At its Think event, IBM today announced collaborations with Garmin Health, Guardhat, Mitsufuji and SmartCone to monitor worker safety in hazardous environments, including those working in construction, mining and factories, using IoT technologies, integrated into wearables. IBM's Maximo Worker Insights will monitor biometric and environmental data to help identify whether employees are experiencing dangers or risk. Data will be gathered in near real-time from wearables, smart devices and environmental sensors to help organizations quickly respond to problems or react to changing environmental conditions.

Employees working in rapidly changing environments face shifting conditions, whether on the factory floor, on the forklift, atop a cell tower or drilling into the earth. Utilizing IoT to understand what workers are doing in the context of the dynamic environment around them—including heat, height, weather and gas levels—enables organizations to implement near real-time and prescriptive safety practices to help protect the well-being of workers and help them maintain lower insurance costs.  

Nonfatal workplace injuries account for close to $60 billion in worker-compensation costs in the US. Although safety controls and personal protective equipment are mandatory in most hazardous jobs, this solution is designed to help companies to identify and respond to problems or react to changing environmental conditions. In fact, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, nearly 3 million nonfatal occupational injuries were recorded in 2017.

"Worker safety is a critical priority for all enterprises and this collaboration is a major milestone in dramatically improving the way enterprises identify and eliminate hazards in the workplace," said Kareem Yusuf Ph.D., general manager, IBM Watson IoT. "We are thrilled to work with Garmin, Guardhat, Mitsufuji and SmartCone, and leverage their respective leadership and commitment to help improve safety in the workplace." 

"Garmin Health is excited to work with IBM Watson to modernize worker safety," said Travis Johnson, global product lead, Garmin Health. "Combining the powerful analytic capabilities of the IBM Watson IoT solution with the high-quality sensor data and long battery life of Garmin devices creates a great solution for remotely monitoring workers with minimal user burden."

"The implementation of smart protective equipment allows us to better analyze workplace data and provide important safety insights in near real-time," said Saikat Dey, Guardhat co-founder and CEO. "By working with IBM, we are able to leverage Maximo Worker Insights to bring smart safety to scale in the construction, manufacturing and refining industries."

"IBM Maximo Worker Insights delivers the near real-time insight that our clients need to address the safety of their workers," said Ayumu Mitera, CEO, Mitsufuji. "We are excited to work with both IBM and our clients to develop the solution further. We see IBM as a valuable member of our team, not only providing powerful Internet of Things technologies, but also helping us identify new market opportunities around the world."

"We are thrilled to work with a global leader such as IBM and integrate IBM Maximo Worker Insight technology into our platform," said Tenille Houston, VP communications and marketing, SmartCone. "With the ever-evolving workplace, SmartCones' comprehensive end-to-end solution combined with IBM's IoT technology and advanced analytics provides the optimal pairing to best meet industry needs."