Insurance giant Axa UK is providing body cameras to contractors to keep a record of remediation work being carried out on buildings that contain flammable cladding and insulation.
The recordings from the body cameras will provide detailed information about materials used, together with evidence of working practices and site management for the areas being refurbished.
Axa UK notes that “flammable insulation and poor workmanship can be hidden beneath external cladding, and evidence of what has been done has often been impossible to trace once work is completed and contractors have left site”.
Contractors will be supplied with Motorola Solutions VT100 body cameras when responding to incidents. The video can be live-streamed if required, so contractors can liaise directly with Axa risk engineers.
All records are stored securely in the cloud, ensuring material captured cannot be edited or tampered with. This technology is trusted by the UK’s emergency services and law enforcement organisations across the globe.
Visual proof
Dougie Barnett, Axa commercial director of customer risk management, explained: “Our business resilience team has been capturing videos of commercial risks [using body cameras] for the past three years for underwriters to review, so it made sense to extend this practice to these building remediations.
“It means underwriters can clearly see what’s been done when they assess risk and provide a quote with confidence, both now and in the future.”
He added: “We’ll also have evidence of how protection systems such as sprinklers and alarms are installed, with this weekly video capture supplementing our regular visits to individual sites.
“When the work is completed, it should result in the remediated buildings being an improved risk, which will have a positive impact on policy premiums, so it’s important for everyone involved in the process to have a clear view of what’s happening.”
Axa UK is funding this initiative.
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