How One CEO Is Protecting Industrial Athletes with Ergonomics

After losing his father to a work-related accident, Sean Petterson made it his mission to protect other manual laborers through ergonomics and wearable technology.

By: Emily Spennato | January 21, 2020

It’s no secret there are some dangerous jobs out there. Whether you’re hanging off the side of a building as a high-rise window washer or driving for Uber, risks are everywhere. But that doesn’t mean they should follow you when your shift is up.

Despite larger technology surges with every passing decade, the manual workforce is still a prominent part of today’s economy. Because of that same technology, the pressure and resources to protect the workforce is as prominent as ever in workers’ compensation.

Injuries affected more than 3% of manufacturing workers in 2015, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

While there are other, more prominent consequences such as chronic pain and carpal tunnel syndrome, too many American workers die on job sites every year — over 5,200 were killed by job site accidents in 2018.

A Father’s Legacy, A Son’s Mission

Sean Petterson is the son of a manual laborer who died on the job. He is also the chief executive officer and co-founder of StrongArm Technologies, a safety science company created to protect manual laborers, or “Industrial Athletes,” through wearable technologies.

“That experience is the inspiration for what we’re doing,” said Petterson of his family tragedy’s effect on the trajectory of his company. “The majority of the injuries that happen in the workplace every day can be avoided if people are more aware.”

Petterson and his colleagues at StrongArm have made it their mission to make industrial athletes aware of the risk their jobs have on their bodies and turn that awareness into injury prevention, ultimately preventing other workers from suffering the same fate as his father.

A New Approach

From an organizational standpoint, it can sometimes be difficult for organizations to recognize where their losses are coming from if the ones collecting the data are not physically in the field.

To put it into perspective, in the United States alone, there are 2.7 million miles of pipeline that fuel organizations and businesses. While we are constantly aware of the cost of oil prices and things that directly affect consumerism, the average person knows little about what it takes to maintain those pipelines and the people who are tasked with their upkeep. Who is focused on keeping them safe?

“Beyond my personal story, our company is also driven by the countless other stories we hear in the field,” Petterson explained.

Petterson is not just focused on getting more workers home to their children at night but also improving the quality of their lives overall. It’s no secret that chronic pain plagues workers, even those in stagnant desk jobs (83 million days of work are lost per year due to back pain), so shouldn’t more be done to help those that have no choice but to be subjected to physical exertion and repetition?

Petterson noted, “There are teams of people drafting up designs for the newest basketball shoes, but there’s virtually nobody drafting up products to protect the Industrial Athletes.”

He took it upon himself to change that.

The FUSE Platform

Beginning with exoskeletons that properly align the body to reduce strains, StrongArm’s products quickly began to evolve.

“As we deployed our original exoskeletons, we found it’s not a lack of care, just lack of understanding of the problem that prevented their widespread adoption and the adoption of nearly every other form of safety tech hardware”.

So they took it a step further. The result was the FUSE Platform. Workers using the platform are equipped with wearable technology, the platform collects data based on ergonomic and environmental risk factors and gives real-time responses and feedback to workers. For example, if someone is lifting something wrong, the device will alert its wearer with a text message and then coach them through improving their form.

All of the data across the organization is analyzed via the platform and produces a safety score. The score tracks trends and gives data-driven evidence and proof of proper safety measures. Users report injury reduction of up to 30%.

“We’ve assembled a team of individuals that show what it means to fall in love with the problem and not fall in love with the solution.”

Despite the challenges presented by a changing workforce, Petterson wants to address the well-being of Industrial Athletes beyond safety.

“It’s not just about helping workers, people like my father, be safer and go home to their kids at night,” he explained.

“It’s the fact that workers can be more present in their lives if they’re happier — if they’re not in pain. We enable people to play catch, go to the game, and not ice their backs all the time.”

Thanks to wearable technologies such as FUSE, workers are closer to living pain-free lives. That calls for celebration beyond the job site.

Risk & Insurance is now an affiliate of The Institutes, which owns the National Ergonomics Conference & ErgoExpo. &

Emily Spennato is a former staff writer with Risk & Insurance.

How a Carrier Partner Can Help Navigate a Challenging Management and Professional Liability Market

A combination of a choppy economy with increased claims frequency and severity could lead to rate increases in the Management & Professional Liability market.

By: Risk & Insurance | April 3, 2024

Rates in the management & professional liability (M&PL) markets were on the rise from 2020 to early 2023 and are now falling rapidly.

M&PL divisions manage a number of different insurance products including management liability (D&O), professional liability (E&O), employment practices liability (EPL), fiduciary liability policies, cyber, etc. In 2023 and into 2024, a big influence on the marketplace has been the extremely aggressive and softening public company D&O market.

Though these rates have been softening for management liability, that may change over the next few years as companies continue to adjust their business models motivated by economic uncertainty. Layoffs were up nearly 200% last year, Forbes reported, even as other recession indicators, like the inflation rate, improved. A recession could lead to an increased claim activity and force carriers to raise rates.

