individual plant, the more likely it is that the management will recognise that the insurance company is not working against it, but rather that both sides are essentially pursuing the same goals." Other employees of both Allianz and Iberdrola are present at the inspection. The estimated insurable value of the new power plant is 500 million euros. Allianz is still charging high insurance premiums for this gas turbine. The reason: the turbine has never been used before, so there's no past experience to draw on. Beauvais runs a thorough check on all emergency and damage control measures, including the drills that stipulate how employees must act in the event of an emergency. Manuel Cantos Ruiz, Power Station Manager: "It would be fantastic for us if we could now reduce our expenses in the event of damage. Operations ran smoothly last year, so the chances should begood." Beauvais turns an especially critical eye on fire protection measures. In his experience, on-site water pumps are often not adequately maintained. In spite of the thorough assessment, Allianz never picks up 100 percent of the costs of any damage. Rüdiger Beauvais, Risk Engineer: "Just like any private insurance policy, the insured party must also be motivated to prevent any damage. And if the insurance coverage was total, then that motivation wouldn't be particularly high." It's late afternoon, and by now Spanish business meetings traditionally relocate to the bodega. Beauvais is used to being spoiled like this wherever he goes. But has all the effort been worth it in the end? Rüdiger Beauvais, Risk Engineer: "As far as I'm concerned we saw a very well managed power plant today and I'll be passing on a recommendation to our contracts department." Beauvais will submit his report to the Spanish Allianz headquarters in Madrid tomorrow. Until then, everyone can kick back a little and enjoy the surrounding countryside.

DW-World | November 13, 2007

Tags:. .table. .emergency. .drills. .reduce. .particularly