• Health and Safety Hazards
  Hot outer surfaces are generally lagged / insulated for health and safety reasons. The places where CUI occurs therefore represent a physical hazard to anyone working nearby. Where CUI is very serious, it could also eventually cause catastrophic failure, such as collapse, explosion or fire where oxygen is present in oil-saturated insulation. These are very serious concerns to employers and should be immediately addressed to avoid any personal injuries.
• Loss of Energy
  Insulation is widely used not only for health and safety reasons but also for energy conservation. Unlagged or uninsulated equipment can therefore be very energy-inefficient as heat energy is readily lost to the atmosphere, creating an unnecessary financial cost.
• Environmental Damage
  The CUI problem can eventually cause a loss of containment from the vessel or pipeline, which pollutes the local environment and may eventually cause contamination of ground water.

It is therefore clear that CUI potentially causes significant problems and plant owners have a huge responsibility to ensure that CUI problems are not left unaddressed.