One Thousand Ways to Make a Living; or, An Encyclopædia of Plans to Make Money

by Harold Morse Dunphy

Tact and judgment must be exercised when dealing with men who may not always appreciate the viewpoint of the inspector, and courtesy is always a prime essential.

Nature of Work

It is the work of the inspector to scrutinize closely all conditions and materials which may in any manner create or increase the fire hazard, including the character and nature of raw stock or material used, all the processes of manipulation, from its reception at the plant, its handling and storage, to the completion of the operations necessary to produce the finished goods or article. The inspector must carefully note and define the hazards incident to each state of progress where physical or other changes affecting the conditions may take place. In addition to these purely technical investigations and conclusions, he should closely observe and study “shop practice” or management, including supervision and discipline of employees, as related to the cleanliness and care of hazards, which form the basis of “good housekeeping” and are important essentials in securing safety from fire in all classes of property.

The apparatus and appliances for fire protection or fire defense need to be very critically examined and described. This often necessitates going into dark basements or low pits to locate automatic sprinkler valves, etc. Water-supply tanks for automatic sprinkler systems have to be climbed to examine their condition and to ascertain water levels, and when the assent and co-operation of the insured can be secured, tests for efficiency of such devices as fire pumps should be undertaken. The nature and condition of the structure forming the plant or risk require careful consideration and full description, and finally, the information gained is generally embodied in a written report of such lucidity as to convey a mental photograph of the hazards and conditions to the minds of those who have to decide upon the acceptability of the risk from an underwriting viewpoint.

Opportunities

Fire protection engineers are employed at the present time largely by insurance companies, either individually as company field engineers or collectively in the inspection and rating organizations. Every important geographical section in the country has somewhere within it an insurance organization consisting either of an insurance exchange or rating board for making insurance rates and specifying requirements for improvements, and an engineering or inspection bureau for making surveys, inspections, and reports to its members. Large municipalities are cared for by local rating boards. Many large corporations are employing engineers, often with the title of “Fire marshal,” and others combine their fire insurance affairs, both business and engineering, in the office of a “Superintendent of insurance.”

Insurance engineers are frequently called to a company home office, after having had a good field experience, to take charge of the underwriting or passing upon the business offered in special departments, for the business requiring a technical or engineering knowledge. These are variously known as “Improved risk departments,” “Sprinklered risk departments,” etc., because the use of automatic sprinklers is fundamental in fire protection and required in risks accepted by such departments. One of the best avenues of approach to good home office positions is through the field experience of a fire protection engineer, employed by an inspection bureau or by an individual company.

There is a marked tendency among the larger insurance agencies and brokerage offices, in striving to render service to their customers, to employ fire protection engineers as a means of obtaining and holding business by reason of their superior technical knowledge.

Training obtained as an insurance or fire protection engineer is one of the best means of acquiring the technical knowledge requisite for success as a broker, by one who would become an expert buyer of insurance, able to study the needs of his clients, advise with regard to the kind of insurance to purchase, work out satisfactory contracts, and negotiate with the rating authorities to secure the lowest cost.

The agency end of the business offers the greatest financial inducements, since one may develop a clientele of his own, receiving commission on the amount of business he can bring into the office, and may perhaps become a partner in the business.