The Australian manufacturing sector has had its challenges in recent times due to a variety of pressures. Fiscal tightening, an appreciating Australian Dollar, and cheaper offshore labour have all affected the industry’s ability to compete on a global scale, placing strain on demand for goods overseas.

With a smaller margin for error, it is more important than ever to ensure you have an insurance and risk solution that accounts for the wide variety of risks inherent in the manufacturing industry.

Whitbread will work in partnership with you to truly understand the inner workings of your business, fixed assets, property, systems and equipment to identify your inherent risks, and formulate an insurance program that addresses these.

As a manufacturer there are a number of risk exposures outlined below, which, if not managed, can prove extremely costly:

• Product recall for faulty or contaminated products
• Pollution – being found liable for environmental damage can see you charged with clean-up costs that can reach into hundreds of thousands of dollars, sometimes over many years.
• Machinery Breakdown – if a machine crucial to your manufacturing process breaks and you have to wait over a month for a part to come from overseas to fix it, you could lose a significant amount of income and your clients could go elsewhere to get their goods.
• Fraud committed by an employee or allegations against management of unfair dismissal, harassment or bullying.
• Injury or death of an employee in the workplace
• Damage to or loss of property or valuables such as machinery key to your production process
• The injury or illness of an individual that can be attributed to using your product.

By managing your risk, we seek to empower you with the confidence to innovate and diversify, enabling you to further grow your business and strengthen your presence in the market.

Areas of specialisation

• Metal work
• Textile clothing
• Plastics
• Sawmills
• Printing works