PPE And The Internet Of Things

Personal protective equipment (PPE) wearables and sensors can dramatically improve worker health and safety.

18:22 05 April 2017

Workers rely on personal protective equipment (PPE) to ensure their safety in the workplace. Due to the growing demand for better safety solutions, it is expected that the PPE market will grow by £40 billion by 2020 and that wearables and smart sensors will be adopted by factories and manufacturers to meet such demands. 

 

In the process, they have to consider not just the workers but also the end users, which are the employers and purchasers, who seek safety equipment that complies with regulations and genuinely increases protection by lowering the risk of workplace injuries and the ensuing costs. 

 

Some of the early players in this industry are Scott Safety, which has developed PPE wearables and sensor-embedded solution for firefighters including a gas mask with a thermal camera, and Honeywell, a multinational conglomerate that developed a smart helmet for first responders and industrial workers to increase worker safety and productivity.

 

For these companies and others, Internet of Things is playing a huge role in improving performance and reducing errors by using products that send information from tools and equipment to system that monitor the environment and other elements.