Why AI is Important for EHS Professionals in Industrial Workplaces

We hear the term artificial intelligence (AI) in almost every aspect of our lives these days. AI is in the phones we carry around in our pockets, it’s in the cars many of us drive and it even helps doctors give more accurate treatments and diagnosis. 

It makes sense that AI would be useful for EHS professionals. It has the potential to put your safety procedures to work more efficiently, give you better data that helps you optimize your strategy and generally keep your employees safer. 

However, we also know that AI raises some concerns for people. In this article, we’re going to give you more information about how AI works, how it will benefit you as an EHS professional and address some common concerns. 

How AI Works

"AI" refers to a kind of computer system that can learn from data, adapt to new information, and make predictions or decisions. 

In healthcare, for instance, AI is used to predict cancer risk in patients, enhancing early detection and treatment strategies. In the realm of communications, AI powers “autocomplete” in smartphones. And in finance, AI monitors for credit card fraud, providing real-time alerts and securing transactions. Voxel's AI is a type of "computer vision," which teaches machines how to detect patterns in images. Computer vision AI is a specific type of AI where the computer is able to see images or videos and recognize what’s in them.

How AI Benefits EHS Professionals

AI helps EHS professionals automate manual work like video investigation and near-miss reporting, but it also helps them avoid incidents in the first place. 

An AI solution can connect directly to your security cameras and help you identify security risks before an incident happens, which helps you proactive address them with policies and training. 

Here are some things that AI can identify: 

Ergonomics

Your cameras will identify when someone is bending improperly, lifting incorrectly, overreaching or jumping and then deliver those insights to help you refine your processes. The AI has been programmed to spot leading indicators of musculoskeletal injuries so that you don’t have to wait until you have chronic back pain (or worse) to take action.

Area Controls

The AI model detects environmental hazards that could potentially cause serious incidents. It can spot everything from spills to blocked exits so that you can identify ways to keep your environment safer. 

Vehicle Safety

Voxel uses AI to give you a near-perfect near-miss reporter. You’ll be able to put in place better policies, new training and manage vehicle use better. 

PPE

You’ll be able to see how often PPE is used and create training and policies that help enforce use of things like hard hats, gloves, vests and bump caps. 

As a result of better monitoring, you’ll be able to spend your time in other areas instead of reacting to risks and incidents. You’ll also be more able to reach your goals with the help of an always-on monitoring solution that provides you with feedback and data to help you optimize. 

AI Isn’t Here to Take Your Job – But it Can Help You Do It Better

Implementing AI helps you optimize your work toward the things that are most important for your team. Most often, that leads to improvements in coaching and even a decrease in safety incidents. 

It Empowers Proactive Coaching and Training

Unfortunately, a recent survey of American businesses by Intertek found that 1 out of 3 companies is unable to verify if their safety training is effective. 
 

What if you could know exactly what type of coaching and training your team needs and then measure how impactful it is? With AI, that’s a reality! In real-time, AI can spot risks and send you notifications. Then, you can address those with employees as they happen with training that is tailored specifically to your team. 

You can also track risks over the long term so that you can identify areas for more in-depth training. This also makes it easier to track safety trends over time, optimize for best results and report on your results.

AI Decreases Safety Incidents

The average cost for a workers compensation claim is more than $41,000. Even worse, A 2011 study at UC Davis Medical School showed that indirect costs are typically 2.7x greater than direct medical costs: if an average back injury has a direct medical cost of $25,000, the “real” cost of the injury may be closer to $90,000 or more. 
 

By implementing AI in safety programs, many organizations find that their safety incidents, and the costs associated with them, decrease drastically. In 2021, cold storage provider Americold Logistics achieved a 77% reduction in injuries in less than one year at their distribution center in Modesto, California. In addition to safety-related savings, Americold also used Voxel’s AI-powered solution to mitigate a major inefficiency in their operation, tracking open doors to reduce energy costs in a temperature-controlled warehouse. The result was a direct annual savings of $1.1 million at a single warehouse site: a 2,000% direct return on their investment, before factoring the numerous indirect costs of injuries.

How Voxel Can Help

Voxel connects directly to your existing security cameras and then uses AI to give you more visibility and insight into the safety of every site, every day. You’ll be empowered to take action that keeps employees safe with dashboards and alerts that power your proactive safety program. 

Start your journey to a safer workplace with Voxel. Get a demo today.