Marina Dock Age, July/August 2005

Preventive Measures Can Protect Marinas
By Mark Yearn

Marina owners are astute business professionals who take extra steps to protect their investments. This is evident when it comes to selecting the right contractor to build buildings that stand the test of time, determining the right building materials for maintenance free, long-lasting life, interviewing and choosing the best available employees to meet all job descriptions, and providing the necessary security precautions to protect the facility’s property and that of the marina’s customers.

Marinas also protect their businesses by purchasing insurance. This involves an investment of time in working with an insurance broker, who after several questions, presents a quote on the cost of the planned coverage. Once the appropriate insurance program has been determined and purchased, a payment plan is selected and the entire insurance scenario is forgotten until the next contract renewal period.

Once marinas have purchased their insurance, they believe they have done everything they can to protect their investments. What else needs to be done?

In the area of prevention, marinas can actually do quite a bit more. There are many actions marinas can take to reduce their business losses. These are called the “power of prevention” tools.

The power of prevention

The first step in using the “power of prevention” tools is to be proactive, not reactive. In everything marinas do, they should try and anticipate the outcome and put themselves in a proactive position, not a reactive one. For example, owners and managers should fix that loose dock board (the one they have known about for quite a while) before an injury occurs. This is being proactive, not reactive.

Good insurance managers like to remind their clients that it’s often the smallest items that end up costing their clients the most. For instance, a loose board or uneven walking surface can cost business owners thousands of dollars in payments to an injured person — resulting in an overall increase in insurance costs. What’s mind-boggling is that in every case, the business owners knew about the potential problem before the injury occurred.

Here are some other prevention areas marinas should focus on to reduce exposure to loss, whether insured or not.   Continue »

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