Gary Mintchell's Feed Forward

Yesterday when I posted some news about safety, I missed one. Accenture announced the first deployment of the Accenture Life Safety Solution, a wireless-enabled gas detection system that helps protect workers in potentially hazardous environments. The solution combines Wi-Fi and location-based technologies with gas detectors to allow companies to remotely monitor incidents in locations previously not suited for wireless networks.

The Accenture Life Safety Solution uses Wi-Fi technology in plant environments to alert central controllers of incidents and of workers' locations. It is designed for hazardous working environments such as refineries, chemical plants and other locations, where dense steel infrastructure can make wireless safety solutions difficult to introduce.

Marathon Oil Corp.’s Robinson, Ill refinery is deploying the Accenture Life Safety Solution across two units in the facility. Marathon intends to further evaluate the use of this technology once the two units have been completed.

“The refining industry has not been able to use wireless networks to remotely detect hazards or remotely locate workers,” said Jerry Welch, senior vice president of Marathon’s refining organization. "This solution not only alerts on-site individuals to gas incidents but would also allow off-site colleagues to locate workers and rescue them if an event were to occur. The cost effectiveness of this solution has the potential to transform on-site safety in our industry and should be relevant to many other sectors.”