- Accidents related to falls from height are the largest cause of workplace fatalities after road accidents.
- We want to reduce the barriers for small and mid-sized companies to implement safety technologies.
- Our purpose for existence is pretty simple—we think that in today’s day and age, having people at height, in danger, doing inspections and maintenance of critical assets in the exact same way we did a hundred years ago, is unacceptable.
In support of the National Safety Council’s Work to the Zero project, a recent webinar was hosted in partnership with the organisation as reported by LR.
Workplace fatalities
Accidents related to falls from height are the largest cause of workplace fatalities after road accidents.
The National Safety Council (NSC), the main nonprofit safety advocate in the US, through its Work to Zero initiative in collaboration with Safetytech Accelerator, are piloting a program to help employers trial and adopt safety technology to save lives, in this case in the area of working at height.
Safetytech Accelerator, a non-profit organisation established by LR and the Lloyd’s Register Foundation, focuses on safety and risks in industrial settings.
The six companies showcased were UK robotics company HausBots, drone makers Upteko from Denmark and Prenav from the US, Matroid, a US designer of computer vision detectors, and the US construction analytics provider Newmetrix and US video analytics company IronYun.
An audience poll showed that 77% of respondents felt that the companies’ technologies would help eliminate safety hazards at their workplaces.
Maintaining critical assets
HausBots, which builds wall-climbing robots to paint and maintain buildings.
Cornes said: “Our purpose for existence is pretty simple—we think that in today’s day and age, having people at height, at danger, doing inspections and maintenance of critical assets in the exact same way we did a hundred years ago, is unacceptable.”
HausBots was established in 2019 after one of the founders realised it was too dangerous to paint his parents’ house from a height.
Danish drone maker Upteko was another of the featured companies.
CEO Mads Jorgensen said that besides drones, Upteko develops software to control and navigate drones, as well as to analyse images the drones capture.
Search and rescue operations
Uptake’s drones are used in maritime search and rescue operations, oil detection and the inspection of ships and offshore wind vessels.
Once the person is located, the drone sends an image to guide the rescue vessel toward the subject.
Jorgensen said, “The drones that we’re custom building, are for the maritime environment, meaning they are water-resistant and are able to withstand harsh weather conditions when they’re offshore.
We also work with clients to see how safety technology can impact their ESG goals, bottom line and efficiency.”
“AI can also identify dangerous scenarios.”
You can watch a recording of the showcase here: https://safetytechaccelerator.org/events/working-at-height/
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Source: LR
