Post Disaster Insurance Assessments
Use Case
Safety Challenges for Insurance Assessors in Post-Disaster Assessments
Insurance assessors and adjusters have an important job evaluating property and infrastructure damage and claims in the aftermath of natural disasters.
Insurance assessors frequently work alone in unpredictable post-disaster settings, exposing them to various hazards. In these post-disaster scenarios, they may find themselves without cellular coverage or electricity for extended periods. This situation underscores the importance of having shareable safety equipment that can provide communication capabilities in areas where cellular networks would typically be available but have been disrupted due to the disaster.
When performing insurance assessments insurance employees may encounter unstable structures, hazardous materials, or hostile individuals in high-stress situations. Due to the nature of the environment, they have a higher chance of slips, trips and falls with the potential to be very far away from help if needed. Guardian Angel Safety offers comprehensive solutions to protect lone insurance risk assessors and provide peace of mind for employees and employers.
Insurance field staff will visit disaster-affected properties and infrastructure to evaluate damage and determine insurance coverage needs, which often involves:
- Exploring structurally compromised buildings
- Navigating debris-filled areas
- Encountering hazardous materials or unstable terrain
- Working in isolated locations with limited communication
- Interacting with distressed property owners and hostile individuals in high-stress situations
Without proper safety measures in place, insurance field staff face significant dangers while performing their essential duties in post-disaster scenarios.
Risks
- Environmental Hazards
Insurance assessors and adjusters in the field assessing properties in areas hit by natural disasters (e.g., floods, fires hurricanes, earthquakes) face risks from unstable structures, exposed electrical lines, contaminated water, hazardous materials and wildlife hazards.
- Physical Hazards
The unpredictable nature of damaged environments increases the risk of slips, trips, falls, and other injuries, with potentially delayed emergency response due to the area’s condition.
- Personal Safety Concerns
Exposure to confrontations with distraught property owners, medical emergencies in remote locations and becoming incapacitated in an isolated area.
- No Cell Coverage
In the aftermath of disasters, staff will frequently encounter areas with no cellular service or overwhelmed communication networks. This lack of reliable connectivity severely restricts their ability to contact their teams for additional assistance or to summon emergency help when faced with critical situations. The communication breakdown can leave these workers isolated and vulnerable in potentially hazardous environments, underscoring the need for alternative means of staying in touch with support teams and emergency services.
- Device Battery Life
In disaster-stricken areas, prolonged power outages are common, leaving staff without means to charge their essential devices for extended periods.
Solutions
Our comprehensive lone worker protection system ensures insurance staff remain connected and protected throughout their post-disaster site visits.
Guardian Angel Safety’s solution includes wearable devices with features specifically designed to mitigate key safety risks facing lone and remote insurance staff assessing properties after a disaster.
Key Features:
- Wearable Safety Devices
Guardian Angel Safety has wearable devices with emergency SOS buttons and fall detection capabilities. These devices offer employees a lifeline in case of accidents or emergencies, automatically alerting response teams when needed. - Shared Devices
We make sharing devices easy, especially in post disaster settings. This is perfect for remote locations where there is no cell cover where there normally would be. Learn more about sharing devices with Guardian Angel Portal. - Real-time GPS Location Tracking
Devices with GPS location tracking ensure employees’ locations are known in real-time, even without cellular coverage, facilitating quick response in emergencies and efficient coordination of field activities. - Hazardous Environment Durability
The devices are built to function in harsh and potentially hazardous environments, ensuring reliable operation when needed most. - Indoor Tracking
Advanced indoor tracking capabilities ensure that assistance is directed precisely to where it’s needed within the building. - Emergency SOS Button
The emergency SOS button provides immediate alerts for rapid response. - Fall Detection
No movement fall detection feature sends an alert if a worker falls and remains motionless, allowing for a swift emergency response. - Automated Welfare Check-ins
Guardian Angel Safety’s technology automates welfare checks, reducing reliance on manual processes and ensuring regular monitoring of employees’ safety. - Geofencing Capabilities
Identify and set up virtual perimeters to monitor worker movements and receive alerts if they enter or exit specific zones. - 24/7 Monitoring and Response
Our A-graded professional monitoring team is available round-the-clock to respond to alerts and coordinate emergency services when required. This ensures that help is always just a button press away, even in remote locations. Learn more about monitoring.
With over a decade of experience in lone worker protection, Guardian Angel Safety is the trusted partner for organizations across Australasia. Our commitment to innovation, reliability, and customer support ensures that your insurance field staff working during and after disasters have the best possible protection.
When land networks are down, satellite networks save lives
‘When Hawke’s Bay Civil Defence realised they were flying staff into isolated communities with no power or cellular comms, they took six handheld radios and six Guardian Angel Safety Garmin inReach devices. Because the Guardian Angel Safety devices were so effective, the army then borrowed them. Civil Defence then kept our six devices and we have since purchased six more radios and six more devices. Our radio network struggled after a couple of days due to battery life in some of our repeaters and we lost that channel on day 2 of the solution for a lot of our communications.’
Marcus Hayes-Jones, Corporate Asset and Support Lead, Hawke’s Bay Regional Council
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