EFFORTS to protect the health and wellbeing of workers take a major step forward today with the launch of the next generation of wearable technology by workplace health risk prevention experts, Reactec. Its third generation, R-Link watch, actively protects wearers from exposure to harmful risks including Hand Arm Vibration and getting too close to dangerous, fixed or moving vehicles and equipment in use.
With the R-Link watch, a fully integrated eco-system, and the powerful Reactec Analytics, Reactec delivers an unprecedented view of an employees’ environment to allow employers to proactively prevent risk within the workplace. Founded on decades of experience in identifying workplace health risks and incorporating the very latest sensor and communications technology R-Link is set to revolutionise health and safety in construction and heavy engineering. In addition, the R-Link has been designed for reliability and ease of deployment in the most arduous environments and industries.
Speedy – the UK’s leading tool hire company – has already signed up to introduce R-Link into its extensive hire fleet. Having been an early adopter of Reactec’s first generation wearable HAVWEAR, Speedy was quick to see the potential for R-Link with its expanded functionality.
Another long-standing customer of Reactec and early adopter of the device is engineering and construction giant, Keltbray, which has ordered more than 500. Keltbray has usedReactec’s technology for a number of years which has provided the insight to reduce and control HAV exposure and improve employee awareness and engagement to HAV management. Additionally, Keltbray has benefited from efficiency gains in choosing the right tool for the task and keeping accurate exposure records.
Death and accidents caused by being struck by a moving industrial vehicle are still unacceptably frequent and remain a high priority for the construction industry. In 2021 there were 25 deaths (18% of the total deaths over the year), and 5,121 non-fatal injuries (10% of the total non-fatal injuries in 2021)*.
Jacqui McLaughlin, CEO of Reactec, said: “We are proud to continue our journey as an innovator in workplace health and safety. Technology is revolutionising so much of our everyday lives and we want to make sure that safety and equally health in the workplace also benefit.”
“Major clients such as Keltbray have used our unique combination of workplace wearables and cloud-based analytics to actively prevent health risks for their employees for some time and together we are confident that R-Link offers a major expansion on this concept. Once again, we are pleased to be working with Speedy to ensure the watch is the preferred model available for hire.”
Supply Chain Director Andy Connor from Speedy said: “Speedy prides itself in staying at the forefront of technology developments to support our customers. Having worked with Reactec from its very original technology in 2008 we are very keen to offer its very latest development R-Link to our client base.”
Paul Deacy from Keltbray said: “Given our purpose to redefine the way sustainable development is delivered, when Keltbray learned of the next generation of Reactec’s wearable we were impressed with the technology enhancements. Initially we will replace 500 from our HAVwear fleet with the new R-Link wearable. Once everyone is familiar with the new device we will begin evaluating the functionality for proximity.”
Through advanced technology created by Reactec’s R&D team, the R-Link provides real-time alerts to notify workers of unsafe situations while data collated and automatically transmitted to the cloud-based Reactec Analytics platform on exposure risks and near misses become a rich vein of intelligence to inform the creation of safer work environments.
The device will be released to the market this month with an ability to manage HAV exposure and near misses within exclusion zones. Over the next 12 months with a series of remote automatic upgrades the same hardware will then be enabled with functionality to support and create geofenced areas, lone worker support, employee messaging, evacuation and mustering and monitoring of upper arm musculoskeletal disorders.
