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Dr. William Frederick,
first Director of the
Research Institute
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In 1954, Liberty Mutual opened the Research Institute for Safety in Hopkinton, Massachusetts, to accommodate its growing research program. The research facility housed two main laboratories. One was dedicated to investigating industrial accident hazards, such as those associated with industrial machinery use and manual materials handling. The other laboratory focused on industrial hygiene research and field services for the control of dust, vapors and noise in industrial settings. The staff included Director of Research, William S. Frederick, M.D., Ph.D., a health physicist, a radiation specialist, three acoustical engineers, and a supervisor of industrial hygiene field services. The new laboratories enabled researchers to expand their investigations into several new research areas, including automotive safety, ergonomics, and rehabilitation.
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Survival Car
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| An original driver training class |
While the Research Institute conducted its investigative programs, it continued to forge ahead with the development of safety innovations, some of which had a major impact on the broader community. In the early 1950s, Liberty Mutual partnered with Cornell University to develop Survival Cars I and II. These prototype cars helped illustrate to the world how safety features such as collapsible steering columns, arm and headrests, air bags, and seatbelts could reduce crash-related injuries and save lives. Seventeen of the then innovative features have since become standard in all U.S. automobiles.
As an added component of its driver safety program, the Hopkinton site added an outdoor, instrumented driving track in 1959. Researchers used the track to test new vehicle safety devices and to conduct driver safety research and training. Today this test area facilitates the in-vehicle training segment of the Liberty Mutual Decision Driving Program
TM — the first program of its kind operated by an insurance company. Over the years, thousands of commercial vehicle driver trainers have attended the award-winning program.
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The Boston ElbowTM
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In the 1960s, the Research Institute worked with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard Medical School to develop the Boston Elbow
TM — the first battery-powered prosthetic elbow to restore function to upper extremity amputees. The Boston Elbow's myoelectric capabilities captured muscle signals from the skin surface to control the speed and direction of the limb, greatly improving the quality of life for the people who used it. Over the years, Liberty Mutual improved the original design, incorporating new technologies and expanding the Boston Elbow's capabilities. In 2001, Liberty Mutual introduced the Boston Digital Arm
TM, the first microcomputer-based prosthetic elbow on the market.
Next, "Research Breakthroughs"