MEMIC backs Illinois university's injury prevention research

Workers compensation insurance specialist company MEMIC (Maine Employers Mutual Insurance Company) is funding university research with a second annual grant, as part of its efforts to promote workplace safety.

MEMIC awarded Illinois State University (ISU) $30,000 to research the use of wearable sensors to minimize injuries in US workplaces. The university’s Katie School of Insurance and Risk Management will study warehouse workers’ occupational activities using wearable technology, collecting physiological data useful for treatment plans and training programs concerning workplace injuries.

“MEMIC’s mission is to make workers comp better,” said Dr. Luis F. Pieretti, manager of industrial hygiene at The MEMIC Group and architect of the MEMIC Safety Research Center. “One thing to improve the health and safety of our policyholders is to get better knowledge and more knowledge about the hazards associated with the workplace – not only the ones that we already know but also the emerging ones.”

MEMIC’s first grant, in December 2021, funded an Indiana University of Pennsylvania faculty research team’s work to find ways to reduce workplace slips, trips and falls.

“With this program, funding directly into universities, it’s allowing us to support the next generation of safety professionals, and at the same time acquire knowledge that can benefit our policyholders and industry,” said Maryann Hoff, vice president of loss control at MEMIC. “This year’s winner is right in that alignment with leveraging technology and safety to provide more detailed information to people about their exposures and potential controls for those exposures.”

Using wearable technology research to prevent workers comp claims before they happen can help insurers and companies lower exposure, according to Pieretti. “Once claims happen, that means that exposure already occurred,” he said. “The integration of wearable devices and technology will help prevent the injuries and illnesses but also allow employers to be more efficient about how they do things and lower costs.”

Backing academic research is not MEMIC’s only effort to prevent workplace injuries. The company offers E-Ergo, a service that identifies ergonomic issues to be addressed in workplaces, and uses TuMeke, a program providing ergonomic assessments.

“What the wearable technology brings into play is very similar to what we saw with telematics and being able to provide real time ongoing information from a device on a behavior,” Hoff said. “With the wearable technology that’s being researched, employers will be able to do similar monitoring and accumulate data to better target these exposures and enhance safety programs.”

MEMIC’s grant will fund work on the wearable sensor study by ISU Katie School executive director James R. Jones, assistant professor Dr. Tice Sirmans, two graduate students and four undergraduate students.

“We’re very proud to invest in thought leadership and the future of safety,” Hoff said. “The grant provides us with a great way to do so while supporting the next generation in our safety and loss control profession, as well as continuing to bring awareness to this field and the importance of providing safe and healthful workplaces for our employees.”