6 Ways Artificial Intelligence is Shaping The Future of Workplace Safety

With the rise of AI-powered workplace software, people wonder what will be the next big thing. Here are six interesting ways Artificial Intelligence is enhancing safety in the workplace.

The growing advancement in artificial intelligence has shown the possibility of harnessing technology to keep our workplaces safe, improve employee health, and cut costs. And many organizations are starting to adopt this new approach to safety.

In this survey, 86% of respondents said that AI was a mainstream technology in their company, and technologies like video analytics, machine learning, natural language processing, and facial recognition have been used to enhance security in the workplace.

But do you know exactly how these technologies are changing our approach to employee health and safety?

Let me show you.

Firstly, Ai-assisted video analytics are used to detect unsafe behaviors before it causes injury.

Employees in manufacturing and production facilities experience injuries of all kinds and near-misses daily due to lack of concentration, negligence, or fatigue.

Video analytics will increase an employee’s awareness of hazardous activities that may lead to workplace injury.

The technology uses a machine-learning algorithm to analyze digital video signals, and identify and alert employees when it detects dangerous activities to enhance safety at work.

For example, an employee may approach an area where gloves are required without one, drive the freight above recommended speed level, or walk along a motorized path.

With AI-assisted cameras installed, dangerous activities will be eliminated before they can cause any harm. Companies like BeGlobalSafety are developing remotely deployable sensors that detect, report, and analyze safety incidents in facilities.

Also, this technology is used to curb the spread of the Covid-19 virus in the workplace, where AI cameras are installed to detect and report events that do not comply with Covid-19 safety regulations.

For instance, the camera sensors may be programmed to raise the alarm if an employee is not wearing a face mask.

Extensively, the program can be enhanced to work seamlessly with public health databases such as the NHS to detect unvaccinated employees with facial recognition systems.

AI-assisted video analytics is an innovative approach to achieving a safer workplace. And, as the industry is projected to reach a $13billion evaluation in 2027, we can expect more advanced workplace safety technologies in the future.

AI-powered food processing equipment reduces employee injuries and increases food safety in Restaurants.

A safe kitchen serves safe meals. This is especially true of modern restaurants where AI gadgets can dictate recipes, take orders, and even serve meals with minimal human interaction.

Despite that, the health and safety of restaurant employees remain a pressing issue across the world. And sadly, lesser attention is given to these issues, unlike the manufacturing enterprise.

This research found that cuts, punctures, scrapes, bruises, burns, muscle strain or sprain from slips and falls, and other related injuries account for up to 265 days of lost time in restaurants. And a whopping $198.4 million in paid loss- for slips and falls only.

A report from Statista also shows that 74% of restaurant-goers think food poisoning is common in restaurants. Food poisoning becomes prevalent when food processing equipment is not cleaned correctly or chefs fail to practice kitchen hygiene.

To reduce the cost of injuries and the risk of a bad reputation, restaurant operators can work with AI tools that prevent employee injuries and guarantee safe food processing.

An example of such a tool is SOCIP or Self-Optimising Clean-In-Place. It is the AI machine that can clean food processing equipment invented by developers at The University of Nottingham.

This machine uses ultrasonic sound waves to determine the presence of debris and optical fluorescence imaging to capture even the tiniest dirt in the tightest corners of large food processors.

Initially, restaurant operators must disengage large food processors to wash it manually. They get cut, bruised, or have muscle sprains when they do that.

But, with SOCIP, they can wash the food processors faster and cleaner without losing a screw. In fact, cleaning with SOCIP consumes 40% less water. In the UK, SOCIP is helping restaurant businesses save over £100 million.

AI applications help safety managers develop a more effective ergonomic design.

An effective ergonomic design can prevent workplace injuries since many employees get injured from the use of improper equipment.

Workplace design impacts the productivity of workers. Therefore, an effective ergonomic design should follow a human-centered approach in which the equipment is designed to fit the worker, not the other way around.

However, designing a human-centered ergonomic workplace can be tricky for safety engineers because the workplace design and equipment vary from one organization to another. For instance, a construction company where the average worker’s age is 45 would require specialized tools, unlike a similar company with a younger age group.

