Canadian Occupational Safety (COS) magazine is the premier workplace health and safety publication in Canada. We cover a wide range of topics ranging from office to heavy industry, and from general safety management to specific workplace hazards.
Issue link: https://digital.carswellmedia.com/i/781149
26 Canadian Occupational Safety www.cos-mag.com TOOLS OF THE TRADE PRODUCTS & SERVICES The latest OHS innovations and industry updates New Blackline G7 marries lone worker monitoring, gas detection After incorporating customer feedback into nearly two years of product development, Blackline Safety has introduced a work- anywhere, global employee safety monitoring system with total detection capability. "Traditional gas detectors are 'disconnected' and only alert the worker of imminent danger," said Barry Moore, vice-president of product development for Blackline Safety, which is headquartered in Calgary. "Businesses historically relied on workers to rescue themselves. Now, with G7, a team of responders is alerted in real-time to the employee's exact location. Knowing the concentration of hazardous gases around the individual, responders are protected while they rescue the employee from danger." Highly confi gurable for every organization, G7 warns both the user and live monitoring personnel of environmental exposure risks to both toxic and explosive gases. The G7 is a true Internet of Things (IoT) tool, with wireless communications and location technology, to empower real-time emergency response and evacuation management. "Blackline Safety is looking at the whole environment — hazards, gas concentrations, the exact location of a man down, and you can talk to him on the G7 speakerphone," said Eric Clark, a member of the area safety chairmen committee for Ashland in Kentucky. "It saves a lot of time — the quicker you can get to that person in a dangerous situation, the better chance they have of surviving." Blackline Safety's G7 works right out of the box to automatically detect when someone is not moving, either from a fall, accident or health incident, so that help can be immediately deployed to the employee. It also empowers evacuations with mass notifi cations while accounting for the location of every employee through to muster points. The G7 supports customization using interchangeable gas sensor cartridges with a choice of single or multiple gases (hydrogen sulfi de, oxygen, combustible gases, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide and ammonia). Optional two-way voice communication enables monitoring personnel to speak directly with the employee through a built-in, industrial-grade speakerphone. G7 uses a combination of assisted GPS and proprietary indoor location technology to display a fallen or injured employee's exact location on an interactive map, enabling monitoring personnel to direct the nearest responders to the right location. Intelex launches reporting app for workers Intelex Technologies has debuted its new mobile platform, Intelex Mobile, which allows companies to put safety into the hands of their front-line workers. With the app, workers can easily spot safety or non-compliance issues, quickly take a snapshot directly on their mobile device and report it within seconds, sending real-time data directly to their organizations' health and safety managers. "Our goal has always been to make safety a top priority for front-line workers as well as an integral part of company culture," said Mark Fairhurst, director of corporate marketing at Intelex. "This enhanced mobile capability will bring ease-of- use and convenience to a space that is in desperate need of a major facelift." Intelex Mobile is specifi cally designed to drive both predictive and proactive safety campaigns. The platform allows organizations to engage their workforces to capture critical and timely safety data, enabling real-time risk assessment leading to fewer incidents. The more often employees use the app, the more data their organizations can collect on their unique safety needs. Safety management professionals are immediately alerted to potential threats and dangerous situations, making it easy to implement controls and avoid potential issues. The app makes reporting a bit more fun with social interaction capabilities and gamifi cation. "Most front-line employees are desk-less with limited online access to a computer, meaning they don't have easy access to safety procedures, training information or incident data," Fairhurst said. "Unfortunately, these people are also at the most risk. We designed Intelex Mobile to put safety back in front-line workers' hands, giving them more power to control the environment they work in and providing executives with the information they need to implement necessary change, rather than react after an incident has occurred." Kimberly-Clark expands recycling program to industrial environments Kimberly-Clark Professional has expanded its innovative recycling program — RightCycle — to manufacturing and other industrial environments, enabling these customers to divert non-hazardous waste, such as nitrile gloves and apparel, from landfi lls. RightCycle is the fi rst large-scale recycling program for non- hazardous lab, cleanroom and industrial waste. Since its launch in 2011, the program has diverted more than 300 tons of waste from landfi lls. The items are sent to recyclers and turned into nitrile powder and pellets that are used to create eco-responsible consumer products and durable goods, such as fl owerpots and lawn furniture, benches and bicycle racks. "By recycling rather than discarding nitrile gloves and single-use apparel, customers can divert these hard-to-recycle waste streams from the landfi ll in order to get one step closer to achieving their zero waste goals while reducing their waste disposal costs at the same time," said John Adams, industrial business leader at Kimberly-Clark Professional in Roswell, Ga. "In addition, we are helping to give our safety and industrial products a second life." RightCycle enables customers (including those in Canada) to recycle nitrile gloves, apparel (including accessories such as hoods, masks and shoe covers) and Kimtech Pure 100 per cent polypropylene wipers. To qualify for the program, the items must be free of hazardous materials, biohazards and wet food. Superior Glove wins Best in Show at NSC Acton, Ont.-based Superior Glove's Clutch Gear Anti-Impact Gloves with D3O Backing was one of three products to win a 2016 Best in Show New Product Showcase Award at the National Safety Council's conference in Anaheim, Calif. More than 4,900 votes were cast covering more than 120 products. The other winners were an oil response kit from Meltblown Technologies and a self-retracting lifeline from MSA. The gloves boast high dexterity, a strong grip and excellent impact protection. These gloves combine the smart styling of the Clutch Gear lineup with the impressive shock absorption of D3O for unparalleled protection in the workplace, says Superior Glove. These gloves protect workers' hands from deadly impact hazards while still maintaining their dexterity. When the impact occurs, the molecules in the D3O bind together to form a solid block that absorbs the energy from the impact and displaces it away in order to prevent injury. The D3O Elastomer is so effective that in comparison to other anti-impact styles on the market, it offers a 54 per cent improvement in protection value at 10 joules impact, according to D3O's lab tests. The D3O has only been placed in areas where impacts are a threat, so instead of prohibiting the full range of hand movement, the gloves remain fully fl exible while still providing workers with the protection they need. The durable PVC Sure Grip palm patches offer grip in just the right places, with improved protection on the fi ngertips. Located in the highest wear area, the black Kevlar thumb patches also help to extend the life of the gloves. The high-vis outer shell increases worker visibility on the job site. Adjustable Velcro cuffs on the back of the glove not only enhance the fi t, but include a customizable ID label for the worker's name. The Clutch Gear Anti-Impact Gloves with D3O Backing meet ASTM ANSI puncture resistance Level 3. The gloves are ideal for a variety of industries including oil and gas, mining, construction, fabrication, heavy metal, lumber and utilities. than 4,900 votes were cast covering more than 120 products. The other winners were an oil response kit from Meltblown Technologies The gloves boast high dexterity, a strong grip and excellent impact protection. These gloves combine the smart styling of the Clutch Gear lineup with the impressive shock absorption of D3O for unparalleled protection in the workplace, says Superior Glove.