Page 49 - Demo

HANDBOOK
We found that the majority
of damage to building interiors was related to soot and smoke, not the fire itself.
around Fort McMurray. In some in- stances, the damage occurred well after the fires had been extinguished.
In fact, when Zurich claims and risk professionals visited our customers’ facili- ties after the fire, we found that the major- ity of damage to building interiors was re-
lated to soot and smoke, not the fire itself. One customer returned to their site after the wildfires and immediately re- started the HVAC system. This proved to be a costly mistake: the system pulled soot from the roof into the air intakes, which contaminated the entire building
and destroyed equipment.
An active wildfire season this year in
Western Canada has left its mark. Nation- ally, more than 3,400 fires affecting near- ly 1.8 million hectares have been reported this year, according to Natural Resources Canada. Because wildfires can ignite sud- denly and move quickly across land (up to 23 km/h), communities should prepare now to mitigate the risks.
Resilience and sustainability
Zurich is committed to helping its cus- tomers rebuild after disasters, and we are equally focused on community resil- ience and sustainability. We understand
that natural hazards are not going away, so we seek to ensure communities are able to recover from them. To achieve this end, we strive to be at the leading edge of understanding risk and deliver- ing information about emerging trends.
Zurich has conducted a post-event re- view of the Fort McMurray wildfire and will share the findings with everyone at the RIMS Canada conference in Edmon- ton in the hope that together we can help create more resilient and sustainable communities.
In my prior role as chief claims officer for Zurich Insurance Group, I have seen first-hand how a natural disaster can devastate a community. I firmly believe that while many hazards are natural, di- sasters are not.
Saad Mered is the CEO and Chief Agent for Zurich Canada. Previously he served as the chief claims officer for Zurich Insurance Group.
BY THE NUMBERS
TRENDS IN TRAFFIC CASUALTIES
In Saskatchewan, changes to the law five years ago appear to have changed driving behaviours. As the graph below shows, there was a huge drop in casualties and injuries after 2014. That’s when the province introduced 120 new officers to enforce traffic safety on provincial roads; harsher penalties for extreme speeders; and stronger impaired driving laws and consequences (suspensions, roadside car impoundment, and ignition interlock requirements).
Injuries and Deaths
8000
7000
6000
5000
4000
3000
2000
1000
0
7,235 7,039
6,709
7,032 7,516 7,175
5,947 5,695 5,893
4,716
4,349
2008
2009 2010
2011 2012
2013 2014
2015 2016
2017 2018
SOURCE: Saskatchewan Government Insurance (SGI)
canadianunderwriter.ca | September 2019 49