WORKPLACE SAFETY AND 4IR
TO support transformation under the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR), employers must invest in and use smarter safety equipment. They must also ensure automation complies with safety management requirements.
All parties have no option but to embrace the latest technology on occupational safety and health (OSH) and slowly discard traditional ways of doing things, such as the paper-based process of manually inputting OSH data.
The latest advancements in connected safety technology will enable businesses to protect workers better and help them achieve a competitive advantage by reducing safety managementrelated costs.
For example, embedding personal protective equipment with sensors or radio-frequency identification technology could speed up data gathering and improve accuracy and efficiency.
In developed countries, advanced computer software and smart gadgets, such as drones, are being used to help make a 3D survey and use the data to design and construct a building or other infrastructure on a site.
In Japan, they have adopted the Prevention through Design and Building Information Modelling concepts, where a building or facility is built in the digital world before the structure is constructed.
According to the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health of Japan (JNIOSH) director-general, Dr Yasuo Toyosawa, the use of PtD and BIM enables stakeholders and authorities to check and fix flaws from the design stage, thus reducing the possibility of accidents.
Speaking at the 5th Scientific Conference on Occupational Safety and Health (SciCOSH 2018) in Putrajaya recently, Toyosawa said his country had already embarked on functional safety, or “Safety 2.0”, which focuses on automatic protection of workers’ safety.
Safety 2.0 is a collaboration on safety that links humans, machines and the environment through the latest ICT technology, such as artificial intelligence and Internet of Things.
It is a more advanced approach compared with Safety 0.0, which focuses on human attention and action, while the Safety 1.0 concept reduces accidents by isolating machines from workers.
Organised by the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), SciCOSH 2018 is the right platform for discussion and sharing of issues and promotion of safety, health and environment. The biennial event focuses on the latest scientific research on OSH, including those that are relevant to 4IR.
More than 200 participants got the opportunity to learn from JNIOSH, besides local and foreign experts from 20 organisations who presented 60 papers.
At the function, I witnessed the signing of a memorandum of understanding between NIOSH and JNIOSH, where both parties agreed to collaborate in construction safety; environmental improvement; ergonomics and human factors; and, chemical process safety.
Both parties will enhance research capacity-building and research information-sharing, besides sharing facilities, technical equipment and ideas and optimising resources through joint scientific seminars, workshops and publications.
Malaysia recently unveiled its national policy on Industry 4.0, known as Industry 4WRD, in response to the call for digital transformation of the manufacturing sector and related services.
Industry 4WRD is a pivotal step as Malaysia seeks to strengthen structural reforms to become a developed nation that is equitable, sustainable and inclusive by 2025 or earlier.
It is of paramount importance for everyone to be involved in the practice and management of OSH at the workplace.
In the 4IR era, OSH management is still needed for all workplace environments in all industries to ensure high standards of safety and health at work.
Industries and employers must realise that four fundamental factors justify OSH management — corporate responsibility, social and moral obligation, good business sense and legal obligation.
Effective OSH management not only reduces the risk to safety and health, but also ensures high returns to a company and increased productivity.
Needless to say, the most valuable asset of an organisation are the people who work within it and who contribute to its success.
The welfare of human resources should be of utmost importance to employers and a prerequisite to developing and maintaining a competent and highly skilled workforce.
Input from the scientific community, including those who attended SciCOSH 2018, could improve safety and health of workers by early detection of exposure to risk, development of preventive measures and implementation of OSH systems and policies.
Research will enable businesses to upgrade safety and health standards in their organisations and help the authorities formulate the best solutions and strategies to address issues and challenges ahead.