Notably, AI tools can make this process less problematic. To illustrate this innovative solution, let’s take a look at the use of AI-assisted ergonomic design tools and exoskeletons in an industrial station.

An industrial exoskeleton is a wearable gadget that provides upper-body and hip support to prevent injuries for workers who carry out repetitive and strenuous tasks. These tasks cause more than one million cases of back injuries every year.

Before using exoskeletons, companies have to carry out expensive and time-consuming experiments to determine where exoskeletons could help reduce work-related back injuries.

This test is called the EMG test or Electromyography. And aside from the cost, it causes discomfort or pain to the workers because they will have needles inserted to determine signs of abnormal neuromuscular response.

In contrast, researchers from Vanderbilt University have developed an interactive online calculator that helps employers assess how and where exoskeletons should be deployed without EMG testing.

The software is called Exo-LiFFT, and it is currently in the Beta testing phase. It can revolutionize the ergonomic design process and significantly reduce injury risks in the workplace.

AI software will detect potential sickness before employees even realize it.

Manual covid 19 screening in large enterprises and factories is slow and causes traffic at entrances and exits.

Also, the thermal screening machine will not detect any fever if an employee takes a fever-reducing medication before going to work. And, if a worker develops sickness within the warehouse, they will spread it to their co-workers before it is detected.

But with the growth of AI-powered thermal devices in the workplace, the risk of spreading Covid-19 infection will reduce significantly. One of such innovative solutions is Thermy, developed by Bigmate, an Australian tech giant.

Thermy uses high-fidelity computer vision lenses and thermal sensors to scan up to 30 people in a second.

The scan detects body temperature and is updated 8.3 times every second. That way, it will notice a change in temperature over time if an employee has taken a fever-reducing medication.

AI will use an employee’s speech to detect potential safety issues.

Aside from detecting activities that may cause physical injury, AI can also prevent workplace injuries through a technology that analyses employee speech patterns.

Safety silence is when employees withhold safety issues like near-misses due to fear, embarrassment, and lack of knowledge. It is a critical contributor to injuries in the workplace. And most organizations have this problem.

Research shows that less than 5% of employees report workplace injuries. As a result, safety managers have cited the underreporting of safety incidents as a major hurdle to improving safety performance.

Thus, it is critical to deploy innovative technology to avoid the consequences of underreporting safety incidents. AI can use unique algorithms and natural language processing technology to analyze employee speech for keywords that could indicate an issue. Following workplace ethics, of course.

AI will help safety experts understand and analyze safety issues in the workplace.

The lack of knowledge of safety requirements, poor employee training, or written health and safety programs are common safety compliance issues. Consequently, organizations incur hefty fines. In the UK, for instance, more than £54.5 million worth of fines (PDF) were levied on companies that failed to comply with workplace health and safety regulations between 2018 and 2019.

Therefore, organizations must understand how to utilize AI-powered health and safety software to avoid heavy sanctions and rake in more profits. With AI applications, safety managers will not only be notified of near-miss incidents, for example. They will also get intelligent insights into utilizing this data to make the workplace safer.

The AI health and safety program collects safety reports with enhanced data visualization technology. After that, it will analyze each incident so that safety managers can understand the frequency of the incident within a period, the factors that contribute to its occurrence, and the potential cost of injuries incurred.

What’s more, it will also recommend safety training programs relevant to specific safety incidence through pattern recognition technology. If that’s not a next-level safety management program, I don’t know what is.

Conclusion

The future is here, and it’s amazing. With the help of artificial intelligence, we can detect unsafe behaviors before they cause injuries, reduce the number of cuts and bruises in restaurants, design ergonomics more effectively, and detect employee sickness early on. These are just a few ways that AI is making our lives safer and more accessible. Which application of AI do you love most?

Follow me for more fascinating examples of how AI is changing workplace safety. For safety professionals looking to get ahead of the curve, stay tuned — I’ll be releasing an article soon on how AI can help you become a better safety manager.

Thanks for reading!