Wearable Technology and Real-Time Analytics to Prevent Fatigue-Related Accidents

BridgeCrest Medical | May 21, 2015 | 9:34 am

San Francisco, CA – BRIDGECREST MEDICAL, INC. is pleased to announce the publication of a new report: “How Wearables and Real-Time Data Can Prevent Fatigue-Related Accidents.”

Sleep is a fundamental pillar of health and productivity, affecting mental performance, memory, learning and overall health. Insufficient sleep is a major factor in workplace accidents — especially in the mining industry, which operates 24/7 — and these accidents incur high costs.

The report explains how new technology and real-time data analytics offer new solutions to the ongoing challenge of fatigue management.

To effectively manage fatigue, organizations must create and enforce systems that are both proactive (such as regular health screenings and staff training) and reactive (just-in-time ways to respond to fatigue in the moment), and include additional safeguards for high-altitude sites.

Wearable devices and the Internet of Things (IoT) offer great possibilities as practical solutions, because they can capture real-time data from employees to measure their rest and fatigue levels. This data can be automatically analyzed and filtered, to alert managers to the most urgent cases, so they can make just-in-time decisions to keep employees safe and healthy.

Bridgecrest Medical’s Fatigue Management Solution offers these benefits to mining companies around the world.

Here’s how the system works:

  1. Employees are screened for major risk factors affecting sleep quality. The results are automatically synchronized with a secure data analytics platform, where they can be compared with set standards for employees in similar conditions as well as the patient’s historic data.
  2. The workers wear smartwatches, especially while they are sleeping or resting. These devices measure their biometrics, heart rate, and quality and quantity of sleep.
  3. The data from the smartwatches automatically feeds into a computer interface. The system categorizes each employee into high, medium and low-risk categories, based on data from top doctors from the world’s leading mining companies.
  4. In the time between when employees wake up and when they begin their shifts (often while they are eating in the cafeteria) a company doctor or safety manager can review the employees’ risk profiles and make just-in-time management decisions about the people whose metrics show that they are at high risk of causing an accident. This may include sending the employee to the doctor for additional testing or treatment. It may include a different work assignment for the shift (perhaps a maintenance job instead of driving heavy equipment.)

Download the full report at BridgecrestMed.com.

About Bridgecrest Medical, Inc.

Bridgecrest Medical provides actionable intelligence to heavy industry professionals, to ensure safe and smooth operations. Its solutions combine the latest in mobile and wearable technology with real-time data analytics. Based in San Francisco, Bridgecrest Medical deploys solutions for clients around the globe. These end-to-end solutions integrate the first-hand expertise of world-class leaders in mobile technology, data analytics, occupational health and high-altitude medicine. Named one of the top healthcare tech startups to watch by Information Week, Bridgecrest Medical works to ensure that the right insights reach the right person at the right time — to prevent accidents, lower insurance costs and increase productivity.