Increasing safety is a key component of business efficiency. Yet, over half of small and mid-sized businesses don’t employ a dedicated safety professional—and more than a third do not offer formal safety training at all, according to Nationwide’s Annual Business Owner Survey.

Simply put, the reason for this oversight is that many business owners just don’t have the time to train and educate their staff on how to keep their staff and premises safe. But considering 32% of all business owners and 71% of millennial business owners now use connected technology in their safety efforts, according to Nationwide, it appears that many businesses are now turning to technology as the solution.

“Small business owners more and more are looking to technology to enhance their safety programs and ultimately make their business operations more efficient,” says Tony Fenton, vice president of Commercial Lines Product & Underwriting with Nationwide. “We’re seeing that adoption continue to take hold.”

As vehicle telematics, drones and wearable tech become common in protecting assets and employees, 16% of all business owners and 36% of millennial business owners are also using building sensors to detect dangerous temperature shifts, levels of humidity, water leaks and equipment failure, Nationwide reports.

“The smaller business owner isn’t going to have someone on the premises 24/7, but having a sensor to trigger an alert in the event of a leak can really be a gamechanger,” Fenton says. “It allows the business owner to be in an ‘iKnow’ environment.”

If a business owner wanted to install building sensors in their property, “there’s really no impediment,” Fenton says. “With technology costs moving down, and with carriers and distribution partners all becoming more and more expert in this space, now’s the time to evaluate if this is an appropriate move.”

While all segments can take advantage of building sensors, Fenton cites both commercial properties and homeowners as particularly “great opportunities.” Building sensors in residential properties have the potential to impact the industry by creating safer homes, reducing the severity of claims and improving relationships with service providers.

Service Legends, a heating, cooling and ventilation specialist company based in Des Moines, Iowa, has already embraced technology in business operations after installing vehicle telematics software across its 40-vehicle fleet to improve labor efficiency and promote safe driving practices—and building sensors could be next.

“There are monitoring systems that are wired right into the furnace, and it’s a live thing,” says Ryan Hudson, Service Legends purchasing and delivery manager. “If it’s not cooling properly or if it recognizes a safety issue, such as an electrical problem or a leak, it would let us know.”

The shift from a client having to notice an issue and call a technician, versus a service professional receiving an alert through a device and getting in touch with the client, could be transformative in reducing a property owner’s exposures. “That’s a mindset that has never really been there in the home services industry,” Hudson says. “Technology can get us to that point where we can be preventative and proactive.”

But from a residential perspective, “the pricing of the technology” hasn’t yet reached a point where in-home sensors can become the norm, according to Hudson: “That needs to be a little more developed to make it something that we can sell more to homeowners.”

Will Jonesis IA assistant editor.