Coverage for the plant and the products that leave it.
General and product liability, commercial auto, workers' comp, property and machinery, equipment breakdown and business income for manufacturers, from start-ups to established plants.
By Sam Alishahi · CA Insurance License #4348151 · Reviewed November 2026 · How this page is researched
Your products travel with your liability
Manufacturers carry two main risks: damage to the plant and machinery, and claims from the products they sell, sometimes years later and far from California.
I place manufacturers with carriers that write their class, including start-ups, consumer products and companies that import or sell nationally. Most plants also run trucks and employ people on the floor and on the road, so I quote general liability, commercial auto and workers' comp together where a carrier will write all three, with an umbrella above them.
- General and product liabilityInjuries or damage at your plant and from products you make.
- Property and machineryBuilding, machinery and inventory, with equipment breakdown and lost income while the plant is down.
- Commercial autoTrucks and vans that deliver product or pick up materials.
- Workers' compPlant, warehouse and driving employees.
What underwriters will ask
Having these ready means I can go to market on the first call. The quote form asks for the same things, and anything you don’t know yet can wait.
- Products: what you make and who buys it.
- Markets: where your products are sold.
- Sales: annual sales and imports.
- Plant: building, machinery and inventory values.
- Payroll and vehicles: employees by role, plus trucks, vans and who drives them.
- History: product recalls and loss runs.
Where plant injuries and citations cluster
Manufacturing runs above the private-sector average for injuries. In 2024, private industry employers reported 2.3 recordable injury and illness cases for every 100 full-time equivalent workers, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Manufacturing came in at 2.7 on the same measure, and several subsectors ran higher:
- Wood products: 4.2
- Food manufacturing: 3.3
- Primary metals: 3.3
- Fabricated metal products: 3.2
- Plastics and rubber products: 2.8
The serious cases follow the same pattern. Cases involving days away from work, job restriction or transfer ran 1.7 for every 100 full-time manufacturing workers, against 1.4 across private industry.
Federal OSHA's preliminary list of its most frequently cited standards for fiscal year 2026 (October 1, 2025 through August 31, 2026) points at the same plant-floor programs. Hazard communication ranks second, lockout/tagout third and general industry machine guarding tenth.
Plant-floor injuries are what a workers' comp policy is designed to respond to, so those three programs are what a loss-control visit and an underwriter will dig into. The sections below cover what the rules require, so you can hand over a written program instead of describing one.
Hazardous Materials Business Plans and CERS
California requires a Hazardous Materials Business Plan once you handle a hazardous material at or above these amounts at any one time during the reporting year (Health and Safety Code section 25507):
- Liquids: 55 gallons
- Solids: 500 pounds
- Compressed gas: 200 cubic feet
Metal shops should read the combustible metal rules closely: pyrophoric or water-reactive metal in any quantity, 100 pounds of metal defined as a combustible dust, flammable solid or magnesium in raw stock, scrap or powder form, and 500 pounds of molten metal with explosive potential. Gases such as carbon dioxide and simple asphyxiants use a 1,000 cubic foot threshold. Some materials are exempt within limits, including lubricating oil when each type stays under 55 gallons and the total doesn't exceed 275 gallons, and up to 500 gallons of on-premises propane used only for cooking, heating employee work areas and heating water, unless the local agency gives notice that a plan is needed.
The plan is filed electronically and certified. CalEPA says businesses submit Unified Program information either to their local Unified Program Agency or through CERS, the California Environmental Reporting System. Under section 25508, facilities that file federal Tier II information or fall under Chapter 6.67 submit every year, and other facilities once every three years, by March 1 unless the local agency sets another date. If the agency finds the plan deficient, you have 30 days from its notice to send a corrected one.
Underwriters ask what chemicals are on site and how they're stored. Your filed inventory answers that, and it's the same list a pollution liability underwriter will want to see.
Labels and safety data sheets on what you ship
If you make, import or distribute a hazardous chemical, federal OSHA's hazard communication standard (29 CFR 1910.1200) puts the label on you. Every container that leaves your workplace needs a product identifier, signal word, hazard statements, pictograms, precautionary statements and your name, U.S. address and U.S. phone number.
- Safety data sheets: obtain or develop one for each hazardous chemical you produce or import, in English, in 16 sections in order.
- Updates: revise labels within six months and SDSs within three months of learning significant new hazard information.
- Inside the plant: keep SDSs readily accessible during each work shift, maintain a written program with a chemical list, and train employees at initial assignment and whenever a new hazard enters their work area.
OSHA amended the standard effective July 19, 2024. Manufacturers, importers and distributors had until May 19, 2026 to comply for substances and have until November 19, 2027 for mixtures. Employers must update workplace labeling, programs and training for substances by November 20, 2026, and for mixtures by May 19, 2028.
Keep current versions and revision dates on file. Warnings and instructions are part of what a product liability underwriter reviews.
Manufacturing insurance, answered
Why is product liability so important?
Claims from a product can come years after the sale and from anywhere it's sold. Product liability responds to those claims.
Is a product recall covered?
Usually not under general liability. Product recall coverage is a separate policy.
Are machinery breakdowns covered?
With equipment breakdown coverage, yes.
Can a new manufacturer get coverage?
Yes. Experience in the industry and quality control help.
Can general liability, commercial auto and workers' comp be placed together?
Often, yes. Many carriers that write manufacturers will quote all three as one account, and an umbrella can then sit above the general liability, auto liability and employer's liability limits. Whether one carrier takes everything depends on your class, vehicles and loss history. When it doesn't, I place each line where it fits and line the umbrella up over them.
Do company trucks need their own policy?
Yes. Trucks and vans the business owns or leases go on a commercial auto policy, not general liability, which excludes most auto claims. If employees run errands in their own cars, hired and non-owned auto covers the business's liability.
Do you offer manufacturing insurance outside California?
Yes. Clients across the country send the same quote form. Sam Alishahi is licensed in all 50 states and Washington, DC and places policies there directly. The shopping across carriers works the same way. Rules, minimums and markets differ by state — see insurance requirements by state.
Official sources
- BLS – Table 1. Incidence rates of nonfatal occupational injuries and illnesses by industry and case types, 2024
- BLS – Employer-Reported Workplace Injuries and Illnesses, 2023-2024 (news release)
- OSHA – Top 10 Most Frequently Cited Standards (FY 2026, preliminary)
- Cal/OSHA – Title 8, section 3314, Control of Hazardous Energy
- Cal/OSHA – Title 8, section 4184, Guarding Required (point of operation)
- California Health and Safety Code section 25507 (california.public.law)
- California Health and Safety Code section 25508 (california.public.law)
- CalEPA – Unified Program (CUPA) and CERS electronic reporting
- OSHA – Combustible Dust
- 29 CFR 1910.1200, Hazard Communication (Cornell LII)
Send what you make. I'll shop it.
Your products, sales and where they're sold are enough to start.
Alishahi Insurance · Saman Alishahi, independent insurance broker, California License #4348151. General information, not a quote or a promise of coverage; coverage depends on underwriting and the terms, conditions and exclusions of the policy actually issued. Some policies may be placed with nonadmitted (surplus lines) insurers, which are not members of the California Insurance Guarantee Association (CIGA).
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