Report

Teaser, summary, work performed and final results

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - Hazijax (Hazard-Sensing, Network Connected Garments for Industrial Safety-Critical Environments)

Teaser

Each year there are hundreds of injuries in the oil and gas industry, with the most common causes including inadequate work standards/procedures and inadequate hazard identification or risk assessment. Our business, Wearable Technologies (WTL) recognises that Worker safety...

Summary

Each year there are hundreds of injuries in the oil and gas industry, with the most common causes including inadequate work standards/procedures and inadequate hazard identification or risk assessment.

Our business, Wearable Technologies (WTL) recognises that Worker safety and the prevention of accidents is of critical importance to operators of high risk environments, due to the social and economic impact of fatal incidents being significant – the UK Health and Safety Executive (HSE) put the total cost per fatal incident at around 1.6 million GBP.

The following shortcomings have been highlighted by prospective WTL customers in the oil and gas sectors; these limitations of currently available and commonly used solutions have driven WTL’s development of Hazijax:
ï‚·Exposure risks are associated with multiple gaseous sources: methane, propane, H2S, benzene, CO2, N2 and helium;
ï‚·Multiple external electronic safety devices (in the pocket or on a belt) are bulky and inconvenient, each having their own heavy battery;
ï‚·Increasingly complex processes for daily recharging and testing/sign off before use by the worker in safety-critical operations are required;
ï‚·Most devices cannot pass warnings to a central control room or nearby workers;
ï‚·Potential customers desire better incident management options, enabling only appropriate workers to respond through better indication of hazards and alert indications.

Hazijax has been developed as a technological advancement and the solution to the above issues, and in further stages of development, we will further develop our proprietary technologies, enabling enhanced worker safety and productivity in industries such as oil & gas, nuclear and mineral extraction, transport and construction.
This will include use of already proven Embedded LEDs for visibility, as well as sensors for environmental hazards and meshed network capabilities to enable real-time monitoring and reporting of hazards to co-workers and control centres.
Embedding gas sensor(s) and associated electronics into Hazijax garments will cost around 60% less than currently available and commonly used personal gas sensors, and deliver significant additional benefits. Cost savings are attributable in large part to the intelligent and novel integration of device components within Hazijax garments.

Work performed

This Horizon 2020 Phase 1 Feasibility project funding has enabled WTL to:
ŸComplete a market study, and develop an in depth view of the scale of the personal gas sensor market, existing sensor technologies which are of interest to us and further stages of the Hazijax development project, and complete Voice of Customer work which has returned positive results and gives real confidence in the strength of the Hazijax offering.
ŸProduce prototypes which demonstrate the full capability of the Hazijax system and now enable WTL to seek ATEX approval for the Hazijax system.
ŸDevelop our Intellectual Property strategy and identified further opportunities for IP protection and exploitation as part of the Hazijax offering
ŸDevelop a robust, realistic and achievable Work Programme for the remaining development actions required prior to full commercial launch, and
ŸDevelop the Hazijax business model, strategy and plan from the outcomes of the project tasks, which demonstrates the financial appeal of the Hazijax product offering.

Final results

As existing state of the art is based around seperate items of equipment, and personal protection against various hazards, the key development is the capability of WTL’s proprietary technology to move beyond this, by the intelligent integration of previously (and necessarily) seperate systems. The Advance provided by Hazijax enables much more effective protection of workers in hazardous environments than is available by any other means, in the provision of real-time monitoring of the workers immediate operational environment, and therefore the ability to immediately coordinate appropriate responses to rapid deterioration in environmental conditions.
This feasibility study has enabled WTL to prove the key capabilities of the Hazijax offering, and to validate the target market, IP development and exploitation strategy, development plan and business model. WTL is therefore confident of the market opportunity and plan to proceed with the further development of Hazijax with urgency.

Website & more info

More info: http://wearable.technology.