DataFit - Measure What Matters Blog Series

Revolutionizing Workplace Safety: The Impact of Markerless Motion Capture on Slips, Trips, and Falls

In today's fast-paced work environment, slips, trips, and falls (STFs) remain a significant concern across various industries, from manufacturing to healthcare. These incidents not only lead to injuries but also result in substantial financial losses for organizations. Fortunately, innovative technologies like the LiftSmart system by DataFit, which utilizes 3D markerless motion capture (MoCap), are paving the way for a safer workplace. This technology provides a unique approach to analyzing human movement without the need for cumbersome sensors or wearables, offering numerous benefits in the fight against STFs.

How Markerless Motion Capture Works

Markerless MoCap captures intricate movement patterns during real-world tasks, allowing organizations to identify potential risks associated with employee movements. Here are some key ways this technology helps reduce STFs:

1. Risk Identification Through Natural Movement Analysis: By analyzing an individual’s gait, posture, balance, and foot placement, companies can detect:

   - Abnormal walking patterns that may indicate instability.

   - Signs of fatigue that could lead to falls.

   - Poor ergonomic practices that could heighten risk.

   - Environmental hazards, such as uneven flooring, that disrupt safe motion.

2. Proactive Hazard Detection: The analysis also aids in identifying:

   - Slippery or uneven surfaces that influence how employees walk.

   - High-risk areas within the workplace.

   - Specific work behaviors, like carrying heavy loads, that elevate fall risk.

3. Training & Feedback Loops: Employees benefit from personalized feedback based on their motion data. This reinforces safer behavior, improving their overall posture and movements in the workplace.

4. Designing Safer Workspaces: The insights derived can inform changes in facility layouts, guide footwear recommendations, and influence flooring material selection, all aimed at enhancing safety.

Key Metrics for Assessing STF Risks

To effectively assess the risk of slips, trips, and falls, markerless MoCap extracts several important metrics:

- Gait Metrics: Including step length, width variability, cadence, and foot clearance. A notable focus is on heel contact angle, as improper angles during heel strikes can lead to slips.

- Postural Metrics: Evaluating trunk sway, center of mass in relation to the base of support, and load distribution.

- Reaction Time and Recovery Patterns: These metrics include the ability to recover from a stumble and the time taken to regain balance after unexpected movements.

The Financial Impact of STFs

STFs are among the most common workplace injuries, with staggering costs associated with them. The average total cost per STF injury in the U.S. is approximately $48,575, contributing to an annual direct cost of about $11.2 billion.

Organizations stand to gain significant savings by adopting markerless MoCap technology:

• A medium facility with 25 injuries annually could see annual savings of $400K to $650K with a 30-50% reduction in cases.

• A larger facility with 100 injuries could save between $1.5 million and $2.4 million through enhanced safety protocols.

Conclusion

Adopting markerless motion capture technology represents a transformative step toward improving workplace safety. By providing objective, scalable motion analysis and informing design and training interventions based on real data, organizations can significantly reduce STF risks. The return on investment is compelling, particularly for industries with high STF rates. By implementing such advanced technology, businesses not only enhance employee safety but also drive down costs associated with injuries and enhance overall productivity.

As we continue to integrate cutting-edge technologies into our safety protocols, the potential for creating a safer workplace is greater than ever. Organizations that adopt the DataFit LiftSmart technology can expect significant cost savings while enhancing worker safety and compliance. Want to learn more? Stay tuned for more information regarding tech-driven safety measures in the next Measure What Matters blog.