On October 22nd, the Risk Management and Insurance Society (RMIS) had the privilege to hear from Nora Vrakas, the Director of Risk & Insurance for the Walbec Group, about innovations in workers’ compensation as they relate to construction technologies. The innovations Vrakas discussed fell into three main categories: claims management, safety & loss control, and insurance program design.
Regarding safety & loss control, Vrakas emphasized wearables. One particularly interesting wearable technology that is being implemented is a smart hardhat. The smart hardhats are able to measure brain waves and alert the wearer of the hardhat if fatigue is setting in. By alerting the hardhat wearer, the worker is able to better focus on work. Therefore, the safety of the worker is enhanced and the probability of a loss would decrease. These hardhats are also useful with COVID-19. If hardhat wearers are within six feet of one another, the hardhat will alert its wearer. These hardhats are just one of the technologies that are changing the workers’ compensation world for Walbec Group.
By illustrating the technological innovations and discussing its relation to COVID-19, Vrakas was able to give a comprehensive and very relevant presentation to RMIS. Additionally, by talking about specific innovations relating to construction, students were able to get a better understanding for workers compensation within Walbec Group. We greatly enjoyed having Vrakas as a speaker.
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