Discovering Safety and Safeytech Accelerator launch sandbox to shape future of smarter health and safety regulation

Government, regulatory and industry partners are exploring the digitisation of Health and Safety Executive (HSE) data and Great Britain’s health and safety guidance, and shaping new digital products to advance safety, compliance and productivity in construction.

 

London, 27 August 2024: Discovering Safety, a programme of work delivered by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), Britain’s health and safety regulator, has started work with Safetytech Accelerator, a technology accelerator specialising in safety-critical industries, and a group of technology providers and construction organisations to help develop cutting-edge products that use its regulatory information to accelerate productivity and compliance in construction.

 

Five technology companies – Evercam, Comet Analysis, PLINX, Pillar and Navatech – are participating in the Smarter Regulation Sandbox, a six-month initiative funded by the Government Office of Technology Transfer, to develop and pilot digital products that use information shared by the regulator. These initiatives cover multiple use cases, including automated access control, fatigue management, visual analytics, data-driven risk analysis, and AI-assisted assessment of health and safety regulations.

 

The technology companies are working with construction and infrastructure partners, regulators and industry mentors to understand how to shape their products for use in industry. Partners include Balfour Beatty, Kier, Heathrow Airport, Getlink (formerly Groupe Eurotunnel), EDF Energy, Ferrovial, Colas, FTSQUARED, Digital Realty, AXA, Zurich Insurance Group, LV, City of London Corporation, The British Standards Institution and The Better Regulation Executive (part of Department for Business and Trade).

 

Dr Maurizio Pilu, Managing Director at Safetytech Accelerator, comments: “Regulatory innovation has become a very hot topic and this collaboration to shape a future of health and safety regulation could not be more timely. There are multiple new technologies to improve workplace safety, wellbeing and productivity in construction, and we can do much more with digitised regulation and regulatory data. The UK Government is encouraging industry and regulators to collaborate and has made boosting productivity through the use of its data and regulatory innovation a key priority. We look forward to continuing our work with Discovering Safety and our other partners in the Smarter Regulation Sandox and to sharing the outcomes soon.”

 

Dr Helen Balmforth, Head of Data Analytics at Health and Safety Executive and Programme Director on Discovering Safety, comments: “We want to be at the forefront of regulatory innovation and leadership and ensure that organisations can use our data wisely to support advances in industry. The Smarter Regulation Sandbox will demonstrate how technology can make health and safety regulatory information more accessible to accelerate compliance, improve efficiency and productivity, and reduce regulatory burdens on industry, while also supporting innovators to bring digital products to market.”

 

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

 

Notes to Editors

Provisional RIDDOR (Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations) data from the HSE shows that 51 construction workers were killed in fatal accidents in Great Britain in the year to March 2024, more than any other sector of the economy, and that there were a reported 4,038 non-fatal injuries in the construction sector in the year to March 2023.

 

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 Great 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, established by Lloyd’s Register, is the first fully dedicated technology accelerator focused on advancing innovation in safety critical industries. We are focused on making the world safer, more resilient, and more sustainable by helping organisations operating in safety critical industries to innovate and adopt new technology more successfully. safetytechaccelerator.org