RESPIRATORY HEALTH GAS SMART
Becca Dodds, Marketing Manager for Mobile Gas Management at Draeger Safety UK, explores the benefits of connected, digitalised safety systems for gas detection.
The rise of smart technology and AI within the field of safety offers a significant and positive step forward in the way we monitor workplace safety. The research for the most recent Dräger Safety and Health at Work report shows that three- quarters of respondents believe that AI and connected solutions have the potential to enhance workplace safety.
The field of gas detection is a good example of the way in which smart and connected technology is improving safety, through providing better visibility and management of airborne hazards in a wide range of settings, from the utilities industry to pharmaceuticals and food and beverage settings.
In environments where gas leaks pose a risk, the use of a connected and digitalised safety system offers continual monitoring of airborne hazards, with the potential to connect both area and portable systems, effectively creating one integrated, smart system. Such advances in technology, which underpin Dräger’s Gas Detection Connect (GDC) system, improve communication between devices and offer significant improvements in safeguarding personnel and sites.
These systems enable crucial safety information to be displayed immediately via an online dashboard, which can be accessed by anyone with the appropriate permissions, from anywhere in the world. As a result, workers on site, or managers in a remote or central location, can pinpoint the position of colleagues and the status of the environment in which they are working at any given moment, and as a result, better manage any airborne hazard incidents.
The benefits of having a connected system become even more important when we consider changing working practices and the increase in lone workers. In these situations, where solo personnel may be working remotely without direct supervision or colleagues in the immediate vicinity who could help if something goes wrong, the safety risks are more pronounced. In such situations, a connected gas safety system is not just helpful, it is vital.
This system means that once an alarm is activated by an individual’s portable gas monitoring device, colleagues and managers are immediately alerted to the hazard and receive all key information displayed on the management dashboard which allows rapid view of the full risk picture to enable a more thorough assessment of the risks and co-ordinated rescue. If required, emergency services can also be granted access to the data, to enable better emergency management and patient treatment plan.
Meanwhile, all data is logged for traceability, compliance, analysis, and to enable learnings to help prevent future incidents.
An additional advantage of such systems is that asset management becomes more efficient and cost-effective as each device is linked to a central control, allowing the calibration, test, battery and sensor status of equipment
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to be assessed centrally. This enables far easier and more flexible management of equipment safety and operational efficiencies using, for example, predictive maintenance.
Such a smart system is also advantageous from the point of view of being future proofed, with the capacity to add devices or adjust device networks as sites or businesses grow. Also, these smart systems are constantly evolving, additional functionalities are being developed and added to enhance safety and provide crucial insights.
As mentioned earlier, those who took part in the research for our annual safety and health report support an enhanced role for this type of technology, with more than half (57%) stating that they believe AI will be used as a preventative tool in reducing accidents in the workplace by identifying potential risks and highlighting exceptions in data.
At the same time, there remains a degree of caution in relation to such innovation, with two thirds (67%) of these respondents stating that the best balance in workplace safety is best achieved through a combination of AI technology and human supervisors.
One common query around this type of technology is the issue of data protection and cyber security, and this is where reliability and proven track record is essential. In the case of Dräger’s GDC, the use of the Microsoft Azure cloud platform, one of the most secure cloud platforms in the world which adheres to the highest standards of data protection, was an obvious choice to complement the seriousness with which Dräger approaches cyber security.
In addition, a range of measures have been incorporated within the system to ensure the protection and security of customers’ data, while allowing each organisation the ability to set who can view specific data sets. This included the decoupling of location information from each user’s personal data after one hour if there has no alarm event has taken place, plus high security standards naturally apply to access options, including encryption and configuration of the devices.
Smart and connected technology is being adopted across many different industries and areas of business, from cleantech, where smart technology is being incorporated at an early stage, to the water and utilities industry where many major operators are now starting to appreciate the benefits it offers.
There is little doubt that smart solutions, such as those outlined here in relation to airborne hazards, will become increasingly sophisticated as future technological innovation offers organisations the ability to improve the safety of the workforce of the future.
www.draeger.com/en_uk/Productfinder/portable-gas-detection
www.draeger.com
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