QBE Ventures is investing in occupational health and safety provider YellowBird, which has created a marketplace for risk assessment and remediation services. 

QBE says its Australian division has invested more than $20 million helping local businesses look after employees, and its US division has a similar program. 

“The missing piece is a scalable, efficient way to deliver EHS (Environment, Health & Safety) services to all QBE business customers,” it says. “Businesses willing to engage in understanding their risks, and who seek services to reduce these, represent a lower loss ratio.”  

Arizona-based YellowBird allows businesses to quickly connect with vetted risk and safety experts across the US. The name is a tribute to canaries used by miners to detect poisonous gases or a fall in oxygen levels. 

Its client list includes major brands across technology, manufacturing and insurance, and QBE says the speed of its growth “speaks to the gap in the market for a quality-assured marketplace of specialists available on demand”. 

YellowBird helps address a chronic talent shortage and skills mismatch in workplace safety, risk identification and mitigation, it says. 

“Their vision leads to a virtuous loop of more supply of suitably qualified professionals, more capacity to meet demand for safety and risk assessments, a reduction in dangerous and avoidable workplace accidents, and more risk conscious workplace cultures – which is proven to reduce loss ratios for insurers.”