“Whenever there is a meaningful downturn in the economy, we tend to see claim frequency pop up,” said George Schalick, Jr., senior vice president of the Management and Professional Liability Division at Philadelphia Insurance Companies (PHLY).

With continued fiscal uncertainty, businesses potentially already burdened with pandemic-related claims should seek a carrier with a long history in M&PL products. They will provide much-needed risk management guidance and be better positioned to support their insureds during market fluctuations.

Why Insureds Might See an Uptick in M&PL Claims

George Schalick, Jr., Senior Vice President of the Management and Professional Liability Division, Philadelphia Insurance Companies

The current soft market might come as a bit of a surprise as it does not track with previous underwriting cycles and economic conditions. Afterall, many privately held and non-profit organizations struggled during the early days of the pandemic with shutdowns and rapidly declining revenues. But the Government assistance programs, like the Paycheck Protection Program loans, helped keep many afloat during the tough times.

“During COVID many organizations stopped doing business until they were able to sort out all of the health and safety challenges,” Schalick said. “They were forced to lock down, but then all the government assistance programs allowed them to keep people employed. The increased volume of claims we anticipated we would see coming from the lockdowns and restrictions that were imposed upon businesses in the U.S. didn’t manifest at first.”

“Just because there wasn’t an onslaught of reported claims at the beginning of the pandemic, doesn’t mean the circumstances that would give rise to a claim being reported didn’t occur. Courts and the judicial system were closed or slowed and now that they are back open, we’re starting to see the circumstances that occurred during the COVID lockdowns becoming claims today,” Schalick said. “Litigation is progressing.”

Added to the delayed pandemic litigation is a concern over newer claims that might be filed as the country inches toward an economic downturn. Though a recession was avoided in 2023, experts think a soft dip could occur in 2024, with 76% of economists saying there’s a 50% or less chance of an economic downturn this year — that almost always results in more management liability claims.

“During the Great Recession in 2008, we saw an almost immediate spike in claims because of the economic conditions and the pressure it placed on organizations. They were making personnel changes with significant belt tightening almost immediately.” Schalick said.

What’s in Store for M&PL Policy Rates in 2024?

Despite an uptick in claims and increased economic uncertainty, management liability rates haven’t increased, resulting in market-wide pricing levels that may not meet the increased pressure of rising settlements and jury verdicts.

“Rates are going the other direction and settlement values are not falling,” Schalick said.

The mismatch between rates, claim frequency and severity is, in part, because carriers experiencing the dramatic soft market in the public D&O market are seeking premium gain in the private and non-profit market.

“In the public company market, the rates have been decreasing significantly. The rates were increasing in the private, not-for-profit market, and rightfully so, but there’s a desire to supplement overall mid-size D&O for carriers who also write private not-for-profit, and they see that as an opportunity to aggregate premium,” Schalick said. “So the always competitive landscape in the private, not-for-profit market has dramatically increased in the last 18 to 24 months.”

Still, companies of all sizes and types should be concerned about management liability rates in the future. Legal system abuse is resulting in increases in both the amount of litigation and the size of verdicts plaintiffs are receiving.

Certain areas of the country are particularly vulnerable to this type of legal system abuse. As a result, insureds in these localities are likely to be vulnerable to rate increases.

“The environment is so positive for the plaintiff that forces premium increases so carriers are able to stay in that market long term,” Schalick said.

Why a Tenured Carrier Partner Can Help Insureds Navigate An Uncertain Market

It’s clear that insureds are facing an uncertain M&PL market over the next few years. Fortunately, carriers with a long history in the M&PL space will be there to offer stability.

Philadelphia Insurance Companies has been supporting this market for 35 years. PHLY is committed to offering long-term rate stability, even as economic and claims trends start to push premiums upwards. They have an appetite for all sorts of companies, large and small, for-profit and nonprofit alike.

“We’ve been at this game for a long time and are one of the most tenured underwriters in this space,” Schalick said. “We like to stay very consistent.”

PHLY has worked with both for-profit and non-profit on management liability policies. With dedicated M&PL teams throughout the company’s 13 regions, PHLY provides the support agents and brokers are looking for on behalf of their clients. The teams know their regions well and can respond to local trends. They’re also dedicated to making the renewal process as easy as possible for their partners and policyholders.

“We have real confidence in our results, so we focus a lot on making the renewal experience as painless as possible for all agents and insureds,” Schalick said.

The company is also investing in tools to help insureds avoid losses. Earlier this year, they launched a new online risk management platform, PHLYGateway, which offers resources for insureds on how to create an employee handbook and trainings on issues such as recognizing workplace sexual harassment and discrimination.

If insureds have questions, they can consult a Best Practices Help Line, provided via the platform. That way, they can get on the spot risk management guidance to help them prevent claims.

To learn more, visit: https://www.phly.com/mplDivision/managementLiability/default.aspx.

This article was produced by the R&I Brand Studio, a unit of the advertising department of Risk & Insurance, in collaboration with Philadelphia Insurance Companies. The editorial staff of Risk & Insurance had no role in its preparation.