a new twist on workers compensation insurance?
TRANSCRIPT
A New Twist on Workers Compensation Insurance
By Floyd Arthur
In a move that has many privacy advocates crying foul, the insurance giant American
Insurance Group announced this week that it plans to outfit construction workers with
devices that track their movements while on the job. According to the Wall Street
Journal, the firm has invested an “undisclosed sum” in New York-based
Human
Condition Safety, a company that manufacturers wearable technology
“designed to
monitor the movements of employees in factories, on construction sites and at
other
hazardous workplaces.” According to HCS, the data it obtains will help decrease on-
the-
job injuries and reduce the cost of workers’ compensation insurance claims.
Workers Compensation Insurance
HCS and AIG announced the pilot program in early 2016. According to AIG’s
Commercial Insurance CEO Rob Schimek, “the technology will help enable us to
work
with clients to make their worksites safer places for their employees and help reduce
our
clients’ overall cost of risk.” The current trial is being conducted at Citi Field in
New
York. According to HCS, the data collected will provide “leading indicators of
potential
injuries” -- for example, by recording construction workers’ movements
immediately
before an accident occurs. The data, he says, will eventually help employers design
workplace safety programs that target high-risk behaviors and prevent workplace
injuries.
The idea of using technology to assess insurance risk is nothing new, nor is AIG
the only
company to embrace the idea. Many auto insurers are already offering customers
lower
auto insurance premiums for agreeing to outfit their cars with devices that track
data
such as driving speed, miles traveled and braking habits. And in 2015, John Hancock
began offering lower premiums to life-insurance clients who agreed to wear
devices that
track their exercise habits and level of fitness. Employer-sponsored programs are
also on the
rise as employers try to decrease health insurance costs by encouraging workers to
be more fit.
Technological innovations are also being developed that protect construction
workers in
other ways. For example, the prototype InZoneAlert vest developed by researchers
at
Virginia Tech, uses GPS technology to warn road workers that a motor vehicle is
approaching at high speed. According to Kristen Hines, a doctoral student at the
Bradley
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the university, and one of
the leaders of
the research team, the device could be available for widespread use within the
next five years.
Worker’s Compensation Insurance Integration Is A Long Way Off
While the insurance industry is poised to integrate “Big Data” into its models for
assessing risk, collecting enough information to create statistically relevant
predictive
models is going to take time -- which means real-world integration is a number
of years
away. Meanwhile, privacy concerns and questions about discrimination loom large.
According to Harry Wang, a researcher at Parks Associates, a company that has been
following the wearable tech industry for a while, increased use of employer-
mandated
technology will undoubtedly bring more regulatory oversight. “There will be high
levels
of privacy, security and compliance requirements,” Wang said. “There will be
high
expectations from consumers about how the data will be used.”
While the practice of using wearable technology to direct workplace safety
programs is
almost certainly years away, we at Carmoon Group understand your need to
protect
your workers--and your business--right now. So, let us help you design a
comprehensive
insurance program that meets all of your business needs, Call us any weekday
between 9
a.m. and 6 p.m. at 516-292-3780 to set up an appointment for your insurance review,
