Lifesaving maritime wearables
Will a wristband locator and a fatigue-monitoring headband become the new stalwarts for health and safety onboard?
High-vis overalls, lifejackets and safety hats are the trusty reliables at sea but what else could seafarers and other maritime workers be wearing to improve crew health and safety, compliance and wellbeing?
1 Wristband locator
Norwegian firm ScanReach has launched ConnectPOB that provides instant notification of vessel crew whereabouts in an emergency situation as well as high-precision rescue and automatic mustering.
Designed to replace time-consuming and complicated manual solutions to personnel onboard identification, ConnectPOB is worn by crew in the form of lightweight wristband. The wearable can be on the body at all times, including in the shower, and an alarm button on the wearable can also be used by crew members to send out a distress alert at any time. Communication takes place over a unique wireless network designed to work in steel environments.
2 Born-worn cameras
It’s becoming more commonplace to see regulatory agencies rolling out body-worn cameras (BWCs) for frontline staff and last year, the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) took the plunge.
AMSA enforcement and inspector support manager David Marsh says: “AMSA staff often conduct vessel inspections alone in isolated or remote areas. So these new BWCs will help protect staff and improve officer safety.”
Worn openly on inspectors’ uniforms, the BWCs provide a record of events as well as contributing to improving compliance and the quality of supporting evidence in the investigation of breaches of legislation.
3 Hazardous overheating
Singapore-based SOL-X has launched its waterproof and IP67-rated SmartWatch, which provides four key benefits for maritime workers operating in hazardous areas.
The Crew Assist function enables individual crew members to remotely request assistance from the Officer On Watch, while the Exposure Monitoring function monitors crew’s exposure to heat in immediate work zones.
The Wellbeing Monitoring function registers and displays resting and active heart rates, with the associated Activity Tracker feature recording daily step goals against industry standards to promote healthy living.
Lastly, the Workload Management feature allows crew to record and track their work/rest hours at the start of each shift.
4 Fatigue-monitoring headband
The SmartCap is a head-worn wearable designed to reduce fatigue-related incidents. Acquired by Wenco in 2021, the technology puts wearers in charge of managing their fatigue by sending them private early warning alerts.
It's worn as a headband that can be placed inside a baseball cap or hard hat and tracks EEG readings, giving out early warnings that can be acted upon by its wearer.
By keeping the alert private to wearers rather than triggering a central alert, SmartCap empowers workers to act on their fatigue pre-emptively with a proven scoring system that pinpoints propensity to resist sleep.
Originally developed for the mining and trucking industries, the SmartCap has been rolled out to other industries including maritime.
5 Health screening when self-isolating
Singapore-based KaHa seeks to capture and authenticate the health credentials of seafarers during self-isolation periods using its smart wristband that provides round-the-clock monitoring of the wearer’s temperature, heart rate, activity level and sleep patterns.
KaHa’s COVE Remote Monitoring Solution (RMS) was trialled on 170 seafarers during a three-month period in 2021. Zeaborn Ship Management was one of the vessel operators taking part in a bid to help seafarers disembark more easily from ships and get home to their families when arriving in port.
“Zeaborn is acutely aware that hundreds of thousands of seafarers are stranded aboard vessels due to the Covid-19 pandemic, making it difficult for them to be signed on/off on time,” said Tony Bartlett, Crew Management Team Leader at Zeaborn. “We immediately agreed to participate in the KaHa Digital Solution trial and we see the benefit of such schemes which will greatly benefit the industry and seafarers worldwide.”
6 Data to the shades
And finally, something to assist the boating enthusiast or weekend angler in their surroundings, as US technology firm Garmin offers a clip for sunglasses or eyewear frames that can display key marine data in real time. The hands-free, weatherproof and featherweight device registers and displays data such as boat speed, heading and distance to line, sunburn time, water depth and temperature, wind direction and engine RPM.
As interest grows in fitness trackers and health-based wearables, it's a natural step for crews to look positively towards maritime wearables that monitor and assess wellbeing, and health and safety at sea, in lightweight form and the most durable of materials.
Iain MacIntyre is a freelance journalist.