Page 34 - OHS, October 2022

WEARABLE TECHNOLOGY
The Priceless Value of Implementing Safety Tech
Investing in the right technology can make for a more productive and safer workplace.
WBY SEAN PETTERSON
ith warehouse injuries rising every year, the standard safety and health measures such as PPE, training programs and daily stretching routines are no longer enough to keep workers safe. Prioritizing
the safety and health of your workers means focusing on where and when injuries are occurring and fixing the issue at the source. With musculoskeletal injuries accounting for the largest category of workplace injuries, it is vital for companies to look at their industrial athletes as humans and protect them.
It’s time for companies to begin implementing increased safety measures and correct dangerous employee behavior and movements to ensure workers’ safety and avoid hazardous mistakes moving forward. When companies invest in the right technology, the return will be a more productive and happier workforce as well as money saved on healthcare and workers’ compensation costs. With the economy resting (literally) on the back of industrial athletes, the time is now to make safety a top priority and begin a downward trend in workplace injuries and deaths—something that has increased in recent years.
The Enormous Cost of Worker Injuries
The total cost of workplace injuries in 2020 amounted to $163.9B in the U.S.,1 and there were 2.7B nonfatal workplace injuries and illnesses reported.2
The four most common workplace injuries include overexertion, slips, trips and falls, repetitive motion injuries and colliding with a stationary object or equipment.3 Many of these accidents result in ergonomic injuries, which impact the body’s movement or musculoskeletal system, often resulting in strains, sprains and pulls. These injuries can happen gradually or in an instant, and often result in workers being sent home early or missing work. Musculoskeletal injuries are responsible for almost 30 percent of all workers’ compensation costs, proving to be a major pain point to companies.4
But the cost to your workers? Their careers. For many that depend on their bodies for their livelihood, an injury can be career-ending. By implementing technology into the workplace, companies not only promote a positive safety culture that can mitigate risk for both you and your employees but also increase worker retention and happiness.
What is Wearable Safety Technology?
Wearable safety technology is any piece of technology that alerts the user of a potential or perceived risk in their operational environment and/or provides actionable solutions in close to real-time. These are used to ensure that each employee is using their body in the safest way to avoid accidents and injuries. These devices can be used in any workplace and can be anything from technology that shows when air quality has dipped below a preset level, a wearable sensor that buzzes if workers get too close or even something as simple as an app on your phone that initiates 911 calls when you are in danger or injured.
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One type of wearable technology is safety sensors, which are worn by workers and can detect a risk of injury as the worker moves throughout the warehouse. These sensors share real- time updates with managers on the warehouse floor so they can educate employees as they are working and correct issues as they occur, fixing their behavior before it turns into an injury. This can also help educate leadership on how best to train new employees and how often training sessions need to be implemented to ensure their current employees’ safety.
The data gathered from these devices can also determine where workers are slowing down throughout the warehouse or if there are certain areas that pose an increased risk. Management can then use this information to not only decrease injuries but also speed up warehouses and create a more efficient and productive workplace.
Looking at Safety as an Investment, Not an Expense
Companies need to view safety and the costs associated with keeping employees safe as an investment rather than an expense. The benefits of implementing this technology into your workplace is plentiful, with more efficient and accurate work practices, higher employee morale and less turnover and absenteeism. There is also money saved on worker’s comp, lost production time and lost employees as well as fines and citations for an unsafe workplace. Safety citations from OSHA can carry penalties from $390 to $136,000 or more per violation, which can be detrimental to the profit of a company.5
Lineage Logistics implemented wearable safety technology in a few of their warehouses and saw reduction in OSHA recordable incidents ranging from 30 percent to 62 percent.6 The data collected helped Lineage find safety opportunities throughout their processes to further ensure the safety of their workers. By leveraging the data gathered, they were able to become a safety resource for many of their customers that were facing similar challenges. A strong safety culture coupled with the data pulled from wearable safety technology allows Lineage’s industrial athletes to return home safely after work each day.
When looking at ROI from a safety perspective, it’s important to include both direct and indirect costs to fully understand the benefits. Safety sensors have proven injury reduction rates averaging 40 percent. When compared to the $163.9B annual workplace injury cost, plus OSHA expenses, a 40 percent injury reduction could easily save the private sector over $65B annually if universally integrated, and that’s the conservative estimate.
With an annual warehouse turnover rate of 43 percent in 2022, companies need to prioritize retention as part of their business plans.7 As we’ve dealt with the pandemic, supply chain issues and an increase in eCommerce spending, the demand for industrial athletes continues to rise. However, the cost of hiring and training new employees is significantly higher than retaining your current employees. Over the past ten years, the percentage of first-year employee injuries has increased across industries, with an 11