Noise monitoring in the workplace is essential. Regular exposure to occupational noise is proven to contribute to Noise-Induced Hearing Loss (NIHL), which is an irreversible and debilitating condition. Over two million workers in the UK, alone, suffer from NIHL, and 16% of disabling hearing loss worldwide is attributed to exposure to occupational noise.
These statistics are staggering, particularly in light of the fact that entire regulatory schemes are in place to prevent this very outcome. In the UK, the HSE sets forth the relevant regulations for teams to consider with regard to occupational noise. There are also international standards set forth by the ISO that teams can adopt in order to help demonstrate regulatory compliance.
Given the persistence of NIHL even within regulated landscapes, many teams find themselves asking whether there is a better solution available for noise monitoring in the workplace.
What is Smart Alert and how does it work?
Smart Alert is industry-defining technology for more accurate, more reliable, and more effective noise monitoring in the workplace.
Created by a team of experts in audiology and occupational health and safety, Smart Alert is purpose-built to fully prevent exposure to unsafe levels of sound in the workplace by notifying workers of unsafe conditions in real-time. And while Smart Alert is sophisticated, powerful technology, it’s also easy to implement and uncomplicated to use.
Smart Alert is purpose-built to fully prevent exposure to unsafe levels of sound in the workplace by notifying workers of unsafe conditions in real-time.
Perhaps the best way to gain a better understanding of what Smart Alert is and how it works, is to review exactly what Smart Alert is not.
Unlike traditional noise assessments conducted by consultants, Smart Alert does not rely on measurements of ambient or background noise collected by sound meters or noise dosimeters over the course of hours or days. And unlike traditional approaches to risk management with regards to noise, Smart Alert does not provide teams with averages of occupational noise levels or estimates of the personal daily noise exposure of individual workers.
On the contrary, Smart Alert continuously, accurately monitors personal levels of exposure to noise from within the wearer’s ear.
This means that the noise being measured by Smart Alert is the actual noise that someone is being exposed to, and not simply a measure of ambient or background noise. This is a critical distinction between the Smart Alert methodology and traditional noise assessments: by measuring how much noise a worker is actually exposed to, instead of estimating personal exposure based on a calculation of the average amount of ambient noise that exists in a workplace, Smart Alert is able to capture the most meaningful, most reliable data available.
Further, Smart Alert is designed for easy, fast adoption, and seamlessly integrates into any working environment. The kit itself is incredibly sleek and lightweight, and can be worn underneath a pair of earmuffs. Critically, Smart Alert is designed to facilitate better ways of working without distracting team members, or slowing them down. And unlike standard PPE, Smart Alert permits customisation for optimal fit with different sizes of Ear Tips and Ear Hooks available for each ear, which ensures that workers are comfortable and - ultimately - more likely to wear the device and be better protected from unsafe levels of sound.
What is the benefit of Cloud-based Analytics for risk management?
Not only does Smart Alert continuously monitor workers’ personal exposure to sound and alert them to unsafe conditions, it also collects and collates critical information, transforming it into meaningful, actionable insights that teams can use to improve or implement controls, and improve health and safety outcomes for workers.
The data collected by Smart Alert is stored in an ultra-secure Cloud environment, where it’s processed with advanced Analytics and displayed to teams in an attractive dashboard format.
Depending on specific needs and preferences, teams can choose to view critical data in the way that works best for them. Safety managers and duty holders can drill-down to see granular, hour-by-hour reports of exposure, or view weekly or monthly data to track progress. With this unprecedented level of insight at their fingertips, teams are able to easily uncover trends, patterns, or hotspots, empowering them to take swift, decisive action to create a safer and healthier working environment.
With an unprecedented level of insight at their fingertips, teams are able to easily uncover trends, patterns, or hotspots, empowering them to take swift, decisive action to create a safer and healthier working environment.
And because this data is stored in the Cloud - and not collected or processed manually - team members in any location, time zone, or department can easily access up-to-date information, as long as they have the right permissions. Further benefits of a Cloud-powered solution for risk management include increased processing power for faster speed-to-insight, better scalability for growing or evolving teams, and cost savings that accompany a well-managed risk environment (including lower hearing conservation costs and reduced NIHL-related claims), as well as cost savings resulting from an efficient solution that reduces dependency on IT and accelerates the flow of critical information.
In sum: Cloud-based analytics do more than create a single source of truth for your key business insights: they remove barriers to access to important information, and empower non-technical users to access and engage with insights, fostering a data-driven culture that encourages individual employees to interact more meaningfully with their own risk landscape. The result is a more informed, more confident, and more proactive team when it comes to risk management with regards to noise.
How can I learn more about Smart Alert?
The best way to discover how Smart Alert can evolve your approach to noise monitoring and drive better outcomes for your workforce is to see it in action.
To schedule your personal online demo, just choose a time slot that works for you on this calendar. And if you’d like to chat with us to learn more about Smart Alert before you book your demo, feel free to contact us using these details.
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To learn more about how Smart Alert is redefining noise monitoring in the workplace, you can read this article. And to discover more about the key benefits of modern risk management technology, you can check out this blog.