WIth back injuries affecting 1 million workers a year and accounting for 20% of all workplace injuries and illnesses, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, AIG was looking for a solution.
Trueblue Inc. identified the Kinetic wearable device as a solution. Wendy Callaghan, AIG’s Chief Innovation Legal Officer and Tricia Wilson, Director, People Management Risk Department, TrueBlue, discussed the pilot on the final day of Digital Insurance’s Dig | In conference in Austin, Texas.
Callaghan said that AIG tested 65 wearables before deciding on Kinetic for the pilot. The beeper-like device attaches to the hip and looks for high-risk postures such as twisting, reaching, instability and bending, to help maintain and monitor workers doing labor-intensive jobs.
Wilson said, “our goal was to prevent back injuries through the management of body mechanics.” The Kinetic device features vibration feedback to workers to improve posture and movement, as well as providing data insights to on sight managers using a combination of sensors and AI algorithms.
Sharing with employees that a great solution for injuries is wearable technology and that the “first step to prevention is the decision to be proactive,” Wilson said. After a year of pilot testing, results show that participants’ high-risk postures were reduced by 45%.
“Sending people home in the same physical condition they arrived to work in is something we feel responsible for, we learned significant changes in the workplace can be made with the use of new and advanced technology,” Wilson said.
