Technology tools can help risk managers and their organizations better manage large property losses and claims, panelists said during a session Tuesday at the Risk & Insurance Management Society Inc.’s Riskworld annual conference.

Business continuity planning and strong partnerships with insurers are also critical to help them mitigate the impact of large catastrophic losses, such as fires, they said.

Technology is playing a huge role in the claims and risk management world today, said Danny Miller, Dallas-based executive vice president, loss adjustment at Sedgwick Claims Management Services Inc.

For example, certain aspects of technology benefited the process and adjudication of a claim following a 2021 fire at a QVC Inc. distribution center in Rocky Mount, North Carolina, Mr. Miller said.

The fire, which broke out Dec. 18, 2021, and smoldered for about 30 days, resulted in one fatality and heavily damaged the distribution center.

Satellite imagery, drones and social media are among the technologies that risk managers can leverage to manage a loss, said Jennifer Reno, West Chester, Pennsylvania-based global risk manager for QVC Inc.

“We had the opportunity to utilize drones to look at the location itself to get an understanding of how far afield the fire really was, looking at it from a bird’s eye vantage point,” Ms. Reno said.

Drones were also deployed to look at the tops of 700 trailers parked at the site, many of which contained customer returns and were damaged by the fire, she said.

Heavy equipment appraisers are not permitted to go on top of a trailer, so getting an accurate record of the trailers’ structure and any fire damage via drone footage was helpful, she said.

Social media monitoring can help organizations mitigate reputational risks when a large loss occurs, though it may also expose them to some risks, Ms. Reno said.

Communications staff initially reported on social media that all employees were safe and sound, but later learned they misspoke, she said.

Through social media monitoring they saw a post from a family member about a missing relative, which led them to review how many employees and contractors were in the building at the time of the fire.