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The world faces plenty of challenges right now. New geopolitical tensions. Climate change. Technology that will unlock innovation but also new threats. But what about the oldest risk? Fire is still the No. 1 cause for all claims FM manages globally. Why is that? What new technologies are driving the risk? And what new technologies are helping address it? On this episode of Sound Policy, we spoke with Lou Gritzo, chief science officer at FM. Videos of FM’s fire tests are available online at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EPabRtnhM24.

The way our industries work is changing quickly. Really quickly. So quickly that some people have declared that we are in a new industrial revolution, called Industry 4.0. Here at FM, part of our job is preparing our clients for this changing landscape. As new technologies arrive, we research the steps industries can take to reduce the risks these systems might bring. So on this episode of Sound Policy, we sat down with the person helping lead that research at FM. Dr. Roland Schaefer is research director for future of industry, based in Luxembourg.

With the rise of artificial intelligence and the cloud computing boom, it's  hard to think of an industry that is growing faster than the data center industry. In response, FM has been researching how to help protect and insure data center infrastructure--along with everything that goes with it, like power generation. On this episode of Sound Policy, we spoke to two experts to learn more about how to build a better data center. Adrian Oxley is staff vice president, senior engineering technical specialist at FM. Paul Heisel is high-hazard occupancy specialist at FM. Both work with FM Intellium, a new business unit at FM. More information on FM Intellium can be found at www.fm.com/intellium. Sound Policy also explored lithium-ion battery risks—increasingly relevant to data centers—in our first episode.

If your business is seeing the impacts of extreme weather, you’re not alone: 62% of risk decision-makers report they’ve suffered at least one severe disruption due to natural hazards in the past three years. That’s according to FM’s survey of nearly 1,000 risk decision makers and insurance brokers across the world. On this episode of Sound Policy, we’ll get into the results of the survey, what’s driving natural hazards risks—and what can be done to help protect against them. Our guest is Angelika Werner, FM’s research area director for natural hazards and climate.

Lithium-ion batteries have become commonplace in our lives. They’re in things as small as a smartwatch to as large as an electric car. And they're quickly becoming a crucial part of our businesses, too, from data centers to renewable energy to robotics. But as many benefits as these batteries have, they have a pretty big drawback: They sometimes catch fire or explode. When lithium batteries get damaged or get hot, they enter "thermal runaway," a chain reaction that can lead to fires and explosions. So to understand the risk from this new technology, FM's experts have been studying these batteries—putting them through the paces, even setting them on fire, all in the name of research. On this episode of Sound Policy, we sat down with Stephanie Thomas, senior staff engineering specialist, and Ben Ditch, principal research engineer. Thomas wrote a recently-released data sheet on the storage and manufacturing of lithium-ion battery hazards. FM’s Property Loss Prevention Data Sheets help reduce risk at facilities with engineering guidelines and exacting standards. Ditch is a researcher at FM who, along with his colleagues, has tested numerous lithium-ion batteries—from the cellular level to the large-scale burn lab.