I've always hated statements such aas "exposed to...." This requires judgement on the part of the inspector and since some of them don't have much, if any, backround in electrical work, they can go overboard. Unfortunately, I'm not clever enough to come up with more positive language.

If the GEC is secured in place, I wouldn't worry about severe damage, after all, anything that can cause severe damage to a #4 or larger copper conductor is likely to damage the structure also.

Few things are harder to put up with than the annoyance of a good example.