IBM Helps Organizations Monitor Workers’ Safety with Watson IoT

IBM Think has collaborated with Garmin Health, Guardhat, Mitsufuji and SmartCone to monitor worker safety in hazardous environments, including those working in construction, mining and factories, using IoT technologies, integrated into wearables. IBM’s Maximo Worker Insights will monitor biometric and environmental data to help identify whether employees are experiencing dangers or risk. Data will be gathered in near real-time from wearables, smart devices and environmental sensors to help organizations quickly respond to problems or react to changing environmental conditions.

Employees working in rapidly changing environments face shifting conditions, whether on the factory floor, on the forklift, atop a cell tower or drilling into the earth. Utilizing IoT to understand what workers are doing in the context of the dynamic environment around them – including heat, height, weather and gas levels – allows organizations to implement near real-time and prescriptive safety practices to help protect the well-being of workers and which should help them maintain lower insurance costs.

For employees, this new offering monitors potential environmental threats to their safety and security as they work on the frontlines. For employers, the solution is designed to help them identify and respond to potential hazards in an effort to keep their workforce safe. Nonfatal workplace injuries account for close to $60 billion in workers’ compensation costs in the U.S. Although safety controls and personal protective equipment are mandatory in most hazardous jobs, this solution is designed to help companies identify and respond to problems or react to changing environmental conditions. In fact, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, nearly 3 million nonfatal occupational injuries were recorded in 2017.

“Worker safety is a critical priority for all enterprises and this collaboration is a major milestone in dramatically improving the way enterprises identify and eliminate hazards in the workplace,” said Kareem Yusuf Ph.D., general manager, IBM Watson IoT. “We are thrilled to work with Garmin, Guardhat, Mitsufuji and SmartCone, and leverage their respective leadership and commitment to help improve safety in the workplace,” continued Dr. Yusuf.

Source: IBM