Worksites are inherently hazardous environments; while many safety protocols exist, there is always room for improvement. The various heavy machinery and equipment, potentially dangerous chemicals and gases, workers from different companies crossing paths, and structures themselves can pose life-threatening challenges that site workers and facility owners must deal with to ensure safe performance.
Fortunately, over the years there has been an increase in safety technologies that have improved response to incidents and overall site safety. These innovations continue to minimize the occurrence of accidents, making worksites safer. Here are some important innovations that can improve safety in the industrial sector.
3-D scaffold design
Three-dimensional (3-D) scaffold designs are artificially intelligent processes that can provide insight for planning and managing projects more efficiently and economically, reducing hours spent constructing or modifying scaffolds. This reduces a scaffold builder's exposure to hazards such as working at heights and other dangers inherent to building and dismantling scaffolds.
The use of 3-D design facilitates collaboration. At any point in the project, the on-site installation can be checked against the 3-D model. Every component of the installation is contained within the model, providing an important quality control tool and point of reference for the client.
In addition, 3-D design can highlight safety features of the scaffold such as handrails, ladders and access points, as well as the location of yo-yos for scaffold users during the planning phase. Location-specific safety issues, such as "head knockers" or tripping hazards, can also be identified and planned prior to the installation. Ultimately, 3-D models can provide customers with better insight into their projects through more accurate documentation and the ability to simulate projects before they are built, allowing project teams to pre-plan for safety conditions and potential hazards earlier in the process.
QR codes
Quick response (QR) codes can be used to imbed information about hazards in the workplace. They can also be placed on-site at the location of the hazard, allowing a worker with a QR code reader to quickly scan a code and determine what safety or health hazard may be present and what steps should be taken to mitigate exposure.
As anyone with experience on-site will tell you, even the simplest things can sometimes go wrong, and these can soon add up to downtime and unwanted costs. Using QR codes to help workers avoid a hazard can help reduce downtime and increase safety.
Smart wearables
Smart wearables can track a worker's movements, monitor their posture and even monitor vital signs such as skin temperature, heart rate and respiration rate. These wearables are usually designed as a wrist band or safety vest and can include a hard hat that integrates GPS, sensors, real-time locating systems and wearable computers. Some of these devices have communication capabilities to expedite emergency response time with SOS alerts, should an emergency occur.
Smart wearables can provide constant monitoring of the workforce, managing high-heat exposure in working environments that exceed 90 degrees Fahrenheit. Smart wearables help ensure body temperatures are within the safe range, or they help measure biometric vitals for craftsmen working in confined spaces.
Smart devices for safety audits
Safety audits are an integral part of a health and safety program, as they measure what is important when ensuring safe work practices are followed. Safety audits provide the raw data for evaluation to determine trends in behavior that could impact the safety and well-being of the workforce. With the use of smart devices, such as phones or tablets, auditors are able to report their findings in real time, allowing much quicker analysis of safety data and response to alleviate any trends or issues found in the audits. A monthly report can easily become a daily report, and if it tracks leading or lagging indicators, preventive actions can be taken along with corrective actions.
These devices can be manufactured to be Class I Division 2 intrinsically safe, or they can be placed in intrinsically safe cases for use in the oil and gas industry.
Drones or UAVs
Drones, or unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), are being utilized to conduct inspections and identify potential hazards through aerial videography and photography, which offer different vantage points in real time. This allows safety concerns to be addressed that could have otherwise gone unnoticed. The use of drones or UAVs to view high elevations benefits the workforce. They don't have to work from heights and be exposed to potentially hazardous environments or jobs, such as vent inspections that are releasing gases. The drone's photography can also be used to create built-in models, which can keep the workforce up-to-date on changing work conditions as the project progresses.
Augmented reality
Augmented reality (AR) is useful in highlighting hazards in complicated areas of the project. This technology also allows managers to identify all the unusual or complex features and any unsafe points in the project schedule. AR can be seen in computer software on tablets or, in some cases, visualized through AR glasses, which allow supervision and inspectors to "see" a structure or scaffold while standing at an unraised site. In this fashion, both AR and virtual reality can be used to scan physical buildings against designs. This will help minimize risks and enhance the overall quality and safety of construction.
Virtual reality
Virtual reality (VR) simulators have been used for many years to train pilots, but now they're also used for safety training. Workers can be virtually exposed to severe environments, such as confined spaces, heights or around high-pressure equipment. Workers can experience all these things in a safe, controlled environment. VR simulations are used for abrasive blaster training, coating applicator spray-painting training and aerial lift operator training, to name a few. VR training limits issues resulting from lack of knowledge or exposure to hazardous environments, which could occur during traditional training sessions.
Robotics
Robotics remove the worker from hazardous work environments, reducing the risk of injury. Robotics limit workers' exposure to confined-space hazards when working on interiors of tanks or vessels. When the project requires working at heights, such as the side of a tank or ship hull, robotics will limit risk to the worker as well.
Robotics can be especially effective in the abrasive blasting and waterjetting trades, where high pressure and blast media create very hazardous conditions. In addition, robotic abrasive blasting with a vacuum system can mitigate exposure to respirable particulates found in the dust created while blasting.
Advanced training
Properly training employees should not be limited to the onboarding process. It should also serve as an absolutely vital component to ongoing workplace safety. Not only will all employees be on the same page of both federal and company regulations, but training modules will provide a platform to hold everyone accountable as well. A comprehensive approach reduces the risk of liability, as it provides a level of transparency between the employer and employee on what guidelines and procedures are in place for safety. Additionally, this provides an accessible reference point to properly guide workers through the channels and steps necessary to complete a task.
One day, the industry will see the number of incidents hit zero. Until then, new technologies will need to be created and used to help make everyone safer.
For more information, visit www.brockgroup.com or call (281) 807-8200.
