This design forecast from Pushcart Creative discusses the new role connected technology is playing in workplace safety.
Proactive safety equipment has seen less technological advancement than, say, scheduling, design or even customer service, but all that could be about to change. A new wave of affordable, proactive, learning devices will soon be able to integrate with protective gear.
That means hard hats that respond to impacts by sending distress calls, respirators that can auto-select the right filter for the right environment, and hearing protectors that still allow for worksite communication.
From the forecast:
Traditional noise-cancelling hearing protectors lacks contextual awareness of the user’s surroundings. The adaptive hearing protector offers noise-cancelling with an assisted cloud-connected companion app to identify and mitigate noises commonly associated with a specific type of work. The system would come with pre-build audio reference libraries for common workplaces (construction, machine shop, woodworking, etc.) and continue to learn and refine over time.