The future for PPE and smart garments
When you think of protective clothing, such as high-vis vests, hardhats and goggles, "smart" may not be the first word that pops into your head. But in truth, your work team can wear all their PPE and look very smart indeed!
If you run a team who work on any kind of building or worksite, then it’s important to keep up with any changes in protective attire. You may like to take a look at current PPE on UK Construction Sites. Not only do you need to comply with all of the current legal requirements to keep your people safe, but you also need to ensure they are working as well and efficiently as they can. And this is where smart protective equipment can help you.
Smart protective wear is clothing and equipment with intelligent capabilities, also known as wearable technology. The built-in intelligence in the clothing can do all sorts of wonderful things, going that extra step in keeping your staff safe while minimising accidents and insurance claims. While scientific developments have been happening in this field for decades, bringing us innovations such as flame and heat retardant wear and electric shock proof clothes, this field is always continuing to evolve. And it is important to keep up.
Some incredible developments in protective equipment include:
Fitbit
The handy little tracker that helps soccer mums keep track of their daily ten thousand steps is now being applied for much more vital work. Many large industries provide these trackers for their remote staff to wear, to help monitor the wearer's activity level, calorie intake and sleep patterns. Popular now in oil refineries and rigs, the FitBit's applications are growing to other extreme environments.
Ehat
EHat is a hardhat with built-in smart technology, allowing the worker to transmit video, audio and other data back to a central work station or to an expert located anywhere else in the world. This helmet is being created initially for use in the mining industry, but has basically unlimited possibilities. This also holds great benefits for rescue parties attending injured people in hard to reach places; enabling specialist doctors to see the extent of the injuries from their own practice or hospital.
ColdWear
Developed in Norway, this clever jacket is outfitted with sensors to monitor workers' health levels while working in extreme cold. The jacket takes readings of body temperature, and humidity and perspiration both inside and outside the suit, as well as tracking the location of the worker. Designed for use in artic oil fields, this attire sends information back to a central point, and goes a long way to protect workers in very harsh environments. Other developments in this area include clothing which can detect gas leaks and other harmful substances which may endanger your workers.
Smart glasses
A number of companies have developed smart glasses, which are another great way to enhance communication between workers and their home base. Not only can the wearer send back video and audio of the worksite, but the control centre can give the worker necessary data for them to keep working, such as instructions, maps, schematics and much more. In dangerous places, the need to be connected with your workers is more essential than ever, and the smart glasses are an awesome example of how you can do this.
The future for smartwear
Although an expensive outlay in the beginning, with wearable technology the savings in terms of the health and safety of your staff is incalculable. Being able to track where your staff are, see what they can see, and give complicated instructions from great distances can add incredible efficiency to the way you work. You can't ignore this ever-improving resource; get your staff looking smart today!
Source: PPE.org
