Proactive Worker Safety for Industry 4.0 Using AI

The goal of this project is development of a platform using artificial intelligence (AI) video analytics technology to give an accurate ergonomics risk assessment by providing real-time performance data to manufacturers and workers.

Project Awarded:

November 27, 2023

Project Number:

22-06-01

Project Lead

Be Global Safety (Arvist)
University of Buffalo
PPC Flexible Packaging

Problem

While the manufacturing industry evolved rapidly over the past decades, with automation and digitalization leading this transformation, safety processes are still often manual and outdated. ​ Repetitive stress injuries and overexertion are leading causes of musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) among manufacturing workers, accounting for a reported 30% of all safety incidents. Safety incidents are tragic for employees and extremely expensive for employers.

Proposed Solution

The team from Be Global Safety (Arvist), the University of Buffalo, and PPC Flexible Packaging will combine the latest advances in AI with ergonomic risk assessment tools and specialized safety knowledge to:

  • Create a safety solution fit for Industry 4.0 workers
  • Develop educational resources for the manufacturing community, providing a roadmap and actionable insights on worker safety.

Impact

This project aims to proactively enhance worker safety by developing, demonstrating, and delivering a scalable platform that will export the safety and accident data being generated in a preferred format and create application programming interfaces (APIs).