Health & Safety

Eighty percent of directors and officers consider health and safety risks to be very important or extremely important to their organization, according to the latest Directors and Officers Liability Insurance Survey by Willis, a WTW business, in collaboration with Clyde & Co. Physical workplace risks were deemed the most important by 43 percent of respondents, followed by employee mental health and wellbeing consequences stemming from work (28 percent) and from personal matters (12 percent).

For the first time since 2018 civil litigation and third party claims were included among the top seven concerns, with 63 percent of directors and officers surveyed considering these significant risks to their Directors and Officers. Smaller organizations (<$50 million in revenue) and those with revenues between $1 and $5 billion mentioned litigation more often. The largest organizations surveyed (>$5 billion in revenue) included diversity, equity and inclusion as well as bribery and corruption as top risks, while excluding the financial distress, bankruptcy and insolvency concerns of smaller organisations.

Climate change is no longer considered a top seven risk in several regions, including Asia, North America and the Middle East. In contrast, diversity, equity and inclusion, a risk that was included in the survey for the first time this year, has made its way into the top seven for Great Britain, North America and Africa. Social risks as a whole feature prominently in the list of concerns and, when looked at over a five-year period, the increase in concern is notable. For example, breach of human rights within or by business operations has risen from 23 percent of responders considering it a very or extremely important concern in 2021 to 62 percent in 2025. Similarly, concern about supplier business practices has risen from 27 percent in 2021 to 59 percent in 2025.

In general, there is a strong alignment between perceived material risks and board expertise and priorities. However, there is a notable exception when it comes to cybersecurity and data privacy, with many boards indicating more time is needed. Data loss and cyber-attacks, including extortion, are considered to be very important or extremely important for 77 percent of those surveyed. Artificial intelligence lags behind (only 51 percent of respondents consider it to be very or extremely important and considered by the fewest number of respondents to be material to the business while also being the lowest ranked issue on which respondents considered the board to have the relevant expertise), but this perception may change in the future as new use cases and regulations develop.

“The latest survey results underscore the diverse challenges directors and officers face today, highlighting how fraught the landscape has become. Despite increasing concerns over litigation risks, cost remains the dominant driver for D&O insurance purchasing decisions,” said Angus Duncan, global D&O coverage specialist at Willis. “This trend persists even as regulatory scrutiny and shareholder activism increase global liability exposures. By taking a proactive approach, companies can optimize their D&O coverage while mitigating financial and reputational risk.”

Source: WTW.

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