The risk of a serious and life-altering or fatal accident in the industrial workplaces of Indiana and Illinois, as well as the rest of the country, remains unacceptably high. All too often, workers in our steel mills, factories, manufacturing plants, warehouses, ports, and construction sites die or suffer permanent, disabling harm in a preventable accident on the job. For more, read How Great is the Danger of Workers Dying in Fatal Work Accidents in 2022?
In response, there is a rising trend to take the responsibility of keeping workers safe from human safety officers and site managers and to place it with a form of Artificial Intelligence (“AI”) commonly referred to as computer vision technology (“Computer Vision”).
Proponents argue Computer Vision is far superior to current safety procedures. With Computer Vision, they contend its superior safety hazard detection will reduce worker injuries and save lives. See, “Computer Vision As A Solution To Safety Challenges In Industrial Facilities: Maybe Artificial Intelligence could be the answer to many workplace safety questions,” written by Maoz Tamir and published by OHS Online on May 05, 2022.
What is Computer Vision?
Computer Vision, from the employer’s perspective, is a “risk mitigation” tool designed to reduce “top workplace risks.” It monitors the worksite for safety dangers in a variety of ways. Consider how Illinois’ renowned National Safety Council offers companies educational reports on Computer Vision that include the following:
- NEW! Using Computer Vision as a Risk Mitigation Tool: Shares how computer vision technology is capable of accurate, consistent and automatic monitoring of workplace hazards, such as the lack of PPE use, tracking the spread of infection and predicting the possibility of workplace violence.
- Drones for Working at Height and Confined Space Inspections: Explores use cases for drones in the commercial, industrial and civil government sectors.
- Wearables for Fatigue Monitoring: Covers use cases and the vendor landscape for fatigue monitoring wearables.
- Proximity Sensors to Avoid Equipment Strikes at the Worksite: Looks at the use of proximity sensors for avoiding equipment strikes at the workplace.
- Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality for Hazardous Work Training: Looks at the use of virtual reality and augmented reality to enhance worker safety.
Read, “Featured Technology Reports from Work to Zero,” a series of reports on Computer Vision in the workplace offered by the National Safety Council.
Computer Vision on the Job Site
This new technology’s main advantage is that it enables workers and others on the job site, regardless of the industry, to be monitored at all times. Computer Vision does not take lunch breaks and is never late to work. It operates continually, day and night.
Moreover, Computer Vision can look out over the workplace to see not only what people are doing, but how they are interacting with the machinery, equipment, materials, cargo, tools, etc. particular to that workplace. It is programmed with the safety regulations and standards that define safety for that job site. Computer Vision will document and report any perceived failures to follow these safety regulations as they occur.
From one safety expert, here are a few examples of how Computer Vision will work to find breaches in safety regulations, and protect workers from hazards on the job, by identifying things like:
- A person steps in an area that has been deemed unsafe.
- A person stands behind a vehicle that is backing up.
- A truck driver in the yard is speeding.
- A forklift driver in the warehouse does not stop at blind corners.
- A forklift or other vehicle is parked in an unsafe area.
- A machine is operating with the safety door open.
- A person is not wearing safety equipment.
- A group of people are violating social distancing guidelines.
- A person is injured on the production floor.
- A person has a medical emergency on the floor.
Read, Tarantino, Anthony. “Improving Safety with Computer Vision.” Smart Manufacturing: The Lean Six Sigma Way (2022): 379-384.
Computer Vision in the Construction Industry
Working construction is notoriously high risk. Construction is the most dangerous line of work someone can have in the Hoosier State. Read, What Is The Most Dangerous Job in Indiana and Illinois?
For safety agencies and those advocating for construction worker accident victims and their loved ones, it comes as no surprise this new AI is particularly inviting to employers in the construction industry.
The safety industry has responded. Here are two examples of Computer Vision offerings being marketed specifically for construction site safety by Visionify:
1. Employee Tracking — Without having a human representative on the construction site, the employer can use Computer Vision to (1) provide computerized employee identification which the AI monitors alongside (2) facial recognition and (3) body recognition to identify and report any construction worker who is not wearing the appropriate Personal Protective Equipment.
2. Site Scanning – Computer Vision technology can also be used through a purchased “smart safety application” to scan the entire construction site. Here, a series of photos are taken and stored of perceived worksite dangers identified by the app. This is also done without a human representative on the site. Instead, the images are forwarded to a remote Project Manager who is then responsible for taking the necessary action to rectify the safety hazards.
Seeking Justice for Serious or Deadly Industrial Worker Injuries
Too many jobs in our part of the country place workers at an unacceptably high risk of permanent injury or death caused by a work accident. Workers die or suffer things like amputations, traumatic brain injuries (TBIs), spinal cord injuries, internal organ damage, nervous system damage, or illnesses like mesothelioma because of an employer’s failure to meet legally established safety requirements.
Technological advances that serve to increase the likelihood of these preventable accidents in Indiana or Illinois are being developed and will be used in our industrial worksites. Computer Vision is being used – and will be more and more a part of the construction sites, steel mills, warehouses, automobile manufacturing plants, factories, and other industrial workplaces in our part of the country.
For more on workplace accident dangers, read:
- Multiple Employers on the Construction Site: Who Is Liable For Construction Worker Accidents?
- Confined Spaces in Construction Work: Duty to Protect Workers From Harm
- Steelworkers’ Dangers on the Job: Top Five Steel Industry Hazards
- Factory Worker Accidents in Indiana and Illinois
- Fatal Industrial Warehouse Accidents in Indiana and Illinois
- Loading Docks Are Dangerous: Dock Worker Accidents in Indiana and Illinois
- Five Deadly Workplace Dangers in Warehousing and Industrial Storage Facilities
- Death on the Job: Industrial Accident Fatalities in Illinois and Indiana.
Computer Vision is here. For some, this is Big Brother entering our workplaces under the guise of worker safety. Still, the reality is that workers are exposed to life-threatening dangers daily. This must be addressed because too many severe accidents are happening to our industrial workers. Please be careful out there!
