Tackle 2023 Resolutions with Connected Gas Monitoring Solutions

By: Dante Moore, Contributor

As we settle into the new year, safety managers and other emergency personnel have likely been reflecting on what goals they’d like to achieve—whether that’s improving on last year’s accomplishments or ensuring they’re protecting employees in avoidable, hazardous situations.

One easy way to accomplish your goals in 2023 is to create a reliable gas detection, maintenance and safety program connected to the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT). An IIoT-backed gas detection program with connected monitors and cloud-based software provides real-time site analytics and worker status updates—so you can reduce risk;  make smarter decisions; and react quickly if there’s an emergency to better protect your people and facility.

While creating an IIoT-connected gas detection program will surely help improve various aspects of your safety program, it’s important to consider the entire picture of your facility. Think about day-to-day operations; communications between your personnel and safety operators; visibility into your site; and more. Plus, don’t forget what type of impact you’d like your gas detection program to have on your yearly goals.

Site Hazards: Improving Visibility, Communications

Whether your organization currently has a minimalist approach to its safety operations or a mature model already in place, having clear visibility into site hazards is key if you want to know not only where a hazard occurred, but also who was affected.

By implementing an IIoT-enabled gas detection program, you can easily share alarms and gas readings between workers and safety managers in real time, making it easier to quickly respond to gas hazards, panic alarms or man-down alarms. Depending on how robust your safety program is, safety managers can even receive this information directly to their own gas detector or can implement remote, live-monitoring options to see readings instantly on a phone or laptop.

With an IIoT-connected gas detection program, you and your safety managers can also see where personnel are consistently facing hazardous exposure levels. If your team is equipped with monitors that can detect multiple gasses in an area prone to volatile organic compounds (VOCs), for example, it can mark the location of exposure by connecting to pre-placed beacons in your facility. This information is then sent to the cloud in real time to indicate any hazards to safety managers. You can take this a step further with gas monitoring devices that feature connectivity options including peer-to-peer, satellite, wi-fi and cellular.

These options can help you create a more robust safety program by enabling team members to look deeper into what’s happening around their site with alarm reports highlighting who had which gas monitor; if they were exposed to any hazards; where the exposure came from; and more. This can help to further increase situational awareness and decrease emergency response times by ensuring gas monitors always have a reliable connection. This also puts you on track to accomplish your 2023 goals.

While deep insights are important for your safety program, the ability to access real-time data, such as gas readings or emergency alerts, from anywhere is key in ensuring you aren’t leaving workers stranded without help.

The Ventis Pro5 gas monitor, from Industrial Scientific, has connected worker capabilities. It can detect multiple gases simultaneously and includes a man-down alarm and panic button, gas alerts, a customized message feature, Wi-Fi connectivity and more. (photo courtesy Industrial Scientific Corporation)

Maintaining the Fleet to Improve Operations

When looking further into day-to-day operations, deciding on the right IIoT-backed gas monitoring solution can be a difficult task. In addition to considering on-site hazards, connectivity and monitoring options, you need to keep a few questions in mind regarding your personnel and equipment. For example, who exactly is using your gas detectors—employees or general contractors? Or does your team ever lose gas monitors? Knowing these answers can help you determine what type of equipment you need, as well as how much.

Ensuring that equipment is always ready to use, as well as to cut down on potentially lost monitors, your facility can turn to gas detection maintenance tools that show your entire fleet, making it easy to track and manage equipment.

Certain solutions, for example, include gas detection management software. This software provides clear visibility into your process to better manage hazards, people and equipment from one dashboard. With this software solution in place, you can see everything you need across your entire facility and process—including who is assigned to each gas monitor, so you can find out what happened if it isn’t returned for any reason.

Successfully Tackle 2023 Resolutions

By using a combination of IIoT-enabled devices and live monitoring solutions, you can streamline operations, ensure device readiness, enhance visibility into worker safety and site conditions, and respond faster during emergencies. With connected gas monitors, you can easily adopt elements that make sense for your business today and grow into more advanced capabilities as you see fit.

Overall, keeping teams connected through IIoT-enabled gas monitors and robust cloud-based software can create a reliable safety program to successfully tackle your 2023 resolutions. Whether you’re responding quicker to gas hazards with real-time visibility and alerts; identifying high-risk areas; or simply knowing which monitors are being used, gas detection programs backed by IIoT networks and applications are the key to staying connected and safe, no matter where workers are.

Dante Moore is an Applications Engineer at Industrial Scientific Corporation and is specialized in helping companies find the right gas detectors for their applications. He can be reached at dmoore@indsci.com.