Wearable technologies for safety

The Challenge

Musculoskeletal (MSK) injuries are the most common and costliest type of injury in the resource industry, estimated by the Western Australian Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety to cost on average up to $70,000 per injury.

Existing technology does not adequately manage and reduce the incidence of preventable MSK injuries.

Key Findings

Development of a new wearable technology and accompanying app to capture and measure data from workers assessing MSK injury risk and factors contributing to MSK pain.

By monitoring and assessing worker’s movements, the Soter System technology can communicate actionable real time insights on how MSK injury can be avoided.

The Soter System allows the risk profile of an entire workforce to be assessed, facilitating adjustment of workplace health and safety mechanisms.

Benefit to WA

SoterSpine technology allows for enhanced labour productivity, fewer project delays, reduced need for backup labour and reduction in compensation payments for the Western Australian mining industry.

Acil Allen estimates that implementation of SoterSpine may result in industry cost savings of up to $26.6 million over a ten-year period.

Keywords: muscular skeletal injury, wearable sensors, Soter Analytics, safety