Blueforce specializes in Lone Worker safety, which we describe as a person who carries out work activities by themselves or in an area where there are no other people nearby to respond in a timely fashion should the worker become disabled or encounter a hostile situation. Â By far, the largest hazard to Lone Workers is the risk of falling. While most falls are not life threatening, being knocked unconscious in a hazardous environment where there is water, industrial gases, and other environmental threats poses a life threatening situation which requires immediate detection and intervention.
There were approximately 2.9 million nonfatal workplace injuries and illnesses reported by private industry employers in 2015, which occurred at a rate of 3.0 cases per 100 equivalent full-time workers, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports. Â Falls, slips, and trips accounted for 27 percent (309,060 cases) of the total occupational injuries and illnesses in 2015:
- The leading detailed types of event or exposure in 2015 included falls on the same level (197,260 cases) and struck by object or equipment (157,490 cases).
- The incidence rate of workers being struck by an object or equipment increased to 14.2 cases per 10,000 full-time workers in 2015 from 13.4 cases in 2014. The number of struck by object or equipment cases for laborers and freight, stock, and material movers increased to 12,240 cases in 2015 and contributed to the overall increase.
As well, the World Health Organization reports that, “Falls are the second leading cause of accidental or unintentional injury deaths worldwideâ€, which result in an estimated 424,000 deaths globally.
Blueforce has led the way in Public Safety life safety since 2011. Â We started with body worn sensor fusion which allows body worn sensors to be made sharable providing total situational awareness amongst the team, but also distributed amongst commanders or managers. Â Our plugin based architecture allows us to rapidly adapt and extend capability in mere days.
60 days ago, we announced our new PosiMotion Plugin Sensor for Blueforce Tactical which uses the Smartphone/Tablet’s accelerometer and gyroscope to detect a lack of motion, possibly indicating a “man down” situation. Â Consistent with best safety practices, the plugin includes workflow and escalation that is built around firefighter PASS alarms. Â If the enduser doesn’t move for some bit of time (default = 30 seconds, but this is customizable), a sensor “warning” sounds. Â This sensor warning lets the local user know via light, and/or sound, and/or vibrate on their mobile device, that if they don’t move, a full alarm will sound in another enduser determined amount of time.
True to this approach, Blueforce is pleased to announce PosiMotion support for “rapid deceleration”.  Rapid deceleration can be thought of as a rapid and succinct cessation of motion either due to a fall or a crash. V1 of this capability is based on an algorithm (US Patent Pending) which considers the deprecated unit kilogram-force (kgf) or kilopond (kp) which is the force exerted by one kilogram of mass in standard Earth gravity (defined as exactly 9.80665 m/s²).  Boiling it down: It’s the falling speed which rises proportionally with the inertial characteristics of the falling subject.  This metric is tunable in the plugin such that any number of use cases may be considered.
Blueforce is proud to announce that PosiMotion V2 plugin for Blueforce Tactical Android is now available for Beta testing. Â We are looking for early adopters and testers. Â Upon release, this capability will be rolled into BlueforceTACTICAL Android and iOS, and BlueforceBEACON Android and iOS. Â For more information, call us at 866-960-0204 x1, or email us at info@blueforcedev.com.