Digitalization has had an enormous impact on our society and our economy in recent years. Technological developments and the associated changes in the world of work will pose new challenges for occupational safety in the future. Occupational health and safety will continue to change in the future due to new technologies and it will become easier to document accidents, treat them more efficiently and prevent them. This is important because the health of employees is not only an economic asset, but also a social one.
In order to understand how occupational safety has developed and what progress has already been made, it is also worth taking a brief look at the history of occupational safety. This historical perspective shows how far occupational safety has already developed and offers valuable insights into the future direction of occupational safety.
We provide an overview of possible areas of application for new technologies in the occupational safety of the future.
The most important facts in brief
✓ Digitalization has revolutionized occupational safety by incorporating new technologies such as smartphones, sensors, augmented reality (AR), artificial intelligence (AI), big data and virtual reality (VR).
✓ Smartphones can serve as personal emergency signaling devices that detect accidents and automatically inform emergency contacts.
✓ A balanced use of these technologies is crucial to improve occupational health and safety without violating employees' privacy or compromising their job satisfaction.
What technological advances could further improve occupational safety in the future?
The future of occupational health and safety will be shaped by technological advances that help companies to identify and minimize risks. This includes the use of smartphones or sensor-based systems that can track and analyze movements or other environmental conditions. Technologies such as augmented reality (AR), artificial intelligence (AI) and big data can also help to improve occupational safety in the future.
Smartphones
The smartphone is proving to be a useful tool for making the benefits of digitalization in occupational health and safety tangible, as employees carry them on their person at all times anyway.
For example, the smartphone can act as a personal emergency signal device thanks to its acceleration sensors. This is made possible by the CALIMA app, which transforms employees' smartphones into personal emergency signaling devices and offers various ways of triggering alarms manually and automatically. For example, sensors in the smartphone can detect a fall or immobility and inform emergency contacts of the accident, including the location, within a few seconds. This can save lives in the event of an accident and prevent permanent damage.
A PNA app has the following key advantages over traditional devices:
- No investment costs as the existing smartphones are used
- Greater user acceptance, as employees do not have to carry an extra device around with them
- Also works on the move, as no stationary wireless network needs to be set up
Sensors
For example, sensors can be used to monitor the environmental conditions in the workplace by measuring the temperature and humidity. Sensors can also be used to measure noise levels or air pollution. This provides companies with important data that can help to improve working conditions for their employees. Smartwatches with sensors can, for example, measure the wearer's body temperature or heart rate. Based on the data collected, the system can draw conclusions about the wearer's health and raise the alarm if necessary.
Augmented Reality (AR)
Augmented reality (AR) is an information technology that makes it possible to augment the real world with digital content. This can help improve workplace safety by enabling employees to view relevant information about potential hazards in their environment. AR technology can also help to provide employees with real-time instructions and guidance on how to perform their tasks safely. For example, employees could see a step-by-step guide to their task as they carry out the activity.
Artificial intelligence (AI)
Artificial intelligence makes it possible to identify and analyze different types of risks. This can help to improve occupational safety by identifying sources of danger that can be overlooked by human observers. To do this, the artificial intelligence is fed with large amounts of image data sets and information about all relevant elements in the image. With these training procedures, the AI model learns to recognize focal points and thus outperforms even experienced HSE experts in recognizing potential hazards. AI systems can also help to predict accidents in real time by detecting irregularities and raising the alarm before an accident occurs.
Big Data
Big data can be used to identify patterns in accident statistics and thus better assess risks. Based on the patterns discovered through big data analysis, companies can make more targeted investments in accident prevention. This can lead to a reduction in the overall accident rate and therefore also in the costs arising from accidents.
Virtual reality (VR)
The use of virtual reality technologies will also become increasingly important in order to prepare employees for potentially dangerous situations. This involves introducing employees to a computer-generated environment in which they can experience realistic scenarios. This ensures that employees are trained in a safe environment in which a mistake does not have health consequences. This technology can also help to improve employees' reactions in crisis situations and better prepare them for emergencies. The DGUV already addressed the topic in March 2022 in its trade journal DGUV Forum.
What are the risks of using new technologies in occupational health and safety?
However, this also harbors some risks. If the technologies are misused to monitor employees as they carry out their work, this is an invasion of privacy. As a result, employees may feel under pressure and be less productive due to a drop in motivation. It can also lead to a feeling of being overwhelmed and contribute to employees being worried about making mistakes or not doing their job well enough.
The handling of sensitive employee health data also harbors risks if it is used to monitor employees. Data protection will therefore play an increasingly important role in occupational health and safety in the future.
Conclusion
The examples and use cases listed here are of course only a forecast based on the current state of technological knowledge - only time will tell what the occupational safety of the future will actually look like in detail.
Increasing digitalization and technologization will create new opportunities for occupational safety, both in terms of accident response and accident prevention. For example, companies can take more targeted protective measures and improve employee safety. The increasing digitalization of companies means that more and more employee data is being collected and stored. This data must then be protected accordingly so that it does not fall into the wrong hands or is not misused for the wrong purposes, which could have a negative impact on employee satisfaction.
When using modern technologies, make sure that they are not used for surveillance and that they meet the high GDPR data protection requirements. The CALIMA PNA app meets the relevant requirements. It is fully GDPR-compliant and protects the privacy of employees by only transmitting their location in an emergency. The data is stored exclusively in Germany.
