We are excited to announce that after last years initial deployment of Field ID for Santa’s sleigh compliance, the his North Pole operations will be renewing and expanding their use of Field ID into 2012. Initially, Santa started using Field ID for sleigh maintenance and manufacturing safety compliance. The next phase of the roll out started shortly after OSHA made changes to the rules around residential fall protection. Although Santa runs a global operation on Christmas Eve, the fact that he goes house to house and from country to country actually means he must comply with several residential and fall protection regulations, across many different jurisdictions. Santa’s expanded safety management program will ensure he’s compliant throughout the year and around the world.
It’s not all magic
Many people might assume that because Santa can harness magic he is exempt from OSHA rules and other safety compliance regulations around the globe. This is not true.
“Yes, magic plays a role in our operation,” noted Santa, “but magic only gets us from house to house.”
The truth is that once Santa gets to any house, he still has to take the same fall protection precautions that any person working at heights would. If anything, Santa is under even more pressure to meet regulatory requirements than the average safety manager – whether working at home or on location at sites around the globe. Away from home, he’s under the microscope because enforcement agencies don’t want him to set a bad example. After all, the average person simply can’t rely on magic to prevent injury. Up north, Santa must comply with NPSHA (North Pole Safety and Health Administration). As we discovered last year, the NPSHA is even more strict than OSHA when it comes to safety managment.
The safety of the elf team
HSE Manager Yukon
After being promoted to North Pole Health and Safety manager years ago, Yukon Cornelius needed a way to track all of the Christmas team’s fall protection. Many people don’t know this, but the work fo Santa’s Elves doesn’t stop when all of the toys are made. They travel with him on Christmas Eve as well to assist in delivering presents to all the good girls and boys.
Hundreds of elves assist in this magical night. Each elf has a harness and self-retracting lifeline that needs to be inspected for safety before they leave the North Pole on Christmas Eve. And throughout the journey that night, the elf safety team must quickly and efficiently conduct onsite inspections at regular intervals (usually performed when Santa has stopped to deliver a notably large load, such as those present shipments destined for children living in apartment buildings).
Yukon uses Field ID, RFID tags and mobile devices to inspect each piece of fall arrest equipment and assign them to each unique elf. Not only does Yukon ensure the safety of his team with Field ID, he ensures that he keeps track of the equipment and enforces loss protection.
“Christmas should be a happy time for everyone, including the elves that are on duty that night,” said Yukon. “When my team goes out, I need the peace of mind that comes with electronic inspection and safety management. I know my guys and girls will be safe out there, regardless of the weather. And the fact that Field ID lets me manage safety in the cloud, in real time, lets me tap into that peace of mind from anywhere, anytime.”
We at Field ID are extremely excited that Santa has chosen to expand his Field ID deployment. We’re also very excited to include Yukon on the beta testing for our iPad app in early 2012.
Happy Holidays from our entire team at Field ID!
It’s fascinating to consider how ideas around the “Internet of Things” or “machine-to-machine” technology or a “smart-grid” of connected devices could affect safety and compliance in the future. According to one recent study, the potential is absolutely huge when it comes to harnessing machine-to-machine (M2M) tech for environmental compliance, but what if safety is your primary concern?
