Connected Safety Culture
How to leverage connected safety to reinforce a culture of safety.
- By Lorenza Ordonez
- Nov 08, 2023
Whether we realize it or not, safety technology is ubiquitous in our personal lives. Phones have apps that can send alerts when family members arrive to a destination safely. New cars have technology that can brake before the driver can react in emergency situations. And wearables can even detect medical events and send out “SOS” signals.
Connected safety solutions also have the potential to transform the workplace by protecting both employees and the bottom line. These solutions, including video analytics, sensors, wearables, robotics and other IoT devices, have emerged as a tech-enabled way to help savvy organizations build, establish, and maintain a culture of safety. This is especially important, considering that workplace injuries cost companies more than $167 billion in 2021, according to the National Safety Council.
Your organization likely already has some safety technology and technology-lead programs in place, but how do you use them to take your safety culture to the next level? Let’s break down the key innovations, how they work together, and how structuring an adequate pilot program can increase operational efficiencies, mitigate risk, and manage compliance for bottom line benefit.
Specific Technology Applications
Innovation abounds when it comes to safety technology. Here are some of the new and emerging technologies businesses are utilizing to power their safety efforts:
- Smart cameras can detect and analyze trip hazards or spills, evaluate occupancy in compliance with regulations, and assess ergonomics and PPE compliance. They can also be a valuable component of any security program. The data they collect can be used in combination with other IoT-driven applications or used as standalone insights.
- Wearable devices can perform a wide range of functions that impact worker safety. They can provide immediate haptic feedback if a user engages in unsafe motion that may cause injury and can also monitor worker location and exposure to unsafe conditions, and alert them if needed. For example, if a worker wanders into a dangerous area, or if carbon monoxide levels become too high, a wearable device can alert them that they need to leave. Wearables can also monitor biometric data, such as heart rate and temperature, and send alerts if they reach unsafe levels.
- Sensors can be used to monitor several environmental conditions, such as indoor air quality (IAQ), floor sweat detection (dewpoint) and temperature, among others. Sensors can also be added to equipment to provide notifications when they need to be taken out of service or inspected. The ability to consistently monitor the conditions around your employees can help your organization be proactive in detecting and responding to issues before they become a major safety hazard.
- Robots can handle repetitive, physically demanding or hazardous tasks. For example, a robot could perform measurements and inspections in environments that are too hot or potentially toxic, removing employees from those dangerous situations. Additionally, they can lift and move heavy objects around a warehouse floor, which can reduce the risk of worker fatigue and injury. As an added benefit, by taking on these tasks, robots can free workers up for other more skilled activities, which is critical as industries grapple with an ongoing labor shortage.
- Virtual reality (VR) can be used for safety training purposes. A powerful tool that simulates real-world situations, VR allows workers to train on potentially hazardous scenarios in a safe and cost-effective manner.
- Safety management software helps businesses manage their safety program, assets, and track metrics associated with their environmental, health and safety (EHS) efforts. By integrating all key data feeds into one system, organizations can have a comprehensive view of their safety program, as well as any key metrics or goal progress.
This article originally appeared in the November/December 2023 issue of Occupational Health & Safety.