Observations on The State of Digital Health and Safety

Daniel Christe
Innovations Technical Champion, Fabrics
W. L. Gore & Associates, Inc.

At this year’s ErgoExpo our team was joined by Daniel Christe, Innovations Technical Champion of the Fabrics Division at W. L. Gore & Associates, a partner of LifeBooster. We had a chance to speak with him about his observations of the event.

As a takeaway from ErgoExpo 2021, what are the top three drivers influencing the state of digital safety today?

     1. The Time Burden Placed on Ergonomic Professionals

A popular theme around this year’s expo has been the time burden placed on ergonomic professionals. It is not uncommon to see just one or two ergonomic professionals responsible for thousands of workers. This results in many hours spent on administrative tasks in a reactive mode.  Time spent actively implementing improvement programs is stretched thin. There is a big opportunity for safety solutions to go digital, automating traditional processes and allowing ergonomic professionals to validate and scale impactful solutions. 

     2. New and Emerging Sensing Capabilities

A second driver is the capabilities that wearable sensors now offer for the automation of risk assessments. Risk assessments on a more continuous basis equip ergonomists with predictive insights to proactively mitigate risks across their organization. Ergonomic professionals gain time back, so they can focus more on value-added work, before an injury occurs. They don’t want to be tied up executing assessments per se, they want to spend their time continuously improving the health and safety of their workers that ultimately contributes to the bottom line. Leveraging risk automation also signals that an employer values the health and safety of its employees through the ergonomic programs it deploys.

      3. The Importance of Ergonomics

A final driver I noticed throughout the conference is the importance of ergonomics as a whole. Ergonomics has often been an afterthought in many organizations. It’s thought of as a compliance measure or nice office chairs, but really, it’s a multidisciplinary field with the goal of optimizing work to match human capabilities and limitations. A proactive stance on ergonomics is an integral component to the overall performance of a 21st century enterprise – impacting hiring, retention, quality, and overall employer reputation.

If you are interested in learning more about how wearable technologies can give your organization a boost, join our mailing list below or get in touch with the LifeBooster team today!

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