discover Our aproach
Through our client's journey
A family-owned southern U.S. metal structure manufacturing plant, led by a hands-on founder who cherishes his team.
- 1 year salaryIs the cost for a single medically consulted injury in our client's industry
- 5 camerasWere enough to cover all potential risk areas
- 105 employeesAre now protected by Neuronflo's solution
- 2 monthsWere enough to see the positive effect
Problem
A well-established family business with 25 years of industry experience, specializing in air ducts and metal structures, has witnessed remarkable growth in recent years. However, with production accelerating, the risk of workplace accidents increased. The company's supervisors were stretched thin, primarily focusing on order fulfillment, which left safety oversight lacking. Recognizing the urgency of the situation, the company's CEO, Peter, knew that immediate action was essential.
A well-established family business with 25 years of industry experience, specializing in air ducts and metal structures, has witnessed remarkable growth in recent years. However, with production accelerating, the risk of workplace accidents increased. The company's supervisors were stretched thin, primarily focusing on order fulfillment, which left safety oversight lacking. Recognizing the urgency of the situation, the company's CEO, Peter, knew that immediate action was essential.
"We've always taken safety very seriously. We had regular safety trainings, toolbox talks, outsourced audits by experts; our supervisors always watched and still are ensuring compliance, but as we scaled, more and more fell on their shoulders," shared Peter.
In December 2022, as the company grappled with a substantial backlog of orders, its supervisors encountered a significant challenge: seven factory-floor workers were simultaneously on medical leave for a week. Among these employees, some were dealing with back pain, while others had experienced symptoms like fever and nausea due to inadvertent exposure to welding flashes. That's when Peter realized he needed a better approach to improving their safety culture.
Seemingly minor accidents can lead to a myriad of hidden repercussions, each with its own set of consequences for the business. Every minor injury triggers a cascade of issues:
Seemingly minor accidents can lead to a myriad of hidden repercussions, each with its own set of consequences for the business. Every minor injury triggers a cascade of issues:
Worker's comp
Injuries requiring medical consultation have been costly for the business. On average, they allocate $80k annually for compensation."
Insurance Premiums
Workplace accidents often result in higher insurance premiums for the company. These increased costs put additional financial strain on the business.
Lost Time Injury
When an employee is unexpectedly absent due to injury, it introduces bottlenecks in the production process, leading to a significant reduction in productivity.
Lost Production Time
Over the years, medical absences of skilled full-time employees directly contributed to 20% of missed deadlines.
Overtime for others
The absence of a single skilled worker necessitates overtime for two others and undermines the overall morale of the team.
In our initial meeting with Peter, we engaged in a comprehensive discussion regarding the challenges that his family-owned business was encountering. Peter mentioned he had no way of gauging when and how often his employees are tempted to breach the established safety practices. Neuronflo's team was eager to provide data-backed insights on how Peter could restructure each employee's KPI's to encourage safe behavior and bring the company's productivity up in the long run.
Neuronflo's team got to work with the following three main objectives in mind:
Main objectives
- Boost Safety AwarenessImprove safety consciousness and compliance among employees using real-time push notifications to employees' phones.01
- Enhance Safety ProtocolsProvide reliably collected near-miss, PPE compliance, and ergonomics data to help our client strengthen the existing safety protocols and procedures.02
- Improve Safety TrainingResearch shows that safety training is more effective when using relevant locally applicable examples. Neuronflo provides visual aids for clients' tailored safety training sessions.03
The process client went through
To achieve these improvements, Neuronflo started by connecting to 4 of Peter's existing surveillance cameras. Additionally, Peter installed a camera above the laser cutter machine his business operates 24/7. The laser beam can reflect off metal surfaces and any person in the vicinity stands at risk of immediately receiving retina damage. Therefore, in addition to providing facility-wide safety insights, our team developed a rapid notification system specifically for the laser cutter machine.
1
Matched Areas & Cameras
We picked the cameras needed to maximize facility coverage.
2
Set the rules
We discussed and agreed on a set of rules to implement in the two facilities.
3
Started collecting data
We collected location-specific data for 3 weeks to optimize our algorithm performance.
4
Provided insights
We started providing actionable safety insights along with real-time incident notifications.
Overexertion Reduction
Overexertion is the leading cause of workplace injuries. Statistically, 33% of workplace injuries are related to overexertion. Within weeks of Neuronflo's integration with the facilities' cameras, Peter saw that on average, there were 43 overreaching and 31 incorrect lifting incidents per day across the two production facilities.
Using Neuronflo's neatly compiled incident reports, Peter and his team devised a set of training sessions, where each focused on a specific type of incident with clear visual examples from the facility gathered by Neuronflo's AI. To establish a culture of learning from mistakes, during each session, the supervisors emphasized that safety violations were not to be reprimanded. With the new attitude towards failure, the employees were willing to work towards the common goal of operating safely and keeping everyone in their best health. Within two months the overexertion numbers dropped to single digits and haven't seen a spike since.
Productivity Boost
Today, Peter's business continues its upward trajectory with steady growth while diligently upholding a safe and secure working environment, and he and his team have achieved the following:
- Reduced PPE misuse riskManagers are promptly notified if there is a high risk of injury due to the absence of safety goggles or gloves.
- Overexertion reduced by 90%The company saw a significant decline in overexertion incidents after Neuronflo's analytics were used to identify the causes.
- Trainings are improvedNeuronflo's incident video recording has provided the opportunity to create facility-specific toolbox talks and training sessions.
The success achieved in maintaining a safe working environment has sparked discussions about further enhancing productivity. These conversations have revolved around the potential for leveraging Neuronflo's cutting-edge technology to automate various daily operations. As the company continues to prioritize safety, the exploration of innovative computer vision solutions represents the next step in its ongoing journey toward operational efficiency and growth.
Explore how Neuronflo's computer vision solutions can help you take your business to the next stage with a 2-month trial solution customized to you!