Canadian Occupational Safety

APRIL/MAY 2018 27 "Whether it's a dispatcher or high- risk work supervisor, their behaviour is critical to predicting a safe environ- ment for their workers. If they're low on dominance and high on formality, they're going to naturally protect their teams and follow the rules exactly as written. That's a great mix to ensure you will improve safety results," Irwin says. NEW TECHNOLOGIES PPE can now be used to carry sensors that collect and send data between workers and safety managers to improve safety at a work site. For example, the Smart Helmet Clip, developed by Deloitte and Toronto- based Cortex Design and expected to be available later this year, is designed to increase situational awareness of surface operations for mining staff underground. The device is battery-operated and clips into a docking mount under the bill of the miner's helmet. The sens- ing device conducts continuous local environmental and activity monitor- ing, and the information detected is passed up to a dashboard so surface operators have data on what everyone underground is doing at any given time, says Dylan Horvath, president of Cortex Design. "The position of the helmet itself uses accelerometers to monitor activ- ity tracking. Based on the movement of the helmet, you can tell quite a bit about what the miner is doing: If they're walking, on a vehicle, operat- ing equipment or if they've taken their helmet off and put it on a seat in a vehicle. It will also detect if a miner is down. All that vibration and behav- ioural data is captured by this device just from moving the helmet," he says. While the initial purpose of the helmet clip will be safety monitor- ing, the device will likely be used in the future to provide predictive data. Over time, Horvath says, the device can build up analytical data for indi- vidual workers. As a result, when any one of them begins to act in a way not normal for them, those changes in behaviour can be detected and used to predict possible safety risks, such as worker fatigue. "If you can imagine a worker who is normally very alert coming in one day and feeling sick or tired or diminished in some capacity, their head move- ments would be different," he says. "We haven't implemented this yet, but the ability to collect this type of data is the intent of the device. So if you have a worker who is compromised or at risk of not being able to operate heav y equipment, then surface operations can make some informed decisions." Predictive analytics technology is also being used to alert managers to potential problems with equipment, which cause injuries due to faulty machinery. For example, in the case of Avantis PRiSM, made by Schnei- der Electric, sensors in the machinery collect data that is input into the pre- dictive software. The program is able to compare historical operating data on any machine with real-time oper- ating data to identify slight deviations in that machine's behaviour. The program then provides early-warning notification to managers or controllers, who have time to analyze and fix the problem before the equipment fails. There is constant technological advancement in the predictive ana- lytics space, LeBrun says, primarily coming from machine learning. His company has seen some interesting ways to integrate big data informa- tion that is part of public knowledge. For example, they have been able to measure the weather for incidents recorded with eCompliance. "We correlate the level of incident with the weather patterns, and we can see where there is a high level of risk of incident based on the weather. Then we can send out push notifications to employees to say, it's going to be rainy; here are the things you have to watch out for. So we can start to be more pre- dictive and proactive in reducing risk." When selecting predictive software, McHardy says a company should have a good understanding of its aspirations and objectives. It should also consider the size and scale of its operations, as well as the size and scale of its data and its relative quality and fit for purpose. "What is their existing architecture? What tools do they have in-house? Then they can make an informed decision on what technology they might need," he says. Make sure the analytics software is easy to use, advises LeBrun. If it is not, employees won't use it no matter how- ever good it is. "You won't have any data, and you won't really be able to predict any- thing," he says. It's also impor tant for safety managers to assess their data man- agement system. "They need a robust analytics plat- form that will allow the company to analyze all the data being generated by employees and, ultimately, to make really strong decisions to reduce risk," McHardy says. With the data from its predictive safety software, the electrical contrac- tor in Alberta was able to produce a kind of participation score, LeBrun says. With that information, every employee can understand their level of involvement in safety and a com- pany can reward employees who have a higher level of safety participation. "And it's a good way," he adds, "for safety teams to identify who the real safety champions in the company are." Linda Johnson is a Toronto-based freelance journalist who has been writing for COS for seven years. DATA SOURCES Safety analytics can come from many different places. Source: Workplace Safety Analytics: Save Lives and the Bottom Line by Deloitte SAFETY DATA HSE efforts Audits Investigations Incidents HR DATA Rosters HSE history Performance history Training skills HRIS profile CONTEXT SETTING Incident context Task variation Site variation Equipment Production complexity EXTERNAL Stakeholder benchmarks Culture Socio-demographic Geospatial Time of day Weather Available Risk-Free for 30 Days Online: store.thomsonreuters.ca Call Toll-Free: 1-800-387-5164 In Toronto: 416-609-3800 Has your workplace met all requirements under the new Bill 177? New Edition Pocket Ontario OH&S Act & Regulations 2018 – Consolidated Edition © 2018 Thomson Reuters Canada Limited 00250KY-A91769-CM Your peers rely on this bestselling pocket resource for invaluable guidance on workplace safety law. From preparing job hazard analyses and creating safety training programs to performing violence risk assessments, this edition will help your organization meet all your OHSA obligations and the new requirements under Bill 177. To see what's new, visit store.thomsonreuters.ca/pocket-ohs/. Order # L7798-8573- 65203 $24.95 Softcover approx. 1100 pages April 2018 978-0-7798-8573-2 Also available in French. Call for details. Also available Large format edition with tabs Order # L7798-8575- 65203 $24.95 Softcover approx. 780 pages April 2018 978-0-7798-8575-6 The eBook* version is available through your web browser, or can be downloaded to your computer, iPad, or Android tablet. Learn more at store.thomsonreuters.ca/products/thomson- reuters-proview/ *eBook not available to trade bookstores, third-party distributors, academic institutions, and students. Also available Shipping and handling are extra. Price(s) subject to change without notice and subject to applicable taxes

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