No matter what hustle culture might try to teach us, people are not machines. They get tired when overworked, and fatigue can create a safety hazard. This is especially true in industrial settings, where the presence of heavy machinery and other potential workplace hazards make alertness more critical for employees.

Field technicians are an integral and critically important part of the provision of technical services, whether it be for the installation, repair, or maintenance of machinery and equipment.

Owners and operators of refineries, chemical plants and manufacturing facilities must change the way employees work as quickly as possible, and it is clear yesterday’s traditional operating model of onsite availability has evolved – not just due to current circumstances, but because of “The Great Resignation,” retirement of experienced plant workers is creating a shortfall of key skills.

How do employers monitor the health and safety of personnel without encroaching on their privacy and productivity? What’s more, how do you ensure they’re wearing the proper protective gear at all times and also check that they’re utilizing safety protocols and utilities appropriately? The answer lies with wearable devices. 

Manufacturing employees often work near significant hazards, like heavy equipment, potentially dangerous chemicals and electricity. Safety has come a long way over the past few decades, but businesses can always do more to protect their workers.

As the pandemic continues, warehouse workers are still adapting. In particular, social distancing is essential to prevent the spread of the virus, keep employees safe, and maintain operations.

Examinetics, the nation’s leading provider of workplace safety compliance services, announced a strategic investment in Kenzen, innovator of a wearable device to reduce workplace injuries by providing continuous temperature monitoring of workers.  Examinetics is a portfolio company of Freedom 3 Capital.

As long as there are on-the-job injuries, there is room for workplace safety to improve. While incidents have decreased over the years, there are still 2.8 million workplace injuries and illnesses a year.

KINETIC has been issued a broad patent for using a wearable device to perform contact tracing and proximity alerts by the U.S. Patent office.

Blackline Safety Corp., a global leader of gas detection and connected safety solutions, has partnered with NevadaNano, a developer and manufacturer of microelectromechanical systems (MEMS)-based gas sensors, to add the new Molecular Property Spectrometer^TM (MPS^TM) Flammable Gas Sensor to its G7 lineup of connected safety wearables.