Over the decades, industrial operations across industries have evolved and changed to keep up with the times. Similarly, safety protocols have also been forced to advance to ensure that those working in these changing industrial landscapes are kept secure and safe from harm.
To gain a more in-depth view of industrial hygiene in today’s world, it’s vital to understand how modern practices are making an impact.
Here are new safety protocols within modern industrial hygiene.
Understanding Industrial Hygiene
Before one can understand the impact that new safety protocols are having on the modern industrial industry, it’s necessary to understand industrial hygiene. Essentially, industrial hygiene is a process whereby organizations strive to recognize and mitigate risks found in industrial work environments.
This process includes constant evaluation of what risks exist in various workplaces, the creation of rules that can help workers stay safe, and the continual education of workers on various workplace dangers and best practices.
Some of the most common workplace risks in industrial work environments include:
- Slips and falls
- Fire hazards
- Asbestos
- Noise hazards
- Physical hazards
As a result of coming into contact with these hazards, many industrial workers have been harmed in keyways. Some instances of harm these types of employees commonly experience include developing hearing loss, skin diseases, stress injuries (as a result of performing repetitive motions), and even respiratory conditions.
Ultimately, companies utilize the process of industrial hygiene to create a system that can keep their employees safe. While these types of protocols have been around for decades, they are evolving in keyways to be more effective in a constantly shifting industrial landscape.
How Technology is Helping Industrial Hygiene Evolve
As most have noticed, technology has evolved significantly over the last several years. From AI technology now being accessible to the masses to self-driving cars being tested on roads, it’s clear we have entered a new era of technological innovation.
In the industrial sector, the case is no different, and technology is beginning to play a key role in keeping employees safe.
One key piece of technology that is helping to push industrial hygiene to the next level is artificial intelligence. As has been mentioned, this tech is currently taking the world by storm and transforming operational processes across industries.
In the case of industrial hygiene, one way that AI is starting to be harnessed is in the process of analyzing what is called big data. Put simply, big data refers to large, complex, and evolving data sets that can’t be analyzed by traditional methods. Thankfully, AI software has the power to analyze and organize information in large data sets and, as a result, present key and actionable insights efficiently and effectively.
In the industrial sector, this will mean having AI software analyze big data sets about workplace injuries and hazards in different industrial work environments. As a result of this type of analysis, safety officials and organizational leaders in industrial companies will be able to accurately predict what type of injuries are most likely to occur.
With these types of key insights in tow, these leaders and professionals can make changes in their operations to increase the safety levels of employees and ensure that significant injuries are reduced or possibly even eradicated.
Beyond AI technology, other forms of technology also seem to be promising means of keeping industrial workers safe. Specifically, wearable devices that can track the health of employees may be a key piece of the puzzle in the future of industrial hygiene practices.
Essentially, these wearable devices would monitor the health of employees and alert employees when something is awry. The purpose of this is to ensure that employees aren’t developing certain ailments as a result of their work environments, such as respiratory or mobility problems.
The hope is that this process of providing industrial employees with wearable devices and monitoring their health can help organizations catch these ailments early. As a result, they can get employees the medical health they need while also changing any industrial processes causing these ailments.
In the near future, many are hopeful that these technologies, along with other technological innovations, will have a beneficial impact on the lives of countless industrial workers.
The Importance of Consistent and Effective Safety Training
While many are hopeful that technology will have a significant impact on industrial hygiene, this is not the only thing that can help the process evolve. In addition to utilizing technological innovations, organizations in the industrial space must evolve the way they educate and train workers about safety.
As the landscape evolves in the industrial industry, so do the risks that workers face on a regular basis. This being the case, it’s vital that safety training programs are updated and bolstered to ensure that all workers are prepared to work safely in the changing landscape.
New Safety Standards in the Industrial Space
As everyone involved in the American industrial space knows, OSHA is constantly updating its standards and requirements. As we delve deeper into the future, this doesn’t seem likely to change.
In fact, many suspect that in the coming months, OSHA will introduce a number of new safety protocols and regulations that industrial organizations will have to follow. This comes at a time when fatalities in industrial environments are rising and the technology being used in these spaces is constantly evolving.
This being the case, American industrial organizations must be prepared to change with evolving regulations and protocols.
New Safety Protocols are Transforming Industrial Hygiene
While there have been many efforts made over the years to make the industrial space safer, new innovations in safety are looking like they’ll have the most profound impacts yet. From new technology monitoring employees to innovative protocols making industrial environments less hazardous, safety-related changes are now sweeping through the industry.
Though not all of these changes have become normalized in every American industrial organization, many hope that this will soon change. Given the current course of evolution, it’s likely that countless lives will be saved by new safety practices and protocols in the coming years.
About the Author
Ryan Ayers is a researcher and consultant within multiple industries including information technology, blockchain and business development. Always up for a challenge, Ayers enjoys working with startups as well as Fortune 500 companies. When not at work, Ayers loves reading science fiction novels and watching the LA Clippers.
Leave a Reply