As we see technology advancing in different industries, we begin to wonder how it will affect the existing methods for safety and health administration within the workplace.
OSHA, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, was founded in 1971 to regulate and oversee workplace safety as an extension of the United States Department of Labor, by setting workplace safety standards that explicitly require the employer to:
– Provide a safe and healthy work environment
– Train employees in the safety and health aspects of their jobs
However, with new technology advances providing safety and improving efficiency, many traditional OSHA management methods and tools are being rendered obsolete.
Business owners will do well to keep up with these high-tech advances pertaining to OSHA compliance. Taking advantage of them can bring efficiencies to the workplace and improve the bottom line.
Disruptive innovation is a complimentary business term that applies to smaller, entrepreneurial-type businesses that either create a new market or change an existing market by providing a simplified solution for what their consumers need. Eventually, their new product or service changes the game completely for the industry’s way of doing things, like Netflix or smartphones.
While it can be argued that services rendered by Uber and the likes of Monit are not exactly Industry Disruptors in the true sense of this definition, they are certainly innovative services that, for most, positively impact their respective industries – especially as consumers catch on.
When it comes to OSHA regulations, some rules have actually incentivized manufacturers to use safety as a competitive advantage. Now, business owners have the choice to “Buy Safe” because many toolmakers are already fulfilling an industry need to “Sell Safe”. Essentially, they are creating and selling equipment that is already OSHA-compliant and in some instances, these “safe tools” are simultaneously providing more productivity.
Take, for example, the new Crystalline Silica rule that OSHA implemented on September 23rd, 2017. The purpose was to reduce the amount of silica exposure – a mineral commonly found in the earth’s crust – from the construction methods used on sites, such as drilling, grinding, sawing and demolition.
Tool manufacturers immediately saw an opportunity to create products that would help their customers remain OSHA-compliant while increasing their productivity. Some companies have already created an entire line of tools dedicated to eliminating and reducing the silica exposure by introducing technology, like hammer drills with hollow bits, which also enhance productivity.
This is because when core drilling, for example, workers previously had to stop drilling to clean dust out of the hole – sometimes several times – before it could be plugged. However, with the latest hollow drill bits and other dust removal technologies, these in-between steps are no longer necessary. This speeds up the drilling process and the amount of time spent cleaning up dust, all while protecting workers.
Likewise, OSHA continues to discuss the implementation of certain technologies to aid safety and health efforts, such as:
– Drones: To stretch their resources, OSHA has contemplated using drones to streamline and increase the number of site inspections with enhanced accuracy. Since some businesses already utilize drones to monitor their job sites, OSHA can work with them directly to review footage and open a new dialogue regarding onsite operations.
– Wearable Technology: With the ability to collect many types of data, wearable technology can record slip, trip and fall incidents and response times on site, along with streamlining injury reporting and record keeping.
As technology continues to improve visibility and safety in the workplace or job site, it has the power to transform and expand the business of OSHA management as well. Companies like Monit can now provide OSHA management and compliance services to any job site, anywhere. This protects your business from incidents and the resultant civil or criminal liability or attendant insurance rate hikes.
The Monit app (which comes with a Virtual Consultant) is designed to handle all your workplace OSHA policies and ascertain all your work site risks, including which employees are at the highest risks, when safety issues are more likely to occur, and even where injuries are most likely to happen.
By utilizing Monit’s Virtual Consultants – who are experienced OSHA professionals – in the background doing the OSHA compliance work for you, Monit can standardize and even enhance data collection and analyses, which boosts safety in the workplace. To learn more about how Monit uses inexpensive technology to keep your company OSHA-compliant, contact us today.