Oil & Gas Consultants, Process Safety Consultants, Environmental Impact Consultants, Process Engineering Consultants, Risk Based Mechanical Integrity Programs
Oil & Gas Consultants work in many different capacities. Safety Consultants, Inspection Consultants, Process Engineering Consultants, Environmental Impact Consultants, all provide a vital service to the energy business.
In today’s litigious society, companies are quick to recognize the tremendous value that outside consultants can offer. It is a clear indication by the company to its commitment for safe workplace, corporate governance, ethical standards, environmentally clean footprint.
Consultants provide an unbiased examination of internal controls, safety measure, and optimization of Mechanical Integrity Programs. They have years of experience to draw from, and make recommendations for safety improvement, internal processing and handling, statistical analysis for failure probability, QA Manuals / Procedures, QA Support, & Record Keeping, Plant Turn Around and Start Up Procedures.
Consultants also provides a vehicle for the client company to shift a significant liability exposure burden to an outside company. A Consultant’s, role is usually restricted to strictly Consulting. They can make recommendations for change, but as a general rule, are not tasked with authority to enforce those changes. That provision remains with the Client. This sometimes leads to an erroneous conclusion that they have very little Professional Liability or General Liability exposure. In fact, recommendations can be viewed as opinions, which lead to a professional liability exposure.
Additionally, the fact Consultants and their employees have virtually unrestricted access to the client’s Petro-Chemical plants, Refineries, Manufacturing Facilities, with access to potentially sensitive company data, leaves them vulnerable and with a significant amount of liability exposure. Consultants are often required to sign a Do Not Disclose, or a Confidentiality Agreement. Knowing how the General Liability policy will respond to a claim brought about under a breech of confidentiality Agreement is often overlooked.
As is apparent from the above, consultants do have significant legal liability exposure, most of the times, far more than they realize. An Insurance Policy which does not take into account the true exposures into account, can leave the Consultant without coverage for legal defense and indemnification, in the event they are named in a law suit or put on notice for a claim or an incident.
Commercial Global Insurance / Higginbotham has the experience to craft commercial policies for Oil & Gas Inspectors & Safety Consultants, Refinery & Chemical Plant Inspectors & Safety Consultants, Environmental Consultants, Quality Assurance & Quality Consultants, and Process Engineering Consultants. Policies for Consultants can include General Liability, Professional Liability, Contractors Pollution Liability, Commercial Auto Liability, Commercial Umbrella, Worker’s Compensation Insurance & Commercial Property Insurance.