Artificial Intelligence (AI) is changing the way organizations understand safety data by providing actionable insights to underlying risks and hazards related to potentially Serious Injuries and Fatalities (pSIFs). While widely discussed as an advantageous idea, Benchmark ESG™ | Gensuite®, in partnership with Bowers Management Analytics, put it to the test, developing and launching the first AI solution to identify pSIFs. Over the last 6 months, the Benchmark pSIF AI Advisor™ has done just that – analyzing over 100,000 I&I Cases, Events, Concerns, and Behavior-Based Safety Observations and quickly identifying over 5,000 pSIFs for subscribers across various industries. What would have taken months of manual data analysis to narrow down to the critical few, can now be done in minutes with the Benchmark pSIF AI Advisor™.
The Importance of Tracking pSIFs
The power of AI to identify pSIFs can drive transformative breakthroughs in narrowing the scope of incidents to ones that could lead to more serious occupational injuries or fatalities. While the Heinrich Pyramid has provided an established model for classifying and supporting data analysis activities geared at reducing incident rates over the past 20 years and served as an important and reliable foundation to reduce overall injury rates, it has not had a similar effect on reducing Serious Injuries or Fatalities (SIFs) nor does it assist EHS professionals in narrowing down the data to the “critical few” cases, events, concerns, and observations.
Applying a more focused approach for identifying and tracking pSIFs with AI, organizations can gain increased insights into their safety programs for a reduction of risks that could lead to Serious Injuries & Fatalities.
Uncovering Risks by Unlocking AI
With the pSIF AI Advisor™, Benchmark ESG™ | Gensuite® is enabling business leaders to take advantage of the latest and greatest technologies where it matters most – keeping workforces safe. For over a decade, Benchmark has designed software solutions using best practice workflows, harnessing frontier technologies focused on supporting and amplifying the impact compliance, safety, and operational leaders can have on their business.
For each case analyzed using the pSIF AI Advisor, users are also provided a similar fatality report from the AI engine’s knowledge base, providing insights from over 10,000 publicly available fatality records. Professionals can then explore various incidents classified as high-risk activities, such as crushed by machine/moving objects to gain new understandings on why certain safety procedures are in place. For example, in this instance, the pSIF AI Advisor was able to quickly uncover the underlying risks associated with grinding wheels and their explosive and fatal impacts if not properly maintained.
In addition to its speed and accuracy, the pSIF AI Advisor also provides insights into high-risk activities and factors related to each pSIF case. In the example pictured below, one business ranked their highest risk activities in order from powered vehicles, falls from ground level, and chemical exposure using manual identification. However, when applying the pSIF AI Advisor, the data revealed the highest risks were falls from ground level first and then powered vehicles. Fall from height moved from ninth position to third, while chemical exposure came in at fourth – changing significantly where focused safety measures should be applied.
New Insights for EHS Leaders
Expanding beyond the traditional workplace safety models to incorporate powerful technologies like artificial intelligence allows organizations to uncover hidden risks like these to better understand and prevent pSIFs. As technologies continue to improve, AI Advisors will only get smarter, building on these advancements for further insights and significant workplace safety improvements. Benchmark ESG™ is committed to being a part of this evolution, expanding technologies and functionalities for their global subscriber group.
Long-time Benchmark subscriber, The HEICO Companies, was one of the first to pilot and incorporate the pSIF AI Advisor in their organization, leading to faster and more accurately identified pSIFs than with traditional methods, noting that, “The AI technology allows us to benefit from serious incidents that have occurred at other companies and determine if we have a similar risk. It quickly gets us to the critical few events that deserve more attention.” Learn about HEICO’s success with the pSIF AI Advisor™ and how the implementation is driving safety insights across their footprint.