The fast-paced industrial situation in the present times has driven success as well as concerns for managing a safe and secure worksite. The worksites in the labour-intensive sectors have many jobs that involve critical lifting operations. It poses as one of the prime safety concerns mostly due to their complexity and the potential risks they cause to the workers. The safety around such operations should be monitored effectively to ensure a secure workplace for all.
Understanding Lifting Safety
Lifting operations are common in industries such as construction and manufacturing. The tasks in such operations involve the movement of heavy loads using cranes, forklifts, hoists, and other machinery. It is the use of an improper technique or an unavoidable equipment failure that can lead to serious injuries, fatalities, and costly damages. Therefore, monitoring such activities is crucial for maintaining a safe work environment.
The Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries (CFOI) analysis of the risky situation involved in lifting operations showed serious concerns over crane-related fatalities. The seven year period from 2011 to 2017 reported 297 deaths due to crane–related accidents at worksites. This caters to around 42 deaths resulting from crane accidents per year.
The main reasons why these fatalities took place include situations such as –
Being struck by an object or equipment which includes over 50% of the accidents.
The workers are hit by a falling object or equipment at the site which compose almost three-fifths of these accidents.
Subjected to being hit by an object or equipment set in motion using a crane.
Accidents caused due to the transportation of the cranes during operations at workplaces.
Falling off the cranes while doing a lifting operation.
The workers involved in these accidents included crane operators along with other workers who were doing other jobs on the site. While half of the workers in this situation analysis of 7 years include crane operators, one-third of them were workers handling material moving jobs and around 31% were workers engaged in other activities at the worksite.
The operations hold a threat not only to the ones operating the cranes but also encompasses a challenging situation for everyone working around it. Traditional safety measures, while essential can often fall short in preventing accidents and ensuring compliance. This is where Artificial Intelligence (AI) comes into play, revolutionizing safety monitoring with its advanced capabilities.
In this guide, we explore how AI-powered solutions can enhance workplace safety, particularly in lifting operations.
The Role of AI in Lifting Safety Monitoring
As the scope of AI-powered solutions increases, its ability to provide fruitful innovations in areas such as lifting operations has also gained precision. AI technology has the potential to transform safety monitoring by offering real-time data analysis, predictive insights, and automated responses. Here’s how AI can be integrated into workplace safety for such operations:
Alerts based on Real-Time Surveillance: The cause of a lifting accident can based on the incorrect timing for detecting a concern. The AI-based monitoring system equipped with sensors and cameras can continuously monitor activities. They can detect anomalies such as overloading, equipment malfunction, or unsafe practices and trigger instant alerts to prevent accidents.
Predictive Maintenance: The use of AI can be done to make note of historical data and identify patterns that led to such accidents. It can point out potential equipment failures such as predicting when a crane or forklift is likely to fail. It allows for timely maintenance, reducing the risk of unexpected breakdowns during operations.
Outcome-Based Training Programs: AI-powered simulations and virtual reality (VR) can create realistic training environments for workers. These immersive experiences help workers understand the proper techniques and safety protocols, leading to better preparedness and reduced accident rates.
Automated Compliance Monitoring: Ensuring compliance with safety regulations is a challenging task especially with the increasing list of criteria. These systems can automatically track and document adherence to safety standards, making it easier for companies to meet regulatory requirements and avoid penalties.
Risk Assessment and Management: The benefit of using such a system in operations is the evaluation of various risk factors associated with tasks, such as load weight, equipment condition, and environmental conditions. This comprehensive risk assessment enables proactive decision-making to mitigate potential hazards.
These are the unique offerings provided by an AI-based monitoring system as compared to a traditional option. It provides a list of benefits that are based on the lifting AI monitoring facilitated by such advanced technological provisions.
Benefits of AI-Powered Lifting Safety Monitoring
Integrating AI into lifting safety monitoring offers numerous advantages, including:
Improved Safety: By providing real-time monitoring and predictive insights, the AI-powered system significantly reduces the risk of accidents and injuries.
Cost Savings: Preventing equipment failures and minimizing workplace accidents eventually result in lower operational costs and reduced downtime leading to a cost-effective scenario.
Increased Efficiency: It streamlines the safety monitoring processes, which allows for more efficient use of resources and personnel leading to a sustainable approach at worksites. It helps in load distribution that does not create a difficult situation for the machines as well as the workers.
