As employers continue to spend billions of dollars annually on worker safety programs, injury rates over the past several years have remained stagnant. That statistical plateau has leaders in the safety industry tapping into another resource to take worker safety to the next level: the workers themselves.
The announced partnership between innovation-focused safety gear manufacturer Ergodyne and IoT safety platform developer Corvex Connected Safety aims to do just that by connecting smart Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) to a platform focused on producing real-time data to and from workers relating to the key safety categories of PPE management, risk management, safety communications and worker engagement.
“Our goal has always been to encourage a proactive attitude toward safety among workers and safety professionals, which is why we put so much focus on designing gear that not only protects, but performs exceptionally well, and looks good and feels good to boot,” says Tom Votel, president and CEO of Ergodyne. “For the past three years, we have been actively exploring opportunities to take our products to the next level: from inert to intelligent and connected. We see it as the next logical step in our somewhat utopian-sounding, but very real mission of driving toward zero workplace injuries.”
“Advancements in sensor technologies and IoT ecosystems have opened the door to obtaining real-time data at the point of safety –- the worker. Safety happens in real time, and the data we use to prevent injuries should also be the same,” says Ted Smith, CEO of Corvex.
Leveraging intelligent safety gear to accelerate meaningful communication between safety professionals and workers –- and the time it takes to act upon it –- means not only preventing injuries, but, from a very practical business sense, reducing costs and increasing productivity.
“We’re still in the early stages, but already working diligently on building connected intelligent safety solutions that are pretty exciting,” says Votel. “At the same time, we’re aware that this exciting leap forward needs to be grounded in real world applications. Corvex has leadership with great experience and, critically, they are very practically minded thinkers. That fits with us perfectly, so stay tuned.”