- Technology is making both equipment and work environments smarter, making it easier to use and maintain equipment and monitor the surroundings.
- Automation has significantly diminished the need for employees to conduct high-risk tasks and reduced engagement with machinery.
- The introduction of onboard, real-time analysis equipment allows instant performance analysis as well as long-term production and safety planning possibilities to reduce incidents and failures.
As an industry that is all about operating large machinery and handling heavy materials, and quickly and efficiently moving goods from one place to another, it’s no surprise that material handling has considerable inherent occupational health and safety risks.
Throughout the past decades, however, those risks have been mitigated thanks to the introduction of technology that is also increasing overall efficiency. Technology has offered opportunities to enhance safety measures, reduce incidents and protect the well-being of everyone in the work environment. Additionally, there has been growing interest in utilizing technology to create even safer equipment.
Smarter equals safer
First and foremost, technological solutions are making both equipment and work environments smarter, making it easier to use and maintain equipment and monitor the surroundings.
Automation has significantly diminished the need for employees to conduct high-risk tasks and reduce engagement with machinery. The lifting, sorting and moving of materials can be automated, which reduces the risk of injuries related to overexertion and human error. Furthermore, monitoring systems, like sensors and cameras, help to detect the presence of people and obstacles, preventing collisions and incidents. These upgrades minimize the human interaction with moving machinery and keep people further from the work areas. This enormously improves safety.
The introduction of onboard, real-time analysis equipment allows instant performance analysis as well as long-term production and safety planning possibilities to reduce incidents and failures. This means safer operations and greater uptime performance. Predictive maintenance uses sensors and data analytics to anticipate equipment failures before they occur, thus averting potential incidents and ensuring that machinery is operating safely and effectively. As an example, Konecranes’ TRUCONNECT Remote Monitoring data, when combined with the customer’s own inspection and maintenance data, creates a comprehensive view of equipment maintenance needs and performance. By analyzing and identifying anomalies, patterns, and trends via TRUCONNECT, the customer can make informed maintenance decisions and prioritize needed actions.
Furthermore, technology has opened the ability to record and report issues ‘on the spot’, both externally towards customers and internally for the company. Digital service tools such as SLIM at Konecranes enable accurate and prompted reporting/assessment and allow the customer to be swiftly notified of any safety or production-related problems. Quicker notifications mean faster responses, reducing the potential for injury or damage and helping companies to identify issues and improvement opportunities. They also allow long-term data analysis to identify possible problem areas and trends and enact immediate action, when necessary, along with instant notifications to employees.
The impact of these technologies goes beyond just reducing the incidence of injuries and incidents. By fostering a safer work environment, companies can also experience improved employee morale and productivity as well as reduced downtime and liability. The continuing evolution of technology – for example around wearable devices such as smart goggles, exoskeletons, and sensor-embedded vests – offers ever-greater potential to improve safety in industrial material handling, making it an exciting and critical field for investment and innovation.
Read more about predictive maintenance, TRUCONNECT, SLIM and the Konecranes Smart Features, and check out Smart Feature videos.
