Page 10 - Occupational Health & Safety, December 2017

GAS DETECTION
The safety manager can have all of the information needed to respond in real time if a worker gets injured in a remote location, immediately organizing a rescue as soon as a “man down” alert is triggered.
send back manually gathered data; this reduces downtime. Second, workers gain new confidence that their safety equip- ment “has their backs,” as their exposure levels are closely monitored. Third, the newest integrated software platforms pro- vide interfaces and capabilities that give workers the ability to focus more closely on the job in hand; this enhances produc- tivity overall.
Experts say these capabilities can sig- nificantly increase total productivity. Stud- ies on the benefits of connected workers estimate that moving to these newer tech- nologies can raise output by about 8 or 9 percent.
It can also cut costs by approximately 7 to 8 percent, thus increasing profitability. In industrial operations, companies can see as much as a 300-basis-point boost to their bottom lines. OSHA and the National Safe- ty Council estimate that every $1 invest- ment in safety yields $5 in benefits. That’s a 500 percent return!
Thus, connected worker technologies enable businesses to make their workplaces safer and their operations more efficient while helping oil and gas firms reduce costly downtime and ease administrative burdens.
All these advantages add up. They can give companies that invest in connected worker safety a significant edge in a com- petitive marketplace.
Continuing Connectivity
With growth in technologies such as those enabling the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), connectivity in the oil and gas workplace should continue to prolifer- ate. Connected personal gas detectors, as well as integrated safety management and monitoring software, seem certain to be critical elements in a transformation aimed at enabling a safer, more productive work- ing world.
The expanding possibilities of con- nected worker technologies offer manag- ers and executives growing opportunities to reduce risk while increasing employee protection, as well as profitability and competitive advantage.
Prabhu Soundarrajan is global director of connected worker programs at Honey- well Industrial Safety, www.honeywell- safety.com.
ever, companies frequently use a variety of these monitors, sometimes from different suppliers, to measure gases under varying conditions. So users have often employed different stand-alone software packages for each product type. This makes it difficult to collect and interpret data aggregated from varying sources.
The Integrated Software Solution
Recently, safety equipment suppliers have developed integrated software platforms to address these concerns. Connecting dif- ferent devices, such as multiple types of gas detectors, these offerings provide mainte- nance engineers and safety managers alike with one shared, open-platform solution. So they can manage all their safety systems via one simple tool.
A common interface/visual display shows information from different types and brands of gas monitoring instru- mentation. It’s intuitive and user friendly: both simple to understand and easy to use. Such a software platform simplifies tasks such as configuration, testing, and maintenance.
For safety managers, it streamlines compliance administration, generating testing, certification, incident, and other key reports with ease. Plus, an automated notification alerts the manager when a product certification will expire. For main- tenance engineers, this new class of soft- ware platform provides intuitive device configuration using logical data groups; consistent procedures across all devices; and quick, easy device templates. These platforms also offer a comprehensive view of device health, consolidating calibration, bump, and event data.
Risk and Response
In perhaps their most critical function, these connected software solutions let safety managers access—in real time and from their office or other remote loca- tion—the data being collected by the portable devices worn by every worker. Example: Via Bluetooth, workers can automatically connect their portable gas
detectors to their smartphones. The safe- ty manager can then instantly see, via his or her own smartphone, tablet, laptop, etc., which worker is using which detec- tor. Thus wireless connectivity enables managers to closely monitor the safety of each individual worker.
In addition to Bluetooth, the latest de- vices also support Wi-Fi, mesh, and GPS wireless communication protocols. The best new software platforms interoperate with connected devices to provide safety alerts, two-way communications, and geo- location capabilities—all of obvious help during safety incidents. Critical data such as toxic gas readings, radiation levels, alerts, and worker whereabouts can be configured for automatic wireless transmission. The safety manager can have all of the infor- mation needed to respond in real time if a worker gets injured in a remote location, immediately organizing a rescue as soon as a “man down” alert is triggered.
This connectivity can even help pre- vent a safety incident in the first place. For instance, if gas levels are climbing too high, the safety manager can quickly alert a worker operating in a confined space to move out of danger.
Over the longer term, detector data can be archived and organized, so safety man- agers can pull reports on a given popula- tion of workers (or on a single individual) and monitor the patterns of their work- place exposures to hazardous substances over time. This capability can be crucial to detecting health concerns early enough for preventive measures. For example, a work- er’s exposure levels over a particular shift can be monitored. If potentially harmful patterns are detected, risks can be reduced by supplying the worker with extra person- al protective equipment (PPE); by modify- ing working procedures, durations, or loca- tions; or by changing process machinery.
Productivity and Profitability
This new dimension of safety monitoring and compliance also can boost produc- tivity in several ways. First, workers no longer need to stop every few minutes to
10 Occupational Health & Safety | DECEMBER 2017
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