This week’s Annual Issues Symposium put on by the National Council on Compensation Insurance in Orlando will feature a talk on May 14 by Salim Ismail, a Silicon Valley notable. NCCI promises he will address a “series of accelerating technologies, like artificial intelligence, robotics, biotech, sensors, neuroscience, medicine, and even energy.”

Focus on the word “sensor.” In the past week I have been talking with researchers and firms marketing portable sensor technology to corporations and rehab clinicians.   

We are watching the first signs of a long, wide wave of new technology, including “the internet of things,” as it penetrates the industry. In the special report Seismic Shifts, published by WorkCompCentral in February, vehicular driving and patient lifting are used to illustrate how new workplace technology may transform loss prevention, insurance underwriting, and injury recovery.  It will take some years to absorb these changes.

Wearable monitoring devices can sense, alert, communicate and record in real time. The personal fitness and sports markets have already been invaded with retail products, such as Fitbit and more elaborate versions for high-end athletes. Some products being readied for occupational safety repurpose this technology; some start with work safety. 

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health has been promoting new technology for some time. For the mining industry, the Institute developed a portable device with a combined video camera and aerosol monitor. Data from these sensors merge to create a more accurate picture of dust exposure. 

The Mine Safety and Health Administration is also looking at proximity warning systems. More than 40% of mining fatalities and permanent disabilities involve worker-to-machine mishaps that could be minimized by warning systems.

Dorsavi, a Melbourne, Australia, firm founded by physical therapist Andrew Ronchi, exhibited a family of products at RIMS this year. Originally aimed at the sports field, the company began an occupational safety service a few years ago, and it opened an office in Minneapolis in 2014.

John Kowalczvk, President of Dorsavi USA, offered a case study involving a client company delivering food to grocery stores. It found that many injuries were traced to delivery workers lifting cartons of milk and placing them high on shelves. They introduced a trolley which allowed the worker to bring the cartons into the aisle at the same height as the shelf on which the carton was transferred. The company wanted to prove to itself that this change eliminated the risk. 

“Our device showed,” he said, ”that the provocative movement associated with the injuries was eliminated. Injuries associated with shelving of milk declined by 87%. Our device provided evidence that eliminating the provocative movement caused the reduction in injuries.”

Guardhat, located in Birmingham, Michigan, is launching this week a smart hardhat product, which appears adaptable to many work scenarios. Saikat Dey, CEO, says it is the most important change in hardhat design in 80 years. 

Using the product, moving equipment will be shut down if a worker gets too close. High toxic gas levels will be immediately detected and workers in the area will automatically receive a warning to proceed to the nearest exit. In case of a fall, a worker’s location and vitals will be immediately sent to the safety control center, nearest personnel and EMS.

Kinetic, a New York City-based start-up, focuses on removing injuries in the materials-handling industry. CEO Haytham Elhawary says a warehouse worker may be lifting 50-pound boxes all day. A Kinetic sensor continuously analyzes posture and sends a vibration alert when the worker assumes a high-risk posture. The worker will review the history with a line manager or safety professional with the idea of changing posture or the work design.

Sport and Industry Safety Devices in Nellysford, Virginia, sells a system to alert the worker to heat-related risks.

There appears little effort underway to bring wearable monitoring devices into clinical care, for instance through physical therapy clinics (though Dorsavi has a product line for rehab clinicians). 

To find out what may be holding things up, I asked Phil McClure, vice president of Expert Clinical Benchmarks for Medrisk and a professor of physical therapy. 

“The key issues are privacy and how the data is going to be used. Who owns the data? These are significant issues,” he said.

Another issue that comes up, per McClure, is technology’s role in telemedicine, as in remotely monitoring a person’s health. "Who is legally able to practice telemedicine?" McClure asks. And will the insurer pay for it? “Everyone can see the merit in the idea. The execution is trickier.” He expects that the military will be first to pour a lot of money into adapting portable devices to injury recovery.

And, he says that “If you’re are talking about good research validating [this technology for injury recovery], it will take until 2020. Some current studies may show proof of concept but not that it can be implemented.”

I’ve just talked about 21st century technology with two insurance executives with “innovation” in their job titles. When will insurers routinely appoint chief technology officers?