Are You Ready For Workforce Wearables? The New Era Of Industrial Safety.
October 27, 2020
If you are contemplating using wearable technology to improve your industrial worker safety program, you’ve likely thought about many of these questions already. There are some typical considerations before deployment and implementation, to determine readiness and suitability in supporting the achievement of your objectives. Take a look through these questions and reach out when you’re ready for more information.
- What exactly are you trying to achieve?
What goals do you have for your safety program? Examples of where wearable tech may help, include – easy access to leading indicator EHS data, real-time hazard and trend identification, improving front line communication and near-miss reporting, proactively addressing risks based on data, enhancing culture and mindfulness improving safety management efficiency and effectiveness. - Does your organization have an appetite for data, and the willingness to act on it?
Data intelligence is great, especially when it has predictive value for the health and safety of workers. But, leaders have to do something with it. Conducting observations, investigations, documenting and tracking, and having good conversations with front line workers to ask and understand what exposures exist are all meaningful ways of taking action on data gathered. - Is gaining support with workers and/or union leaders relatively easy for your health and safety initiatives?
Communicating what the wearables are gathering, and what they’re not, is important. The intent is not to track people or productivity, or to hold workers accountable by using data punitively. Rather, communicating your mission of real-time identification of hazards, understanding exposures, and tracking effectiveness of safety management is a mission all should be in agreement with. - How will the wearables be perceived by workers?
Typically if communicated effectively upfront, wearing a MākuSafe armband is very well received. It is not a hindrance to work, it’s comfortable and doesn’t distract with haptic feedback. Further, MākuSafe can help demonstrate a high degree of respect for worker privacy, in that there is nothing personal collected, no biometrics, and no continuous tracking. - What’s your company culture like?
Does your organization value the opportunity to have a conversation with the front line worker? Do you find it easy to gain support for new initiatives that protect workers? - Can your team effectively manage a pilot deployment in your organization?
We’ll easily handle configuration, install and set up usually in a half day’s time, but engagement with some of your leaders is a necessity. Our client success team can aid in worker orientation, software training for supervisors, and support your efforts with scheduled touch-points to discuss insights and findings and get you up to speed. We can outline various facets that your team will need to appoint owners for – like making sure workers are checking out wearable devices daily. MākuSafe offers a high level of service to help onboard and manage each launch. - As a safety professional, are you ready to work smarter, not harder? MākuSafe’s data and analytics dashboard, called MākuSmart, is specifically designed to provide actionable insights without making the job harder. You don’t need to be a data scientist to immediately understand what, where, who. Easy access for all leaders/supervisors who need it, available on any device.
- Do you know what metrics will be measured and define success for your program?
Is your goal to reduce worker injury claims? Identify hazards, document, track controls, and monitor remediation results? Have more front line conversations? Are you focused on capturing more “near-misses?” Is talent acquisition or worker retention part of your objectives? - What kind of budget are you willing to allocate to safety tech?
MākuSafe’s solution involves the installation of a base station that contains 20 wearable devices that can be worn for up to two shifts. We make this available on a subscription basis, which typically is all-inclusive (except possibly for travel, customization, integrations, etc.). No additional fees for data/software access. A worker may be covered for as little as $11/month. - Do you have connected factory systems that need to be integrated? Our solution platform was designed from inception with the idea of exchanging data, and the connected worker, in mind. Systems to think about include:
– wall mounted systems
– inspection software
– building security (keypads & locks)
– HVAC
– Maintenance systems
– Time clock systems
– Lock out and tag out systems
– IoT enabled light curtains
– Risk improvement software
– Training software/platforms - Are you considering wearable tech to make your job easier?
– Compliance: Our safety management software aids reporting and measurement as well as documentation and more.
– Reduce losses and costs: Identify patterns of slips/trips/falls and gain optics into environmental issues before workers are impacted. Capture more “near-misses” or almost-incidents, and observations from the front lines.
– Identify repetitive motion: Better understand ergo concerns leading to exertion and strains, before injuries occur.
– Help manage spread of COVID-19: Contact tracing and worker density mapping features are aimed at COVID management and stopping the spread.
At MākuSafe, our mission is to send more workers home safely at the end of each workday. We would love the opportunity to work with you to protect your workers and make it possible to focus on easy access to leading indicator data with predictive value. If you took the time to review the questions above, we invite you to take a deeper look at what MākuSafe can do for your safety program with a 10-minute demo. Let’s talk safety!
