Risk management

Automation of workplace risk assessment the future of development of safety of work performed in an industrial plant

The topic of safety for workers performing their daily tasks and workplaces is a mine of new developments. Those in charge of the safety area are certainly relentless in their efforts to ensure that work can be performed without fear of injury.

The problem is non-routine work, which is mostly performed by external companies, sometimes by company maintenance services. These are mainly repair, maintenance, modernization work, etc. Issuing a permit for such work involves filling out paper forms. In the case of routine work that is carried out continuously, the permit is prepared, so to speak, once. Workers then receive professional training, which remains unchanged for years.

For incidental work, a special approach is required.

Starting with obtaining the appropriate work permit and conducting a workplace risk assessment. This process in many cases is very complex and takes a lot of time. Most often there are paper forms that must be filled out individually for each new workplace. Filling out these documents often requires a great deal of knowledge and awareness of the hazards in the area. Then the two parties, the principal and the contractor, meet and discuss the terms of the assignment. After accepting the terms, they sign the form and can return to their duties.

Modern technology can be used to streamline and speed up the process. There are companies that focus on solving problems related to safety management and industrial permits. They can free you from the ever-growing bureaucracy that is supposed to keep us safe.

By opting for such solutions we can, in effect, fully automate processes, which will significantly reduce costs and increase productivity. Such systems will relieve us in many cases. All we need to do is to configure the system properly, and it will fill in the data itself and make the appropriate calculations, which at the end must be verified and approved.

With them, the workplace risk assessment is practically ready.

There are, of course, works during which conditions change. This happens as a result of new work starting near previously open work. Certainly an example would be an outside company generating noise while working with an angle grinder or jackhammer, which was not included in the risk assessment of the work being done nearby. By automating this process, the system can inform workers at all locations of the new hazard. As a result, when their safety category at work exceeds acceptable standards – work can be automatically stopped. As a result, new protective measures, such as earmuffs or stopwatches, will be required to resume them.

In summary, modern solutions allow, first of all, efficient and full control over safety during work. On the other hand, in the case of paper forms, their modification takes much more time than in the case of digitized versions available on a smartphone screen.