A Scottish company whose products are designed to reduce the risk of industrial illness has teamed up with a US partner to offer its wearable technology to workers in that country.
The agreement is between Edinburgh-based risk prevention expert Reactec and Honsa Ergonomic Technologies, an Illinois-based manufacturer of pneumatic tools and accessories. Under the new partnership Honsa will offer Reactec’s R-Link smart watch to its clients to help them prevent vibration-related musculoskeletal disorders such as hand-arm vibration syndrome (HAVS).
It is estimated there are approximately 2.5 million workers in the US who are exposed to harmful levels of hand-arm vibration on a daily basis while operating power tools. Exposure to vibration is most common in the construction and manufacturing industries, where workers can often develop the debilitating health condition HAVS – which is incurable, but entirely preventable – later in life.
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The R-Link watch takes the guesswork out of monitoring exposure to vibration through a combination of wearable technology and cloud-based analytics. It monitors tool vibration in real time and warns workers when they are close to exposure thresholds.
“The United States are tackling vibration-related musculoskeletal disorders, like HAVS, from an ergonomic standpoint, rather than a regulatory one, and with our exciting new partnership with Honsa Ergonomic Technologies, we will be able to unlock new opportunities in the US and extend the reach of R-Link to employers who are exploring how novel technologies can protect their workforce," chief executive Jacqui McLaughlin said.
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Reactec and Honsa will be exhibiting at the NSC Safety Congress & Expo in New Orleans later this month. Reactec has been selected to showcase its HAVS prevention capability during the expo as part of the Safety Innovation Challenge, a global competition developed by the National Safety Council’s (NSC) MSD Solutions Lab and the Safetytech Accelerator.
“It’s been an incredibly exciting time for Reactec as we continue to internationalise the business with R-Link," Ms McLaughlin added. "Reaching the finals of the Safety Innovation Challenge is a great opportunity to demonstrate to major employers in the US how R-Link has successfully managed to prevent hand-arm vibration syndrome here in the UK."
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