UK technology companies invited to join the world’s first regulatory sandbox for industrial safetytech

Safetytech Accelerator and Discovering Safety, a groundbreaking project delivered by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), are scouting the technology ecosystem for partners to help explore opportunities to improve safety and risk management through innovation and regulation

London, 1 February 2023: UK technology companies with game-changing safetytech products are being invited to help Discovering Safety, a programme of work delivered by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), Britain’s health and safety regulator, explore how better innovation and regulation can improve safety and risk management in industrial workplaces.

Discovering Safety is working in partnership with Safetytech Accelerator, a non-profit organisation dedicated to advancing safetytech in industry, to launch the Industrial Safetytech Regulatory Sandbox, the world’s first regulatory sandbox for industrial safetytech. Together, they are currently working to identify an initial cohort of technology companies to join the initiative.

The sandbox will bring together the regulator, safetytech innovators and major UK industrial companies to explore significant opportunities to improve workplace health and safety.

It has three main aims:

• Explore ways to undertake assessment and compliance activities more effectively
• Help accelerate the adoption of proven safetytech products in industry
• Understand and reduce barriers that might delay the development of new life-saving technologies.

Six technology companies with high-potential safetytech products will be recruited to the sandbox by end of February 2023. It will focus initially on innovation around significant areas of risk in construction, including falls from height, vehicle collisions, crane operations and manual handling.

Dr Helen Balmforth, Head of Data Analytics at Health and Safety Executive and lead on Discovering Safety, comments: “We are committed to supporting health and safety innovation, and also to exploring ways that we can be innovative in how we approach regulation. We are looking to the safetytech community to help identify the best opportunities for progress and how we can collectively overcome the barriers that limit progress.”

Dr Maurizio Pilu, Managing Director at Safetytech Accelerator, comments: “Thanks to advances in areas such as AI, analytics, augmented reality, wearables, drones and robotics, there is now huge potential to make industry safer. This groundbreaking sandbox presents safetytech companies of all sizes with an opportunity to understand and help shape the regulatory landscape to accelerate life-saving innovation for all.”

The Industrial Safetytech Regulatory Sandbox is open to UK-based companies with market-ready or pilot-ready technology products that could improve safety and risk management in construction. Companies are invited to submit information about their safetytech products to the Safetytech Accelerator at https://safetytechaccelerator.org/work-with-us/industrial-safetytech-regulatory-sandbox/ to be considered for the sandbox.

ENDS

For more information please contact:

James Taylor | Roaring Mouse Public Relations (on behalf of Safetytech Accelerator)
E: james.taylor@roaringmousepr.com
T: +44 (0)1246 938833 | +44 (0)7796 138291

About Discovering Safety

Discovering Safety is a groundbreaking project being delivered by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and partners including Safetytech Accelerator. Funded by Lloyd’s Register Foundation, it aims to improve health, safety and operational performance through the use of innovative data and analytical techniques. It has developed and is delivering a programme of work which includes industry-endorsed, proof-of-concept applications, based on insights from HSE and other data partners. discoveringsafety.com

About The Health and Safety Executive

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is Britain’s national regulator for workplace health and safety. We are dedicated to protecting people and places, and helping everyone lead safer and healthier lives. Our role goes beyond worker protection to include public assurance. We work to ensure people feel safe where they live, where they work and, in their environment. hse.gov.uk

About Safetytech Accelerator

Safetytech Accelerator is the world’s first fully dedicated technology accelerator focused on safety and risk in industrial sectors. A non-profit organisation established by Lloyd’s Register, Safetytech Accelerator’s mission is to make the world safer and more sustainable through the wider adoption of safetytech. Safetytech companies can register their interest in joining the sandbox and be alerted to additional future opportunities at safetytechaccelerator.org