5-Minute Guide: Top 10 Emerging Workplace Safety Strategies & Tech
5-Minute Guide to Safety Management - The Top-10 Emerging Workplace Safety Strategies & Technologies
Intended Audience:Business Managers, Compliance Managers & Safety Personnel.
Why This is Important to Businesses:
These new safety management innovations can change the way that organizations look at safety from a reactive, checklist approach to proactive thinking by predicting hazards and worker behavior that can lead to accidents.
The initial procurement expenses of this emerging safety innovations can be offset by their cost savings potential by avoiding losses.
They are adoptive to the rapidly changing modern workplace to include remote work, robotics, employee upskilling and data driven decision making.
They can rapidly adapt to changing business models such as increasing the use of contractors or the implementing more automated work processes.
The Top-10 Emerging Safety Strategies & Technologies:
A Virtual Safety Assistant allows managers and safety personnel to use a mobile device such as an iPhone or iPad that has been specifically downloaded with a number of safety & OSHA compliance related applications. These can include programs that can assist in the conducting of Safety Training, Noise Measurement, Heat Measuring, contain a complete Safety Data Sheets, allows for the Quick Referencing of OSHA Regulations and Self-Inspection Checklists, just to name a few. The chief advantage is that it allows the user to work away from the office with the same safety resources that they have in the office. A disadvantage is that it may cause the user to focus more on the technology and less on their own decision making abilities.
Hazard Recognition Awards are those that identify employees that detect and report unsafe working conditions or work practices by offering such incentives as gift cards or company branded apparel like caps and jackets. The primary advantage of this kind of award program is that it provides an incentive for a worker to proactively identifying workplace hazards thereby reducing injury risks. The main disadvantage is that it may cause workers to report trivial hazards because they are focusing more on the rewards rather than the importance of hazard recognition.
Virtual Reality Safety Training uses AI based workplace hazard simulations that catches the worker’s attention by the use of realistic computer simulations such as safe lifting techniques or the visual detection of slips, trips and fall hazards. The simulations can be matched to simulate the actual workplace layout and working conditions. Its chief value is the ability draw a worker into very realistic training scenarios that can challenge them more than conventional safety training like sitting in a classroom or reading safety information. Its main disadvantage is the high initial startup costs.
Adaptive Learning Platforms are computer based software that formats safety training to an individual’s gender, age, personality, experience level, learning and language skills. The main advantage of an adaptive learning platform is that can analyze the worker’s learning performance in real time and the adjust the scope of that training according. The primary disadvantage is the high startup costs.
Wearable Safety Technology primarily consists of smart watches and phones that are capable of sending management an alert if a worker falls, becomes motionless after a period of time, or has a high impact blow to their body. Smart watches can monitor body health to include heart rate, blood pressure and body temperature. While its main value is to notify management to serious worker problems, it can also serve to locate the position of a missing worker to within 10 to 15-feet. Since this technology hasn’t fully matured, it can still be subject to false alarms and inaccurate data.
Smart Facility Sensors are those that can provide real time monitoring of facility temperature, humidity, indoor air quality, lighting levels, noise levels and even identify malfunctioning or overheating equipment. They are usually ceiling or wall mounted and can operate faster and more accurately than humans carrying handheld sensors. Smart, remote sensors don’t need expensive hardwiring as they can communicate with each other or a base station wirelessly. Their main disadvantages are the high upfront costs and periodic maintenance needs such as changing the batteries and the periodic cleaning of the sensor head lenses.
Safety Performance Dashboard Reports are those that can track such metrics as a facility’s accident rates, near miss events and safety inspection results into a format that is consists primarily of charts & graphs. They can transform complex data sets such as insurance loss runs into a more easily understandable format. Consequently, they keep written text to a minimum and allows for management to draw their own conclusions quickly & accurately. Its main disadvantage is that it may subject the reader to visual data overload or over reliance on the data metrics.
Augmented PPE incorporates sensors such hearing protection that blocks out harmful noise but allows for normal voice conservations, respirators that measure air quality in realtime and high visibility LED vests and safety hats. A particularly promising device is augmented safety glasses that project a heads-up display that can allow the reader to view a variety of visual information such as safety instructions. The chief advantage of augmented PPE is that it helps the worker anticipate hazards rather than just reacting to them. Cost considerations are the main disadvantage as Augmented PPE can be 10-times more expensive than conventional PPE.
Employee Behavioral Metrics provides data on such things as a worker’s attendance, history of injury & near miss events, individual PPE usage rates and participation in safety training classes, to name a few. This can provide valuable assistance to management in making safety related personnel decisions more crafted to the best interests of the department, team or the individual. The main disadvantage is that managers can misinterpret the data and draw the wrong conclusions.
Psychological Profile Testing can be administered online and can identify such human factors as an individual’s risk taking compared to risk avoidance, adaptability to work with a team, rule following compliance and the how they valuing of the safety of others. Besides its predictive insights, it can allow management to be fit the right employee to the job. Its primary disadvantage is the potential for inaccurate profiling which can be influenced by the subject’s misunderstanding of the questions and the impact of emotional factors like stress.
Final Takeaway:
By far and way, the greatest improvements that these new innovations are introducing is the shift from reactive to predictive workplace safety.
For Additional Information or questions on this Subject, Contact Centurion’s Loss Control Manager, Rob Brooks, at:
(606)434-0739
Disclaimer:
This publication is intended for general educational purposes only, and is not to be considered as business, financial or legal advice.
Readers should consult with appropriate professionals before making any decisions based on the content of this newsletter.
Some of the data &/or statistics referenced within were obtained using artificial intelligence.
Centurion Insurance Services and the writer make no guarantees or warranties of any kind, express or implied, about the reliability, completeness or suitability of the information contained herein.
We will not be liable for any losses or damages arising from the use of the information provided.
