I had the opportunity to speak at the big local safety event, the Minnesota Safety Conference, coordinated by the Minnesota Safety Council. It was a special year to be a part of the event as Gina Hoffman, a long time employee of the MN Safety Council and face of their events, is retiring. She can be proud of what she started in MN, as it’s an event on par with events in larger markets that I’m familiar with like Chicago, San Diego, and Los Angeles!
I spoke about Internet of Things (IoT) and how people can leverage IoT for safety program excellence. About 80 people attended the session and were engaged from the beginning. Here’s what we discussed:
- Understand the foundation of IoT and “the Cloud.”
- Speak with your organization’s IT department to identify the tools you have available and to discuss possibilities of creating in-house solutions, like an app!
- Nearly any device can be “smart” when it is connected to other devices via networking.
- Many of the attendees stated that they already use smart devices: Fitbit and other wearable exercise trackers, smart watches, and smart speakers (Google Home and Amazon Echo for the most part, but Apple Home Pod is on the horizon).
- Smart speakers are fun, but they are also capable of being a very functional component of the workplace.
- There are some nice apps out there already for safety, but you must be careful to not create MORE data that must be interacted with. Aim to streamline or automate data analysis whenever possible.
- Social media can be a part of the classroom, and it’s a great way to sneak safety into employee lives when they are scrolling their devices off the clock!
You can view my slides here – 2018 IoT and Safety
