A few years ago I wrote about a fascinating new wearable technology from SmartSite, which is designed to help improve safety levels on construction sites.
The company, which is part of the Y Combinator stable, offers hardware that is connected to the cloud to help companies measure what hazardous substances employees are exposed to.
Such exposure is common on building sites, and can lead to conditions such as cancer, dermatitis and a range of respiratory problems. To help reduce this, the SmartSite system monitors particulates in the air, UV rays, and even noise levels on site.
Keeping workers safe
A team from King’s College London have developed an app, called Canairy, which aims to do a similar thing. The app utilizes data from the London Air Quality Network pollution map to provide hourly data on the exposure of a worker to pollution. If the exposure exceeds the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) limits for pollutants such as nitrogen dioxide and ozone, an alert is triggered and tips provided to help reduce that exposure.
“As a group, outdoors workers are particularly vulnerable to long-term exposure to ambient air pollution. Within a workplace, the risk of people’s exposure to polluted air can be controlled using well-established methods, but this is more difficult for outdoor workers, many of whom work near or on busy roads,” the team explain. “The app gathers data from the London network, which is the most advanced urban air quality monitoring network in the world. We hope that information provided by the app can be used to inform health risk assessments and contribute to scheduling work that reduces exposure. Crucially it can also help employers and workers to monitor their progress in avoiding unhealthy levels of pollution.”
The app was developed with the help of the British Safety Council, who are also launching a campaign, called Time to Breathe, to draw attention to the risks of air pollution to those people working outdoors.
The team are now urging other employers to join the project and begin rolling it out among their workforce. The information gained through the pilot stage will not only be vital in further developing the app, but will be used in future campaigns to raise awareness of the problem.
One of those companies from the trial period was construction firm Kier, and they’re optimistic about the potential of the app to make a big difference to the health of their workforce.
“At Kier, the health and wellbeing of our workforce is our number one priority and I’m really pleased that our LoHAC (London Highway Alliance Contract) contract with TfL was the first to trialCanairy. This proactive approach to utilising the latest technology will help us reduce our people’s exposure to air pollution, which is a serious concern for all responsible employers,” they explain.
