New FM Global Research Report Explores Why Companies Flirt with Natural Disasters and Risk It All

JOHNSTON, R.I., Aug. 25 /PRNewswire/ -- FM Global, one of the world's largest business property insurers, has released a new research report, Flirting with Natural Disasters: Why Companies Risk It All that examines why some companies prepare for the risk of natural disasters while others seemingly gamble with their future.

FM Global, which insures one of every three Fortune 1000 companies, commissioned the report to help business leaders better understand the psychological barriers that can affect their business decisions when addressing vulnerabilities to natural disasters. The report also provides solutions that can guide change in organizational decision-making behavior with regard to natural disaster risks.

Flirting with Natural Disasters was prompted by the fifth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina—the costliest hurricane in history, which struck on Aug. 29, 2005, and caused billions of U.S. dollars in damage—much of which could have been prevented.

The report focuses on:

• Reasons why business leaders fail to plan for catastrophe, ranging from denial to short-range vision to the mistaken belief that insurance alone will enable a return to "business as usual" after a disaster.
• Consequences of inaction, especially in the face of evidence that proves most property damage from hurricanes, earthquakes, fires, floods or man-made hazards can be minimized or eliminated.
• Ways leaders can break through the barriers of human nature to better protect their businesses and communities.

"Natural disaster risks are real. They are not probabilities, thresholds, models or likelihoods," said Ruud H. Bosman, vice chairman at FM Global. "The wrong discussion for business leaders is one around whether it will ever happen, because it will. If more organizations considered the impact of psychological behaviors on their disaster risk preparedness, as outlined in this report, the world would be a much safer place."

Download a copy of Flirting with Natural Disasters: Why Companies Risk It All, at www.fmglobal.com/disaster.

About FM Global

Commemorating its 175th anniversary in October 2010, FM Global (www.fmglobal.com) ranks 545 among FORTUNE magazine's largest companies in America. More than one out of every three Fortune 1000 companies and similar-sized organizations operating in more than 130 countries work with FM Global to develop robust property insurance and engineering solutions to protect business operations from property risk. The company has been named "Best Property Insurer in the World" by Euromoney magazine and "Best Global Property Insurer" by Global Finance magazine. The company is rated A+ (Superior) by A.M. Best and AA (Very Strong) by Fitch Ratings.

SOURCE FM Global