Innovations In Safety Equipment: What’s Next For The Industry?
It is critical that the safety industry is alive to new innovations, in order that it is reactive to new threats, but also to remain effective in protecting people in an ever-evolving landscape. Standards need to be so high in the safety sector that products are always being improved and new methods are being discovered to make specific tasks safer and to reduce the risk of inherent hazards.
Here we have put together a list of the most recent innovations in safety equipment, which generally follow technology trends in other industry sectors, namely the use of sensors, automation, AI and data analysis.
- Wearable technology
The first bracket of innovative technology relates to items which a user can wear to track their own personal health, or which can be monitored by rescue teams on standby. This uses smart sensors which can track heart rate and fatigue, body temperature and hydration levels. It can also carry out environmental monitoring, such as air quality, humidity and temperature, which can also be tracked by rescue teams. Wearable proximity alerts can be also be useful in situations where a user is working in the dark or in conditions where vision is very limited. Another form of wearable technology is regarding personal protective equipment. This can now be used to protect people from conditions such as overheating, via cooling vests and helmets.
- Automation and robotics
Automation is used in many different sectors to replace human involvement, and while that might be a cost-saving factor in many cases, in the safety sector it removes the potential of somebody being exposed to a hazardous situation. Robotics and automation can be used to reduce hazardous tasks, such as working at heights, working in high temperatures, working in toxic air quality and working with repetitive tasks. AI algorithms can also be used to analyse camera footage and to alert people to potential hazards, while drones can be used to carry out aerial inspections and sensor data used to identify where unsafe conditions may exist. This all combines to remove the human element from the most hazardous potential conditions and situations.
- AR and VR
Augmented reality and virtual reality are commonly used in gaming but are increasingly being adopted for more constructive purposes, and creating simulation programmes to offer more immersive safety training is one of those. AR and VR can be adapted to simulate high risk scenarios in order to establish where risks and hazards are too high, while remote guidance using AR and VR can also be used to monitor people in real-time and to guide them safely through hazardous situations.
- Analysis
There are countless ways to use and manipulate data and in a safety situation we can now use it for predictive analysis. In other words, data can be used in the risk assessment process to predict how hazardous a process or operation might be. Data modelling gives us a good indication where risks may be too high, or can highlight where specific controls need to be implemented, giving us more visibility of potential risks and removing the subjective element of chance and replacing it with probability.
High quality safety equipment from Civil Safety
At Civil Safety we have vast experience of the high standards required of safety equipment and the demands required of it. We have supplied and serviced safety equipment for some of the most challenging environments, such as confined spaces, underwater, at height and deep underground. We are always looking at new technologies and finding new and innovative ways to adopt technology to improve safety equipment and ultimately make tasks even safer. In some situations there will always be a risk factor, but with safety equipment from Civil Safety we can help you adequately control that, and with new technology evolving all the time, that element of control will keep improving in the future.
