SAFETY SHIELD

As the undisputed pioneers of designing and delivering plant collision-avoidance software and equipment, Safety Shield Global is looking to deploy its life-saving solutions across such markets as the rail industry, waste and recycling, agriculture, forestry, warehousing and logistics.

Born out of an industry which the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) in the UK has long regarded as one of, if not the most, dangerous to work within due to the variety of hazards present on construction sites, the Safety Shield has proved itself as a trusted life-saving system.

Harnessing state-of-the-art Artificial Intelligence, it is the most advanced and reliable product of its kind, with close to 20,000 plant and machinery now fitted with its Human Form Recognition (HFR) technology.

And the company’s next phase sees them target a much wider range of sectors as AI enhancements enable them to adapt and upgrade to meet new challenges.

One key customer to have already mandated the use of an adapted Safety Shield Global system is Anglian Water, who called on the team following a serious incident on one of their sites.

Through close cooperation and collaboration, a roadmap of safety improvements has been agreed to create safer sites with reduced PPI, consistent industry-leading plant standards and control via a managed service desk with data consistency.

Thanks to their work with Anglian, engagement has now started with the wider water industry community as SSG’s reputation for life-saving solutions continues to grow and spread.

For SSG founder and owner, Jonathan Guest, the ability to expand his product’s reach into wider areas of industry only serves to show just how far both he and the business have come since he first started on its development more than 15 years ago.

Devastated by the death of a close friend who was crushed on a building site by an excavator, Jonathan has dedicated his working life to finding a solution that he hopes will one day completely eliminate the threat of injury through People Plant Interface. Not only is he saving lives, but last year they were presented with a King’s Award for Enterprise: Innovation – an honour which saw Jonathan invited down to meet King Charles III. But he has no intention of stopping just yet.

Jonathan Guest Owner Safety Shield Global

“The goals we have today are as simple as they were back when we started the process – to eradicate the threat of death or serious injury through incidents of machines colliding with people. Any death or life-changing workplace accident is one too many.

“Indeed, it doesn’t even need to be a construction site as we are now expanding the Safety Shield so that the collision-avoidance technology can be of use in many different areas of industry.

“The implementation of Safety Shield technology across the highly-dangerous construction industry has resulted in an impressive average reduction of 70% in incidents on sites where it is utilised, while our AI model boasts a remarkable – independently recognised – accuracy rate of 99.6%. Having shown how it can achieve such impressive results in construction, we have now started to branch this out to other industries.”

The first ever Safety Shield – a warning system to alert heavy plant operators when a human form is in close proximity to the machinery – was launched in 2018. By acting as a third eye for the operator, visual and audible alerts are delivered to the control cab when a human form stands within the amber (outer) zone or more serious red (inner) zone.

Not only does it act as a warning system, the AI model works alongside a cloud-based monitoring system to ensure that every triggered alert is sent to a data centre which enables it to learn and predict potential future pinch points.

It is a level and rate of progress that continues to save lives… not just on construction sites, but anywhere there is the potential of plant collision injury.