Three trends driving the transformation of safety in 2023

Not only has safety dramatically evolved from its early days, decades’ worth of advancements have made it far easier for companies to ensure a healthy and secure work environment. That is a good thing, of course, since occupational safety is a top priority for organisations that want to achieve operational success and profitability.

Like all technologies, safety-related technologies are moving fast, too. To get up to speed, Antonio Pereira from MSA Safety outlines his picks for the most relevant trends and best practices that will help organisations develop a next-level safety programme.

Trend one: Integrated connectivity and cutting-edge wearables

Taking action when seconds count. That is one of the most known topics in worker safety.

Portable gas detectors, for example, are essential for keeping workers safe and alerting them to hazardous and explosive gases. But for organisations wanting to monitor the safety of personnel working remotely, a standalone system that relies on workers feeding information back will not provide the whole picture.

To keep people safer no matter where they, or their supervisors, are located, organisations need to be able to connect workers to safety teams in real time. That is what is behind this first trend: combining a cloud-connected safety solution with smart devices to alert both supervisors and workers to potential dangers as and when they emerge.

Organisations can leverage technology in the form of connected and trusted wearables to keep their people and places safe. The most advanced wearables feature built-in CATM LTE cellular connectivity and deploy right out of the box in seconds with no waiting and no IT required.

Even better, cutting-edge wearables designed with fully integrated connectivity give off-site safety managers real-time visibility into critical data points to keep on-site workers safe.

Real-world application

Utilising MSA’s new ALTAIR^® io 4^TM Connected Gas Detector, in conjunction with MSA’s Grid platform, critical information, and actionable insights – including live location data, gas exposures, and man-down alerts – are available in real time, online, from the grid fleet manager. This enables operators to act, fast, as well as alerting other workers in the area.

The Altair io 4 also utilises MSA’s XCell^® sensors, meaning workers are alerted to threats twice as fast as the industry average, while the device’s LEDs visibly rein-force a culture of safety at a glance.

Trend two: Connectivity that provides data and analytics – allowing insights for improved safety outcomes

Data analytics is important to a safety programme because it defines how data is gathered, evaluated, and even presented to drive awareness and inspire action.

It not only helps to ensure compliance, but it also helps spot behaviours and trends that can directly impact safety outcomes.

A solution such as MSA’s Grid cloud-based services combines and distils data down into digestible chunks, helping safety professionals stay on top of their resources in the field in real time. In addition, Grid services’ intuitive design makes it easy to visualise and understand critical safety-related insights, putting safety professionals more in control of their gas detection programme.

Real-world application

Managing reporting when an incident takes place, or when an audit is called, is stressful and time consuming – traditionally involving a hunt for paper trails located on different sites, or sifting through lengthy Excel spreadsheets, potentially with incorrect or missing information.

Meanwhile, the MSA Grid streamlines data management and record-keeping onto an online platform – with all relevant data, including full device records, available online and readily searchable using smart filters – making reporting easier than ever.

And with MSA’s io Dock, working in conjunction with the always connected Altair io 4, testing data is uploaded to the Grid automatically, ensuring devices are achieving 100% compliance. They will even inform the need another order for more testing materials automatically.

Trend three: A behavioural-based, data-informed safety culture

Every world-class safety programme is marked by the need to continuously improve and maintain a focus on safety. Frankly, that is easier said than done. In to-day’s modern world, that can be especially challenging for safety professionals, particularly when they have multiple distractions and disruptions coming at them all day, every day.

It was this need to minimise interruptions and improve safety outcomes that fuelled this final trend: building and supporting a proactive, accountability-based, data-informed safety culture.

Smart, wearable device hardware combined with technologically advanced soft-ware can deliver critical data to enhance site safety and support operational efficiency. MSA+ is a comprehensive subscription programme that integrates hardware technology with cloud-based software and safety programme management services. It helps to promote collaboration, boost operational efficiency, and to improve worker accountability. And it does it all without expensive, upfront costs.

Real-world application

An MSA+ subscription takes the guesswork out of staying up to date. Not only does the Altair io 4 software and firmware update automatically, it will also send the latest over-the-air updates when they are released, reducing costly worker down time.

Furthermore, the collation of meaningful insights and actionable data is support-ed by MSA’s unique id Tag system. Streamlining the process of assigning a detection device to a worker, the Altair io 4 just requires a ‘tap’ with their unique Tag, when signing out the device – while returning it is as simple as a ‘click’ into the charging dock.

With this system, all historical data is directly associated with the individual worker – allowing people to see when the device is turned on, or off, and everything in between – ensuring that workers remain accountable and compliant. And with real-time data available online on the Grid, there is a continuous situational awareness, enabling the assessment and record of workers’ safety behaviours in the field.

Improving safety outcomes

Adopting any one of these trends would be a great start toward improving safety outcomes. Even better would be to embrace all three. Combined, these top technology trends give organisations a clear and better path toward a transformative, next-generation safety programme.

Read the article online at: https://www.lngindustry.com/special-reports/14022023/three-trends-driving-the-transformation-of-safety-in-2023/