However, liabilities subject to insurance are difficult to estimate due to unknown factors, including the severity of an injury, the determination of our liability in proportion to other parties, the number of incidents not reported and the effectiveness of our safety programs. If we were to experience insurance claims or costs above our estimates, we might also be required to use working capital to satisfy these claims rather than using working capital to maintain or expand our operations.
Our operations may be subject to environmental, health and safety laws and regulations and consumer use of certain of our products are subject to approvals, which could have a negative impact on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Our operations involve the use, handling, storage, and disposal of hazardous materials customary in distribution and light manufacturing, and are subject to environmental, health and safety laws and regulations at the national, state, local, and international levels. These laws and regulations include those governing the discharge of pollutants into the air and water, the use, management, and disposal of hazardous materials and wastes, chemicals in products, the cleanup of contaminated sites, and occupational health and safety. We have incurred and may continue to incur costs in complying with these laws and regulations. In addition, violations of, or liabilities under, these laws and regulations may result in restrictions being imposed on our operations or in our being subject to substantial fines, penalties, criminal proceedings, third-party property damage or personal injury claims, cleanup costs, or other costs. We may also become liable under certain of these laws and regulations for costs to investigate or remediate contamination at properties we own or operate, we formerly owned or operated. Liability under these laws and regulations can be imposed on a joint and several basis and without regard to fault or the legality of the activities giving rise to the contamination conditions. In addition, future developments such as more aggressive enforcement policies, the implementation of new, more stringent laws and regulations, or the discovery of presently unknown environmental conditions may require expenditures that could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.
In addition, consumer use of certain of our products is subject to approvals by municipalities, state departments of transportation, engineers and developers. These approvals and specifications, including building codes, may affect the products our customers or the end users are allowed or choose to use, and, consequently, failure to obtain or maintain such approvals or changes in building codes may affect the saleability of our products or may require us to make changes to our products that could increase the cost of doing business.
In the event any of the above risks were to materialize, it could have a material adverse impact on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Our business and financial performance could be adversely impacted due to disruptions, delays, or outages of our information technology systems and computer networks.
Our distribution centers and our sales and service activities, including the processing, transmission and storage of electronic information utilized in connection with our operations, depend on the efficient, reliable and uninterrupted operation of complex and sophisticated information technology systems and computer networks, which may be subject to malfunction, failure, damage or disruption due to fire, flood, natural disasters, malicious attacks, human error, accidents, power disruptions, telecommunications failures, acts of terrorism or war, computer viruses, physical or electronic break-ins or other similar events. Our existing safety systems, data backup, and information technology emergency planning may not be sufficient to prevent long-term system or network outages or data loss. Additionally, because we have grown through various acquisitions, we have integrated and are integrating a number of disparate information technology systems across our organization in order to align our systems, further increasing the likelihood of problems. We may in the future integrate, replace or upgrade existing systems or implement new technology systems. These integrations and/or updated and new systems may not be successful, and may create new issues we currently do not face, or may significantly exceed our cost estimates.
Any disruption of our information technology systems or networks could interrupt or otherwise impair our operations and negatively impact our ability to meet customer needs and to maintain critical operational or
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