Use of big data in safety

What is big data? 

Big data is a general term for extremely large data sets that may be analysed computationally to reveal patterns, trends, and associations, especially relating to human behaviour and interactions.It means a lot of information on data that is difficult to handle manually. 

What is its relevance in safety?

Every company in the world has been improving in the front of safety. This involved many companies developing their own safety management systems and getting certified for OHSAS 18001 and the likes. Since the companies have implemented their safety management systems they have huge quantities of safety data available with them. This data may be organised or unorganised - most of which has been lying underutilized as the companies are still not clear of what to to do with this data. I have seen companies that employ tens of thousands of people take targets of 1 or 2 safety observations per person per month. The data hard or soft, segregated or raw is an immense resource of the learnings from the past that can drive decision making in the future. The huge quantum of data that we have now can be put to better use if they can help us create a better world for the people who work for similar organisations that have similar mode of operations and may come face to face with similar circumstances. 

Who needs big data?

Not only companies, but organisations like OSHA in the US or Directorate of industrial safety and health in India where all the injury and data are collected also sources of big data in terms of safety. They publish their data in the online portals for ready reference. Nowadays they have also move from the old school reporting system to tools that can help them get the data they require in an organised fashion and help them with analytics. 

What do we do with big data?

Today we do not have any well-defined algorithm that can predict exactly what is going to happen next from what had happened in the past,but the world is not a hopeless place. Technology companies are coming up with better and better algorithms day after day and one fine day we can hope that we will reach our goal of zero incidents with the help of big data playing a major role in pinpointing those areas of concern and highlighting them to the concerned people. What if an algorithm is able to predict the location and time where the next big accident is going to happen? - Hopefully the accident will never happen. It will be as easy as finding the lication of a stolen vehicle using GPS and recovering it.

My data, your data, our data - but where will we store and use all of them?

Cloud computing provides a common storage area for data from different companies and for different branches or verticals under the same roof. This enables enhanced artificial learning from the mistakes of others helping us not to repeat the same mistake and learn at a cost. 

Learning from examples - 

Suppose we are going to do an activity in a plant, while doing the risk assessment for the activity manually we may miss out on certain risks and control measures. Here the big data can help us. By analysing all the incidents or observations that had been enter in the data cloud for the same or similar activity that had happened in the past in other organisations, it can act as a third eye to the person who does the risk assessment. Early identification and anticipation of the risk can help us take ample steps for risk mitigation and also so help us to be prepared for the consequences in case anything goes wrong.Big Data analytics can also help reduce the chances of human error and thereby making the outputs indepedent of the personnel. Suppose you are doing an incident investigation and entering it into the the software that holds the big data. From what is being entered it can go and dig into the big data that is already has and identify similar incidents that are already available there. The user who now access to two similar incidents in the past can check for the investigation and analysis of of those incidents to get insights into the root causes and corrective and preventive actions that have been takenafter those incidents.

Is all big data n the form of words and numbers?

Big data need not always be what is typed and entered. It can be images videos or any sort of information that can provide insights and can be compared. With the advent of increasing capabilities in computing, we can even compare videos of the ideal situation with how it is in practice at the moment and alert the concern of imminent danger in the area. eg. Jumping of red lights at traffic signals.

Benchmarking and standardization

With the advent of big data, benchmarking has become a lot more easier. A manager sitting in one location can easily tell how the different branches of his company at different locations are performing with respect to the leading and lagging indicators with the single click of a mouse. It can help provide management insights and script the way forward. This big data will help immensely in the way management can frame the policies and the strategies for risk mitigation in a more informed manner.

Where is my pie?

Organisations intend to shell out money on safety and health of their workers. What they invest on really depends on the level of maturity the organisation has reached in terms of its culture and implementation of its management systems. Some industries and organisations are well off and they have a team of experts already working on the big data available with them and providing meaningful insights to the organisations.

Embrace change 

Not to forget that nothing can substitute the domain knowledge of a professional. Safety professionals need to to embrace this technology e and take it tu to the next level to improve workplace health and safety. questions raised in this regard are how equipped the safety professionals are to embrace the changes and to understand and make the most of what is available in the market for the betterment of safety culture in their workplaces.

Concerns?

The use of big data also comes with huge concern of data privacy and a whole lot of data coming into the hands of a few majors who can even use this data at their will and manipulate human behaviour the way they want or to manipulate and destroy companies and organisations at their own will. 

I am not sure of how strong our legal framework is in line to meet with the the with the issues regarding data privacy, ownership and any other related issues that may come up from big data

Lets embrace the change, do good and expect good,