.jpg)
Insurance giant AIG has presented a range of new products at Auckland’s RIMS conference, which focus on understanding and addressing risks around workplace safety and natural disasters.
AIG’s Client Risk Solutions team introduced a number of technologies at the conference in New Zealand, which aim to help broker clients better understand and manage their total risk costs. These solutions include several virtual reality programmmes, exoskeletons and wearable technology devices, which have previously been introduced to the insurer’s Hong Kong and Singapore markets.
“We are very focused on the way we can use technology, solutions and analytics to help our clients better manage their risk and lower their total costs,” global innovation lead Sheri Wilbanks told Insurance Business.
“We’ve shared some of the concepts we’re working on at the RIMS event, including a virtual reality programme with some training modules which are currently designed around the construction industry, and some exoskeleton devices and wearable technology that help track movement and identify high-risk motions or activities.
“We also showcased our proprietary natural catastrophe models. One of these is called SMARTBlast™ and focuses on chemical or terrorism-related blast events, and the other one is SMARTSeismic, which is around earthquake events.”
According to Wilbanks, the technology is designed to be more detail-oriented than other models currently available on the market. The SMARTSeismic technology contains added levels of detail around the exposure, costs, additional hazards and perils that businesses might face that may not have been captured in previous models. The wearable technology also allows businesses to better address musculoskeletal injuries with the details of the strain placed on a worker’s shoulders, neck and back, identifying those most at risk.
“We talk about technology as one piece of a safety or risk management ecosystem,” Wilbanks said.
“The risks we identify then allow us to have a conversation with the client around potential changes they can make to their environment, and we provide an additional level of detail that then allows companies to make smarter decisions. The technology has been very successful so far, and we’re expecting a high level of interest from the New Zealand market.”
