How To Reduce Injuries In The Workplace With Technology And Engineering

Injuries can happen in any workplace, even when you make a big effort to reduce and mitigate the risk where possible.

When injuries occur, it’s important that you have the right insurance in place and you follow the right protocols to keep both the business and the injured parties safe.

Reducing injuries in the workplace is something you can continue to improve and build upon as a workforce. With that being said, there are many ways in which technology and engineering are doing their bit to help with the reduction of workplace injuries. Here are just a few ways you can help reduce the rate of injury in your own workplace going forward.

Automating processes with AI and robots

AI and robotics have become two big technological advancements, despite both being in existence for some time already. However, due to the advancements in engineering and funding, a lot more businesses have taken the opportunity to use both within the workplace.

With AI and robotics, you’ve got the chance to automate a lot of the processes that would otherwise be done manually. For some jobs, that does mitigate or reduce the risk entirely of an injury happening, especially when the tasks often come with an element of danger.

Automating processes with AI and robotics is also a great time-saver. While it still needs to be monitored and adjusted by humans, a lot of these AI robots can now be left to their own devices to do the work required.

Introducing industrial lifting solutions

To help reduce the injuries that come with repetitive strain, it’s worth looking at the options available when introducing industrial lifting solutions.

This equipment is great for those who are looking to improve workplace operations when it comes to assisting workers with heavy lifting. Instead of potentially damaging your workforce over time with heavy lifting, it’s good to look at equipment and machinery that can help lighten the load.

There are thankfully a lot more options out there to choose from, to help ensure any lifting or carrying of heavier items is done so in the safest way possible. Not only that but to avoid where possible, having the workers themselves do the lifting. 

Onsite technology (wearables, communication, drones)

There are some great onsite technology accessories that are worth incorporating into the warehouse space.

Lots of wearables are now being used to help monitor your workforce and to identify potential health issues that might arise while your workers are working away.

Communication software and equipment are also helpful to have in place to ensure everyone is being monitored with safety in mind. Keeping everyone in the loop, especially supervisors and site security staff is important and often helped with the use of onsite technology.

Drones have also become popular as an option for keeping track of workers on site and to help in situations where places of injury might not be immediately accessible on foot.

Make use of workforce training

Workforce training is always helpful to implement and if there’s anything that you could be doing to prevent injury to your workforce, it’s bringing in more opportunities for training.

While you might trust a lot, if not all of your staff, that doesn’t mean the risk of injury isn’t still high. It’s always good to assume that there’s room for improvement across the entirety of your workforce.

With that being said, try to make use of workforce training and introduce more opportunities for training with all staff members. That’s not just those working on the floor, but those within admin roles or senior level roles too.

Improved use of protective equipment

Protective equipment exists for a reason. It’s there to help maintain safety and ensure all workers are protected from the dangers present in the space.

A lack of use in protective equipment leads to more risk and potential trouble. Therefore, you should be actively encouraging the use of protective equipment, putting policies in place to ensure all workers adhere to the use of protective equipment in the workplace at all times.

Anyone not using this equipment should be penalized as such so it sets an example to the rest of the workers who might find themselves slacking in the use of such equipment.

Regular equipment and tool maintenance

Regular equipment and tool maintenance is vital to help keep them in good working order and to maintain safety for the workers using it. Therefore, make sure regular inspections are done and that maintenance is done in a timely manner to reduce risks of breakdowns and freak accidents.

These tips will hopefully reduce workplace accidents and injuries as best as possible.