Accidents at the workplace can have devastating consequences for employers and employees alike. According to the National Safety Council, a worker is injured every 7 seconds on the job. This amounts to about one hundred and four million hours of production days lost in a year, and the financial losses are too significant to be even calculated. Despite precautions, accidents can happen, and risk management remains a huge challenge across industries. This is where technology steps in. Smart wearable devices embedded with sensors, artificial intelligence, and machine learning can help improve the safety standards at your workplace. They also help increase worker productivity, reduce medical expenditure costs, and also help increase responsiveness in case of an accident. Here’s a look at some of the potential benefits of IoT devices and smart wearables in improving employee health and safety.
Accident prevention and training
Preventing accidents in the first place is better than responding to one that has already happened. IoT devices can help reduce instances of accidents by continuously monitoring the workplace environment. They can collect the data through sensors and identify any changes in the safety standards. Thus, they can alert the workers about a possible accident waiting to happen way before time. These devices prove extremely useful in sectors such as oil and gas, construction, and manufacturing, which see the highest number of deaths and injuries. For example, IoT solutions can detect any leakage in pipelines and warn the employees at the oil rig. This can avert an accident or help save countless lives if any mishap does happen.
Another potential benefit of IoT technology is its use for safety training. Augmented reality and virtual reality devices can be used to simulate hazardous working environments the workers might get exposed to. They can then be trained effectively regarding the response procedures to be carried out in such cases. This can be achieved without actually putting the lives of the employees at risk. And with advancements, these devices are only going to get better at what they do. The benefits of IoT devices and wearables in improving worker safety are limitless and will only increase with time.
Faster response
In case an accident does happen at your organization, IoT devices can help salvage the situation in the most optimal way. They can deploy automatic safety measures programmed for certain scenarios. As these devices monitor and analyze data in real-time, they can significantly improve responsiveness in case of unforeseen circumstances. Say, for instance, a worker falls from a height at a construction site or passes out while working, the smart wearable can detect such scenarios and immediately alert the safety staff for timely dispatch of medical aid. Increased responsiveness can prove to be the difference between life and death in certain scenarios. IoT devices can thus empower data-driven decision-making, improving the safety of the employees.
Enhance workers’ health and wellness
A fit employee is a productive employee. Internet of things and smart wearables can help monitor the overall health and wellness of workers. Smartwatches and fitness bands coupled with smart fitness tracking apps can be useful to monitor the health of workers outside working hours too. By analyzing the data collected by these smart devices, measures can be adopted to improve the health of employees. Dietary changes, workout programs, and lifestyle changes can be planned accordingly. Thus, smart devices can prove beneficial not only for maintaining worker safety but also to improve the overall health of the employees, making them more productive.
Employee safety is a major issue for a large number of industries. Businesses suffer huge losses in terms of finance as well as employee productivity due to safety issues. Asset monitoring and management, which includes machinery as well as employees, thus, becomes vital to maintain safety standards expected at the workplace. Crave Infotech’s cTrack can help managers monitor equipment, as well as employees, remotely in real-time. The workforce can be assured that the machinery they are working with is in optimum condition and doesn’t pose a safety or health hazard. Similarly, managers can track the health parameters of their employees, ensuring that the employees’ healthcare needs are given proper attention.
