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Environmental risk for manufacturers

Marsh helps manufacturers manage environmental risks, regulatory complexity, and pollution liabilities with tailored insurance and risk solutions.
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Environmental risks can have regulatory, operational, and reputational impacts on manufacturing firms.

Manufacturing operations can create a wide range of environmental exposures that may be further complicated by multiple factors. Changing environmental regulations, emerging contaminants, toxic tort activity, severe weather events may increase the potential for pollution liability, operational disruption, challenges to acquisitions/divestitures, and reputational damage.

Top risks include:

  • Air emissions
  • Wastewater discharge
  • Waste management and disposal
  • Chemical handling and storage
  • Accidental releases
  • Fire suppression
  • Historic pollution

As risks evolve and the level of scrutiny increases, manufacturers can face growing pressure from regulators, investors, business stakeholders, and the general public to better manage environmental risks and show strong environmental stewardship. With expectations around compliance, transparency, and corporate responsibility continuing to evolve, environmental oversight has also become a critical business consideration.

Environmental insurance policies, however, can vary significantly from country to country, making compliance a major pain point for manufacturers operating in multiple regions.

Marsh's team of environmental specialists can assist you in understanding the wide range of environmental exposures throughout your operations and in managing the complexities of changing environmental regulations through environmental risk reviews and policy audits. We work with manufacturers to develop risk management and insurance solutions designed to better address current and historic environmental liabilities and help teams remain focused on achieving business goals, with the goal of enabling you to recover faster from an environmental incident and maximize recovery following an insured loss.

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A dedicated team of environmental risk specialists with deep experience across all facets of the manufacturing industry

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Guidance on evolving environmental regulations across jurisdictions and how they could impact operations at manufacturing sites

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Risk management and insurance solutions tailored to the unique environmental exposures facing manufacturers across the full operations ecosystem

FAQs

Manufacturers face a variety of environmental risks today. Historic pollution conditions at manufacturing facilities can present significant challenges for M&A activity, capital improvements, potential toxic tort claims, and regulatory scrutiny. In addition to these historic risks, manufacturers may face challenges, including industrial accidents, emissions, waste management issues, and chemical releases, that may impact ongoing operations. Further challenges may arise from evolving regulations, the emergence of contaminants, and severe weather events, which increase the likelihood and impact of environmental incidents. In addition, regulations and claim activity around per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are driving risk management concerns around fire suppression systems that use these chemicals.

Manufacturers can manage environmental risk by identifying and understanding exposures across operations. The management process includes assessing those exposures, implementing appropriate prevention and mitigation measures, and establishing response plans for potential incidents. Risk managers at manufacturing companies who align their goals with environmental health and safety departments within their companies, often achieve the best outcome for environmental risk management. Marsh’s team of experienced advisors can help you through this process.

An environmental risk review and policy audit aims to assess how business activities could impact, or potentially impact, the environment relative to existing local, state, and federal cleanup standards. It helps identify environmental exposures, inform insurance purchasing decisions, and support broader risk management planning. Examples include reviewing pollution coverage in existing property and casualty programs and evaluating the statement of values to determine if facilities are located near residential areas or in industrial clusters. The risk review can also include additional environmental assessments to quantify historic pollution risk.

Environmental regulations can vary significantly across jurisdictions, making compliance more complex for multinational manufacturers. Differences in local cleanup standards, liability frameworks, pollution insurance requirements, and reporting requirements can create challenges in maintaining consistent oversight across facilities.

Why Marsh

Marsh’s environmental risk specialists can help you understand and manage exposures across your operations. Drawing on backgrounds in engineering, consulting, underwriting, and risk management, we provide guidance on environmental regulations, liability considerations, and emerging risk issues. The team of specialists within Marsh’s Environmental Practice has worked closely with the insurance market to find solutions for both traditional and challenging environmental risks that other brokers often deem uninsurable.

With Marsh’s support, you can be better positioned to identify exposures and implement risk management and insurance solutions designed to address environmental liabilities and evolving regulatory challenges.

Contact us

Ready to strengthen your environmental risk strategy? 

Contact us to learn how our specialists can help you manage exposures, navigate regulatory complexity, and protect your business.

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