Regulatory Compliance: Automated compliance tracking ensures that companies meet safety standards, avoiding legal issues and fines and making the workplace a safe and secure environment. Moreover, the ability to predict environmental hazards such as wind speed or rising temperatures leading into a complex situation can be avoided.
Creating Better-Trained Workers: AI-driven monitoring programs produce better-trained workers who are more adept at handling operations safely by learning the technical methods of avoiding such accidents. The planning process becomes efficient making workers highly able to manage the situation better.
Implementing AI-powered safety monitoring in lifting operations can surely result in gaining the above benefits but the question is –
How to Develop An AI-Powered Workplace Safety Guide?
viAct's Lifting Safety Monitoring is an AI-powered solution designed to revolutionize how we approach safety. It is a CITF-approved Smart Site Safety System that enhances workplace safety, particularly in these operations.
The AI-powered 4S Tower Crane Lifting Zone is one such application that uses the power of advanced video analytics to cater to the solutions of complex operations with accurate monitoring capabilities. The use of AI-based advance tools such as computer vision and Generative AI makes it easier to integrate and apply.
Developing An AI-Powered Workplace Safety Guide
Adopting viAct’s AI-powered lifting safety monitoring can be highly beneficial with an easy set of execution guidelines. Here are some steps to get started:
Assess Your Needs
The monitoring solution can cater to a large group of concerns that arise during the operations. The first step is to identify the specific safety challenges that your workplace faces. The use of viAct’s AI-powered lifting system can help in automatically identifying such specific challenges using trend analysis by making use of the large volume of previously recorded datasets.
Through computer vision technology, automated incident analysis and reporting are enabled which can identify critical errors such as PPE compliance, danger zone detection, intrusion, slips, trips & falls and other unsafe acts around the operations.
The system is prone to automatically detecting specific marks indifferent operations. For example for a tower crane lifting act, an alert system is generated when lifting cargo in an area of less than 3m from the loading or unloading area. Similarly, a danger zone is marked within a 7m radius of the crane hook and detects any intrusion into that area immediately.
The Forklift Monitoring Systems can be made accurate using video analytics where the prevention of worker-object-machine collision is instant. Any potential collision is detected within seconds and prevents human incidents and equipment failure arising from it.
Choose the Right Technology
As the exact needs are identified and ready for application of the precautionary measures, viAct provides its safety monitoring provisions specific to each one of them. The use of sensors through the existing cameras at the site provides an overview of the ongoing operations thoroughly. The ability to use Large Language Models (LLMs) allows one to scrutinize the records at different intervals of time at any given time.
viMAC is an AI-powered highly mobile all-in-one tool that adds to the safety environment of monitoring further. The AI-processors incorporated IP camera based device allows to note 5m of horizontal and 6m of vertical coverage with 900 downward visualization ability upon being attached to the lifting equipment. In case of a long machine being involved, there is a provision to include multiple cameras to ensure zero blind spots.
From addressing collisions in areas of lifting, marking danger zones, lifting object recognition to identifying operator distraction, the AI-powered lifting solution by viAct is capable of providing a comprehensive secure environment.
Train Your Team
The use of an AI-based monitoring system can help to create a better-trained set of workers. The training provided to them can be made effective by using Generative AI based methods. There can be personalized training curated based on the exact needs of the workers. The Gen AI enabled chatbots offer feedbacks and suggestions on worker’s dilemmas instantly.
It can track the pattern of worker behaviour during operations and suggest them the best possible solution to it. Ensuring that your workforce is adequately trained to use AI systems and understand their benefits can generate long-term benefits to carry out complex operations.
Monitor and Evaluate
The benefit of an AI-based monitoring system over a traditional one is the ability to continuously monitor the performance and evaluate its impact on workplace safety, making adjustments as and when needed. The centralized management platform of viHUB is a provision to monitor every angle of the lifting operations in one place. The intuitive dashboard records and generates trends for better decision-making in the future.
AI-powered lifting safety monitoring represents a significant leap forward in workplace safety. By harnessing the power of AI, companies can create safer environments, protect their workforce, and achieve operational excellence. As technology continues to evolve, the potential for AI to enhance workplace safety will only grow, making it an indispensable tool for the future of industrial operations. Embrace AI today and pave the way for a safer, more efficient tomorrow.
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