In the past year, digital transformation across industries has picked up speed as a response to the challenges posed by COVID-19. Many companies took steps towards digitalizing not just customer-facing functions but also internal operations such as production, R&D and supply chain to automate processes and facilitate remote work to prevent any loss of productivity due to decreased workforce. As digital transformation usually requires an overhaul of processes and financial investment, it is expected that the increase in the interest in digitalization of processes will continue to grow and companies will add on to existing infrastructure to increase productivity and safety even further.
Throughout the pandemic, field staff in production facilities were significantly affected by the regulations and requirements of the new normal and controlled social life. Unable to work from home, field workers had to continue going to work where they are at risk of exposure to the virus. To facilitate social distancing and contact tracing, many facilities with critical field workforce adopted digital tools that improve efficiency and accuracy. In this context, IoT technologies that monitor proximity and collect data for creating filiation reports came into prominence and helped many businesses stay open and maintain a high level of efficiency in their processes.
Emergency Preparedness and Accident Prevention With IoT
The same infrastructure can also be used to increase the overall safety at work even after the pandemic. Employees at large and complex production facilities are prone to suffering from accidents and industrial injuries due to the complexity of the operations. According to a 2020 report by the Turkish government, an overwhelming majority of work accidents are observed in the manufacturing sector. However, with new innovative digital solutions, many of these accidents can be prevented. The same report on work health and safety reports two of the most commonly occured accident types are those involving loss of control of an equipment or machinery and an individual losing balance and falling. IoT and employee tracking systems are particularly effective in the prevention of these types of accidents and preparation for the aftermath. Equipped with a panic button that can be used to ask for emergency assistance, wearable devices with sensors can be used to monitor immobilized employees, prevent unauthorized entries into dangerous zones or collisions between machinery and pedestrians within the facilities. In the case of an accident or a company-wide emergency, devices facilitate tracking down the location of employees and emergency roll call.
Safe Steps for Comprehensive Employee Protection
Initially developed as a social distancing and contact tracing tool, Safe Steps has evolved into an all-in-one work health and safety tool that allows administrators to access all work health and safety functions from a single dashboard. Safe Steps’ new emergency features include devices with a panic button that notifies relevant parties through SMS, email and dashboard notifications with the location information when pressed, sensors that determine falls and stillness, records and notifies entries into restricted areas and creates heat maps to visualize zone occupancy within the building. For faster accident response, the devices can be used to track the location of users during evacuation and notify management when the employee reaches the designated safe zone. The new addition of the emergency module brings companies that use Safe Steps one step closer to achieving the highest level of safety and security for their employees.
Check out Safe Steps for Emergency and Contact Tracing.
