Oil States, the global provider of energy systems for the offshore sector, has rolled out Reactec’s innovative wearable system SAFE-DISTANCE at its specialist facility in Whitburn.
The investment of 210 SAFE-DISTANCE watches, demonstrates Oil States continued high level of commitment to health and safety for their workforce. The devices have been rolled out to their Heartlands workshop, Aberdeen offices and workshop facility in Las Palmas. The workshop processes include heavy engineering, CNC machining, welding / fabrication, coating and testing.
This investment from Oil States, takes the number of SAFE-DISTANCE devices deployed in the UK to over 10,000 since its development and launch in 2020 in direct response to the COVID-19 workplace social distancing restrictions.
In May 2020 during the first lockdown period, Reactec repurposed its proven system for monitoring workers’ exposure to health risk to create SAFE-DISTANCE, which enables employers to manage the social distancing of their workforce; devices alert the wearer, whilst data intelligence supports the management in implementing work environment changes and contract tracing evidence if required.
Matt Askham, UK HSE Manager at Oil States, said: “We have worked with Reactec for a number of years and we are impressed with their commitment to seeking innovative ways to reduce the risk that over exposure to vibration can cause people in the workplace.
“As a major employer, the health and safety of our workforce is at the core of our values with safety being our top priority particularly in these unusual times of increased hygiene and social distancing. Following a successful trial, we rolled out SAFE-DISTANCE to our workforce and the business feedback has been very positive. The data form the analytical software has enabled the business to quickly assess and target persons of concern to enable the continued functioning of the facility by allowing other employees to remain at work.
“Previously without the data a whole department would possibly need to be isolated if an employee was suspected to have contracted, or had contracted COVID, as we wouldn’t accurately know who and for how long they had been in contact with other employees. The data is obtainable very quickly which allows for prompt decisions to be made.”
Jacqui McLaughlin, Chief Executive of Reactec, said: “It’s great to work with Oil States who have a strong safety culture across their business. As an existing customer, they quickly trialled SAFE-DISTANCE, to ensure that their workforce is working within the social distant government guidelines.
“We created SAFE-DISTANCE as a direct response to the COVID-19 pandemic as a device to support businesses get their employees back to work safely. It enables the employer to take responsibility of managing social distancing in the workplace and reduces risk of further COVID-19 cases, protecting both the business and the community. Our team moved quickly to repurpose our existing technology in Spring 2020 and we are thrilled that over 10,000 devices are already in use across the UK.”
SAFE-DISTANCE was developed by technical experts at Reactec as a direct response to the COVID-19 crisis and the Scottish and UK Government’s introduction of social distancing protocols. Recognising that the company had a significant deployment of its existing hardware within its customer base, Reactec mobilised its innovation team to repurpose its product offering. Development work that would normally take months was completed in 15 days, allowing Reactec to test and launch the product in record time. The SAFE-DISTANCE technology works by using Bluetooth enabled Reactec devices to detect other Reactec devices within a two-metre range. Should users become closer than two metres apart, both device users are warned with both vibration and audio alerts.
