The National Safety Council has an ambitious target — to eliminate workplace fatalities by 2050 through the adoption of emerging technology.

As part of their “Work to Zero” initiative, they have identified the most common hazardous situations for heavy industry workers and the recommended technologies to reduce risk. Below we’ve selected some of the most common ones in the manufacturing industry:

Hot work – any activity that creates flame, heat or sparks (e.g. welding).

• Primary risk factors: explosion, fire, heat stress, oxygen deprivation
• Secondary risk factors: fatigue, improper load storage, improver machine handling, lack of training and others.
• Technology to reduce risk: digital gas monitors, permit to work, robotics

Learn more about implementing a Permit-to-Work software solution with TenForce.

Confined space entry – limited or restricted means of entry/exit, not designed for continuous occupation by workers.

• Primary risk factors: drowning, explosion, fire, inhalation of hazardous gases, oxygen deprivation, trench collapse
• Secondary risk factors: fatigue, faulty equipment, improper exit paths, improper PPE, lack of awareness of others, lack of equipment for fresh air, lack of training
• Technology to reduce risk: digital gas monitors, drones (UAVs), lone worker monitoring

Learn more about TenForce and Rombit wearables and lone worker assistance.

Work at height – when a worker is exposed to falling four to six feet or more from an unprotected edge where a person could potentially fall or injure themselves.

• Primary risk factors: falls, falling objects
• Secondary risk factors: adverse weather, fatigue, lack of training, platform failure
• Technology to reduce risk: drones, VR/AR, lone worker monitoring, permit to work, robotics, downed worker devices, fatigue monitoring and wearables.

Electrical work – installing, maintaining, and repairing electrical controls, wiring and work on lighting systems, general electrical maintenance, inspection of transformers and circuit assemblies, and assembly of cable harnesses.

• Primary risk factors: electrocution, explosion, fire, machine energization, struck by machine
• Secondary risk factors: improper machine handling, improper PPE, lack of training, machine malfunction
• Technology to reduce risks: permit to work, VR/AR

Repair & maintenance – work associated with the repairing, replacing, routine care and upkeep of a structure, vehicle, machinery, device, etc.

• Primary risk factors: electrical shock, entangled in machine, struck/crushed by machine equipment
• Secondary risk factors: equipment/machine malfunction, fatigue, hazardous terrain, improper clothing
• Technology to reduce risks: permit to work, VR/AR, robotics