A workplace incident can turn a manufacturing facility upside down in a moment. The processes and protocols for an injury—or, worse, a fatality—are necessary and complex.
The scene must be secured and managed to attend to the injured party or victim. A rash of paperwork needs to be completed and filed. A return-to-work program must be established for the injured party, or concerned parties informed of a fatality. The incident must be reviewed, and an investigation conducted. A final report is then prepared and filed, and necessary protocol changes must be considered and decreed.
Then there’s the financial aspect. Employees must be replaced and trained, and the employer may be held responsible for damages to the employee or surviving family members.
Workplace safety is not a new initiative for manufacturers, but there are new technologies that make it easier and more effective. Visual/computer artificial intelligence (AI) can proactively manage hazardous near-misses and revolutionize reporting.
Traditionally, there were two approaches to maintaining safety in the workplace: controlling the environment or controlling the worker. Both are flawed in that they each require the impossibility of near-total control. Industrialization of manufacturing in both light and heavy industries was followed by categories of unforeseen hazards, including machinery accidents; exposure to harmful substances; slips, trips and falls; and noise pollution.
Workplace safety initiatives depend on equipment, machines and tools being used as intended, personal protective equipment (PPE) being worn when appropriate, OSHA requirements being followed, and checklists being built and followed. On the employer side, managers must implement early reporting and comprehensive training programs, facilities need regular inspections, and a safety culture must be established.
Despite applying a range of safety best practices to protect employees, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported 373,300 total recordable cases (TRC) of nonfatal injuries and illnesses and 341 fatal work injuries in 2020 in the manufacturing sector.
AFL-CIO released a report in April 2023 titled “Death on the Job: The Toll of Neglect, 2022.” It outlined some startling statistics, including:
- Every day, 340 workers died from hazardous workplaces.
- More than 4,700 workers were killed on the job.
- An estimated 120,000 workers died from occupational diseases.
- The fatality rate in the workplace was 3.4 per 100,000 workers.
- The cost of job injuries and illnesses is enormous—estimated at $176 billion to $352 billion a year—and this with widespread underreporting of incidences.
Manually Managing Safety
In 1970, President Nixon signed the bill that created the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to ensure safe and healthful working conditions for American workers. OSHA outlines recommendations for manually identifying potential exposure to hazards, but it’s far more complex than seeing a physical safety hazard. Gases and vapors can be invisible, have no odor, and display no immediate noticeable harmful health effects. There are chemical hazards; physical hazards such as noise, radiation and heat; biological hazards; and ergonomic risk factors, such as heavy lifting, repetitive motions and vibration. All must be taken into consideration.
OSHA helps create safe work environments by setting and enforcing standards and providing training, outreach, education and compliance assistance. However, only 1,719 OSHA inspectors (755 federal and 964 state) are available to assess the 10.4 million workplaces under the agency’s jurisdiction.
Although OSHA recommends proactive practices for managing workplace safety, issues are traditionally addressed only after an injury, illness or fatality incident has occurred; a new standard or regulation is published; or an inspection uncovers a concern that needs to be addressed.
Those who take proactive measures often have a dedicated safety manager who carries out safety risk assessments prior to the beginning of a new project. That individual or department reviews all work procedures to ensure they meet industry safety standards; oversees the installation of equipment and external contractors; conducts in-house training; and stays up to date on health, safety and environmental regulations. They are also responsible for preparing and filing accident or safety breach reports, tracking incident metrics, and applying findings.
With the entire well-being of a facility and its employees in the hands of an individual or department, the role of a safety manager is challenging and often emotionally charged. Without accountability or consequences, failure is guaranteed.
Employers that realize investments in proactive safety management decrease the likelihood of having to take reactive action are turning to technology to help proactively prevent workplace incidents.
AI Challenges Traditional Workplace Safety
Computer vision has enormous utility in risk management and safety compliance for the manufacturing industry. It generates insights and understanding from images and videos created by digital camera systems. Advanced computer vision and visual AI technologies can proactively identify and prevent unsafe acts, near misses, and unsafe conditions to create a system of improvement across an entire operating environment.
For instance, consider an end-to-end computer vision platform with visual AI technology compatible with multiple camera types (i.e., CCTV, PTZ, mobile devices and drones) that can autonomously understand and react to complex scenes and multi-frame activities. Such a platform would include a low-code/no-code interface for designing, building and deploying computer vision solutions at scale and would be configurable for a integrated notification alerts and automated triggers that support web, mobile app, email, SMS and on-site alarms.
Visual AI can transition from reacting to situations to proactively preventing them through safety strategies. In addition to preventing future accidents, it can enhance reporting accuracy, help improve workplace safety management, increase productivity and help companies comply with safety standards.
There are so many types and components in the manufacturing industry that it stands to reason that there are many paths to production and associated risks.
AI is a transformative technology that has reshaped the very fabric of workplace safety in manufacturing. AI-powered cameras are a first-line offense for detecting unsafe conditions and alerting site managers. Its innovative applications and intelligent monitoring are setting a new standard in safety protocols that is reducing accidents and saving lives.