How Predictive Analytics Transforming Transportation And Logistics Safety

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With the trove of data from IoT comes an opportunity for safety managers: They can leverage information with predictive analytics to better keep employees safe on the job.

The Internet of Things has provided the transportation and logistics industry with an escape from the norm. Estimations and educated guesswork are no longer the fundamentals of making operational improvements.

With this trove of data comes an opportunity for safety managers: They can leverage information with predictive analytics to better keep employees safe on the job.

Predictive analytics thrives on IoT

Accuracy is vital in the logistics industry, and the implementation of more concise data is growing. By connecting various parts of the entire process—from warehousing management to transportation organization—managers can gain ground-level insight into every metric.

The business value of embedding sensors in everyday objects like forklifts or shipping trucks is obvious. It allows organizations to pinpoint potential areas to cut production, spend or other resources without affecting the bottom line. But there’s potentially even more value in using this gathered data to understand where the most accidents and incidents occur and incorporate predictive analysis in the form of Environmental, Health and Safety software to drive return on investment through safety.

With today’s technology, transportation vehicles can be equipped with sensors that relay information on certain diagnostics, such as:

Travel speed.
How many times a driver brakes or how much force is put into the action.
Whether the truck was going over the speed limit.

While this data is normally used for proactive repairs and maintenance, it provides a tangible jumping-off point for safety managers to evaluate current protocols in place.

Leveraging data for safety‘s sake

For EHS software to produce its best probabilities as to where the next accident will occur, it needs a steady stream of reliable data. This is why the relationship between EHS software and IoT is so beneficial for safety managers. Gone are the days of having to manually report incidents—digital tracking of injury report forms isn’t just an OSHA requirement, but it’s a boon, as well.

Distracted driving, forklift accidents and incidents during routine loading bay work all plague the transportation and logistics industry. What do they have in common? Historical events provide a platform to understand why they happened. Aggregate enough data, and safetymanagers can pinpoint whether it was a breach in procedure, training protocol or if a lack of safety gear that caused the accident.

SHD Logistics magazine reported the ROI yielded from preventing these injuries that have yet to happen can be different on an organization-to-organization level for a number of reasons. Preventing accidents keeps productivity afloat, and considering that companies lose $60 billion a year from this very reason, according to OSHA. That’s more than enough reason to make this a priority.

Other business value can be derived from:

Lower insurance premiums.
Fewer workers’ compensation claims.
Avoiding the expense of going to court.
Fewer fines that come with workplace injuries.

Does your company have any plans on using data to support worker safety through predictive analysis? Leave us a comment below, and tell us how it has helped.