With the pandemic changing the way many businesses operate, the need for alternative safety training in the manufacturing, construction, and supply industries has rapidly increased. Coupled with work-related injuries costing businesses in the USA upwards of $163.9 billion a year, with the average slip/trip/fall injury costing $47k, and strain injury costing 34k, it's no wonder many employers are increasingly looking for cost-effective technology solutions to prevent these injuries from occurring.
For many in these industries, the handling of heavy and awkward objects is common, and often employees have time limits on the number of hours that can be worked without a break. Therefore, taking advantage of technological innovation in workplace safety tools is a smart business move that can minimize risk exposure, and promote staff wellbeing.
This is where wearable technology and AI-driven training come into play - both are key areas reshaping how businesses can deliver workplace safety quickly and effectively, with a more proactive and personalized approach. Along with providing a range of safety enhancements, wearables and AI technology can help employers set benchmarks for pre-employment screening, as well as standards for workers returning from injury.
Plus, preventative technology goes beyond just reducing the risk of accidents. It can also help minimize issues that arise from unhealthy work practices, such as bad posture and lack of exercise, by monitoring an individual’s movement and alerting them if they’ve been sitting in an unhealthy position for too long, or if they haven’t been mobile enough throughout the course of the day.
Preventure’s innovative smartphone app uses unique AI technology to automate the delivery of virtual safety training. Using risk identification and a behavioral change loop, wearable sensors record worker movement patterns, providing valid and reliable live feedback around injury risk, and helping to improve awareness among employees of the procedures they need to follow to remain safe in their workplace.
Here are just some of the reasons why businesses should consider the benefits of wearable and AI technology for workplace safety training, to help build preventative injury models:
Promotes Fatigue Prevention
Wearables can help prevent fatigue-related accidents from occurring, by monitoring and providing alerts when an individual has reached a level of fatigue that places them at greater risk of having an accident. The Preventure.live app provides suggested adjustments to how users are performing a task (such as lifting boxes) to reduce tiredness and prevent injury. This type of data can easily be collected through sensors, without interrupting the employee’s day in any way.
Provides Tailored Training
AI technology can easily be adapted to an individual's preferred style of learning, tailoring training delivery to suit each employee’s strengths and achieve the best results. AI-based tutoring can easily identify gaps in an individual’s knowledge, as well as provide a more accurate assessment of their current level of expertise, meaning employees can be trained much more efficiently.
A Cost-Effective Solution
Building training programs can be a costly process for organizations. An AI-based system automatically creates or sources the requisite course content from Preventure’s extensive training content library, making it more efficient and cost-effective. An AI system can also locate and deliver the training information in a format that is easier for the workers to access and understand.
By using wearables and AI in the workplace, businesses can ensure accidents are prevented and policies are adhered to as much as possible, while also delivering an innovative, personalized approach to health and safety.
Source: National Safety Council - https://injuryfacts.nsc.org/work/costs/work-injury-costs/ and https://injuryfacts.nsc.org/work/costs/workers-compensation-costs/