Risk is an ongoing challenge to manage. As technology, legislation, and business evolves, risk changes form and emerges with new, sometimes surprising exposures. Let's take a look at the top five for 2013.

The term ‘risk management techniques’ automatically brings certain images to mind. You picture safety goggles, staircase handrails and insurance policies. It can be hard to imagine anything other than the standard measures to control risk. You think of a risk, and then you think of something that would protect you from it.

That usually means a physical object, or financial measure that protects your business. What we often forget is that the best risk management techniques are the ones that have a positive long-term effect on the business. That means finding measures that do more than mitigate or prevent risk; measures that improve productivity, morale, efficiency or simply make the workplace better.

Sandy devastated the non-hurricane prone Northeast and, for good measure, it left a blizzard in West Virginia. Preliminary estimates are as high as $20 billion, and this number is only for insured losses. To add insult to injury a Nor'easter left behind record snowfall totals from New Jersey to Maine just 8 days later. However, the impact on insurance rates is not likely to be significant despite the estimates of it being the third costliest storm in U.S. history.

For the 19^th consecutive year, Gibson has earned Best Practices status from Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America (IIABA).

Non-Compliance Is Costly
As a federal regulator, OSHA has come under fire by employers for the usual reasons people criticize federal mandates: mounds of paperwork and an obsession with endless detail. Yet an accident on the job can cost an employer millions, beginning a complicated cycle that piles expense upon expense.

Employers with poor loss histories will pay even more for their workers' comp coverage starting next year as most states change the way premiums are calculated.

Most industries are cyclical to some extent, and insurance is no exception. As an insurance buyer, it's important to know what factors determine the cost of coverage. But understanding the market cycle is only half of the pricing equation: since you can't control the market, it's equally important to know what you can do to ensure you are always securing the best price - whatever market conditions prevail.

As companies outsource more and more IT and data processing tasks it's important to consider data security and indemnification for losses resulting from service interruptions or data breaches.

Do you worry about someone hacking into your computer and stealing your private information? Many of us bank, manage credit cards, report our income taxes online, and use social media websites. All of these sites are password protected and that means we’re all aware of the importance of keeping our passwords to ourselves or sharing with others in a secure fashion.

Do you ever think about your sump pump?