Technology advances are IT initiatives in the workplace. You may need to be made aware of several kinds of technology in the workplace. Most of the companies are using technology for workplace health and safety. It helps them follow new rules and requirements. You must also know that technology has helped to avoid worker accidents and deaths. Many instruments are helping to increase workplace safety.
Top approaches for enhancing work safety with technology:
Some of the technology in the workplace is increasing worker productivity. For instance, integrating technology and new policies, like pay stub, into the organizational/HR system. Workplace technology and processes are also concerned with employee safety and health. Let us look into different practical ways to use technology to improve work safety.
Wearables:
This technology helps to reduce the frequency and severity of workplace injuries. They are of four different types:
- Physiological Monitoring- These devices check body temperature, heart rate, respiration, and other physiological parameters. They help to determine whether a worker is weary or stressed.
- Environmental Monitoring- This device can notify your personnel of hazardous air quality or temperature conditions.
- Proximity Detection- You can use these wearables by connecting them with personal protective equipment such as hard hats. It helps in preventing personnel from accessing dangerous areas.
- Exoskeletons and exo suits- These wearables can help avoid injuries and speed up the recovery of wounded workers. They provide a supportive force for physically demanding jobs like heavy lifting.
Data-driven ai:
AI vision technology is making workplaces safer. The data-driven AI is helping to develop proactive safety measures. You can include them in hiring procedures, return-to-work protocols, and injury prevention techniques. It results in a holistic safety strategy. A clothing firm illustrates the efficacy of data-driven AI. They established a wearable device program for new hires. They did it to reduce high staff turnover rates. They made ergonomic changes, such as shifting heavier goods to waist-level racking. They did it by using data from the wearables. This use of data-driven AI helped the firm provide a safer work environment. It helped in reducing worker strain and lowering turnover rates. The wearables improve safer work practices by enhancing awareness of dangerous motions. They provide real-time biofeedback.
Digital safety training:
You can use these training sessions to address health and safety issues. OSHA mandates you to keep records of your training, incidents, and injuries. There are many technological solutions present that make the procedure simple. The safety trainers can choose the frequency with which they deliver instruction. All the digital training is accessible on any mobile device. It helps employers to contact their workers in the field just in the same way as other employees. The digital training module is helpful in organizational growth. Any safety educators can keep track of whose training is due. They can also track who has completed which training. Employers may use digital safety training to create resources that interest their staff. It can be in the form of a movie, photo, or infographic.
VR (virtual reality):
Virtual reality has emerged as a popular new method of delivering safety instruction. You can place your employees in dangerous work settings without putting them in any danger. It is what virtual reality enables safety trainers to do. They may now receive more “hands-on” training, which is more beneficial than reading from a training handbook. You can also use VR treatment to treat post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). It helps the personnel who have seen terrible events or have experienced one in the workplace.
According to research, adults learn differently than children. Hence, experience-based training is preferable to classroom instruction (source).
Virtual reality provides employees with extra help in remembering their safety training. It will also help employers to save time and money. The construction business is making the most of virtual reality. Most construction businesses deal with field laborers. Removing these workers from their jobs to report for safety training takes time and money. Employees on the job site may continue to work while using their VR headsets to finish their training. Many individuals are anxious to accept VR, as well as many other technologies. It is a generational problem. Millennials are more open to technology in the workplace than the baby boomer generation.
Effective machines:
The use of effective machines can increase employee safety. Many devices like speedier hand tools and assembly line robots have replaced human labor. The majority of the time, these devices make work safer. Drones and robots can perform hazardous duties. The hand-operated technology enables employees to execute things faster and with less risk. Robots are being employed in manufacturing to provide a safer working environment. They automate repetitive operations that would otherwise need humans. Robots may help decrease dangers and risks in the production process. The risk related to occupations like welding or grinding becomes less. Yet, better efficiency comes at a cost. The powerful machines consume more energy in far less time than human employees. If that energy is not handled, it may be disastrous. You may consider the consequences of a chain vs. a hand saw accident. The greater rewards come with greater hazards. Today’s machinery needs established safety procedures for the employees who use them.
Safety applications:
The simplest way to use technology is to analyze and improve workplace safety with the help of smartphone apps. Many of the available applications help employees assess activities and working circumstances. They help to check noise dangers and encourage safe lifting. They also offer instructions on handling hazardous items. Some industry-specific applications also help firms remain compliant with occupational safety requirements.
Conclusion:
Technological innovation is helpful in every aspect of corporate operations. Nanotechnology, robots, and data analytics are helping firms improve workplace safety in many ways. It includes better monitoring employees’ health, reducing stress, and keeping them out of harm’s way. Safety technology may help in raising employee morale. They reduce attrition and limit corporate insurance costs, besides protecting workers.