FROM THE EDITOR 

It's a wonderful thing when incentives line up, and they are in the world of workers' comp. Workers, employers and insurers all have reasons to make the workplace safer, preventing injuries to employees while generating savings for employers and their insurers.

That's why, at a time when rates are rising, often rapidly, in so many insurance lines, premiums for workers' comp have been trending downward for years. There is room for much more progress, too, as various technologies kick in. 

For instance, cameras can spot dangers, such as water spills, in a factory and alert someone to mop it up before anyone trips and falls and gets injured. Cameras can also spot near-misses, tipping off a manager that a process is dangerous so they can warn employees and change how things are done, before someone gets, say, a hand caught in a machine. Workers can wear devices that monitor their movements and make sure they aren't creating stresses that could injure them. There are even exoskeletons that can assist workers, for instance in lifting heavy boxes. 

In this month's interview, Paul Zamora, senior vice president for workers' compensation at ICW Group, runs through a whole variety of opportunities that lie ahead for carriers, employers and workers. I hope you'll give it a read.

I think workers' comp can lead the way as insurance moves beyond its traditional repair-and-replace approach to a Predict & Prevent business model that draws on the industry's vast data and extraordinary expertise to prevent problems from happening in the first place.

Cheers,
Paul 

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