Being financially prepared for accidents and breakdowns in the construction industry

Being in one of the riskiest industries in Australia means that safety and risk planning are paramount. Managing risk is more than just adhering to industry regulations and safety standards, it’s also about taking care of, firstly, our colleagues as well as their families when accidents happen, and secondly, our machines when faults and breakdowns occur.

Even if you’ve got the best safety ratings in the country, accidents can happen, whether it’s a machine fault or an external influence like weather or another operator’s lapse in judgement. You may not worry about the costs associated with workplace injury because you have some level of insurance, but sometimes this just isn’t enough to cover all bases.

Common situations that require insurance:

  • Injury/Accidents - need adequate cover for employee compensation claims
  • Machinery faults, breakdowns, and breakdowns - need coverage for repairs and part replacements
  • Equipment breakdown and repairs - need coverage for repair/replacement
  • Damage to contractor, client or third-party assets - need cover for public liability claims

Our friends at PSC Insurance Group have access to resources that can assist in ensuring you are not underinsured. In many situations, they can also negotiate with insurers to remove under-insurance penalties from policy wordings when you have insured property for its full value as stated in a current valuation.

One of the biggest benefits of having comprehensive injury and plant insurance is that you won’t need to scramble for cash flow to get a machine repaired or to process a worker’s compensation promptly. In many cases, people within the construction industry are breadwinners for their families, so when something does go wrong on-site and a breakdown or injury occurs then construction companies need to be ready for what follows.

An entire business can be put into financial jeopardy if their key income earner (be it an employee or core piece of machinery) is sidelined as a result of a work-site accident or breakdown.

Adequate comprehensive cover means:

  • You can order replacement parts/plant without delay
  • You can book a repair without needing to scramble for cash
  • Your employees and contractors are rest assured that you’ve got them covered if an accident occurs
  • You are prepared for public liability claims

The majority of plant owners rely on the health of a few machines to make ends meet, with breakdowns often hard to forecast. So, it’s crucial that when a breakdown occurs there are funds available to book a mechanic and pay for repair without a lengthy delay.

Having insurance on your machines means that you don’t need to worry about scrambling for cash flow and extra funds to book a repair on the day of a breakdown. Injured employees and contractors often rely heavily on Workcover (workers compensation) to get back on their feet after an injury, to go through rehabilitation, physio, seeing a psychologist, and more, and all that comes at a necessary cost.

Having comprehensive insurance means that no matter the accident, you know that your insurance can cover you so that you can cover your employee without delay. It takes time to compare policies, it takes time to swap insurers, and it takes time to go over the fine print.

The thing is - these activities can be less time-consuming and can be far less of a headache if you have the right person to help.

In this case, the experts at PSC specialise in doing all the nitty-gritty for you, so that you can focus on what really matters, managing sites, operating plant, creating leads and driving your business.

They’ll meet with you for a friendly 1-on-1 and work for you to negotiate against numerous insurers to make sure you get the best policy, at the best price. Fill in the below form to get your free incident report template!