New technologies in gas detection: Driving connected workers, worksites, and workflows for improved safety

When working in hazardous environments, safety doesn’t come easily, especially when an unintentional human error happens at high rates. In fact, based on incident reports, statistics show that up to 90% of serious workplace injuries and accidents are a result of human error¹.

It’s important, therefore, to eliminate or at least reduce the potential for human error. So, despite the many interruptions you and your workers may encounter throughout the workday, it’s still everyone’s responsibility to be accountable for personal safety as well as the safety and well-being of fellow workers.

Clearly, this is not an easy job!

Ensuring compliance and accountability is not only challenging, it also can lead to operational inefficiencies. Thankfully, advanced technologies can make a difference by helping you simplify safety, curb risk, and boost productivity.

Which is why we’re excited to introduce you our latest solution, the MSA Connected Work Platform driven by the ALTAIR io™ 4 Connected Gas Detector, featuring the MSA Grid cloud-based software. This powerful new solution is uniquely designed to support a stronger, more proactive culture of safety and performance.

Out-of-the-Box Connectivity

Before we get into how your typical day can be made safer and more efficient with the ALTAIR io 4, you may want to know just how easy it is to get started. The io 4 was designed to be ready to go, literally out of the box:

• Fast: Plug-and-play deployment
• Hassle free: Instant connectivity, no IT required
• Secure: Built-in CAT-M LTE cellular connectivity
• Seamless: Works with leading national networks with MSA Grid integration

Automation Attributes

Now, let’s talk about the many benefits of this connected solution. It doesn’t take more than an average morning’s start-of-shift to understand just how time-consuming it can be to prepare a crew for the workday. There’s a lot that goes into readying gas detectors, assigning devices, and tracking who has which device when the workday starts and ends.

Connectivity improves the entire process with automation capabilities that speed check-out and check-in, as well as ensure device readiness and worker accountability:

• Increases accountability and use: Every detector is assigned a digital MSA id Tag, and every id Tag is tagged to every worker.
• Boosts productivity: With the id Tag, workers quickly check in and get to work without the waiting required by clipboard sign-ins and manual processes.
• Improves inventory management: By placing the device back into the charger, the device is automatically returned to the fleet. This means no more lost or unaccounted-for devices along with their costly consequences.

Advanced Features

Since a non-compliant device can lead to disastrous outcomes, it’s essential to ensure that every device is optimized. In other words, every device operates and protects the worker as it should. Technology not only makes this possible, it also makes it seamless:

• Removes potential for human error: The MSA id Dock is designed to automatically select and perform bump tests and calibration whenever a device needs it.
• Device health status: This io 4 enables full visibility across the fleet.
• Visual indicators: Safe LED lights show any device’s state of compliance. Green, yellow, and red lights representing “compliant,” “non-compliant,” and “in alarm,” respectively.
• Device lock out: This feature ensures that non-compliant devices cannot be inadvertently used.
• Valuable insights: Now you can tie real-time and historical data to specific workers.

Real-time Visibility… and More

By their very nature, remote workforces leave safety managers disconnected from what’s happening on the job. So, what’s a disconnected and physically distant safety manager to do in the event of an unsafe incident, especially when every second counts?

While technology tools can be a big help, they are not, in and of themselves, enough to keep workers safe and worksites productive. Instead, what’s needed is an integrated and connected solution that works across the organization and in conjunction with its many processes.

That’s where the ALTAIR io 4 Gas Detection Wearable and MSA Grid can really help drive safety, compliance, and accountability forward:

• Actionable data: This lets you live-monitor workers across the organization’s entire footprint.
• Situational awareness: Now you can quickly and easily know what is going on with whom, and where.
• Proactive event management: This helps safety managers act immediately when every second matters.
• Over–the-air updates: This enables automatic, cloud-based delivery of the latest safety and detection features.
• Rugged and robust: These industry-leading sensors enable faster response time.

So, if you’re ready to streamline operations, improve performance, and achieve safety goals, now’s the time to talk to a specialist about building your ALTAIR io4 package. Or, better yet, get your quote today.

[1] https://www.safetyandhealthmagazine.com/articles/13159-safety-leadership-neuroscience-and-human-error-reduction