Shaun and I just got back from the 2010 National Safety Council Expo (we took a red-eye home, which was not fun) and there were a lot of exciting things happened! I personally thought the NSC was well-attended this year. Our booth location was not ideal this year, but we actually received more traffic than last year. Overall, a great trip! Here are my top 3 takeaways from the show.
1. Lockout/Tagout is a Huge Problem
We introduced, in partnership with National Marker Company (NMC), the first ever machine readable electronic lockout tagout system using RFID, barcodes and our Field ID inspection and safety compliance system. To learn more about Lockout/Tagout, click here to read a previous post. People were extremely interested in how they can digitize their lockout/tagout procedure. Like most procedures in safety, lockout/tagout is riddled with paper and is prone to human error. Being able to use a mobile device and scan a lockout tag, a person and a piece of equipment saves time. This procedure makes the whole process paperless and provides real safety accountability. We look forward to changing the way people perform lockout tagout.
2. Safety Audits
Most people at the NSC are interested in using Field ID for their safety audits. Almost everyone we spoke to conducts their workplace or facility safety audits using paper and pen. People were extremely interested in how some of our customers use barcode exit signs to use as an inspection point.
3. Fire Extinguisher Inspections
A fire extinguisher inspection is an extremely difficult process for many people. The minute we mentioned how our current customers tag fire extinguishers with RFID tags or bar codes, people were amazed at how much time they could save.
We’ve already booked our booth for next year, so we look forward to seeing everyone again! We’ll announce the winners of the “Free Field ID Package” draw shortly.
