The Terminology of StrongArm Tech

We at StrongArm Tech use a lot of industry jargon. That’s what happens when you live, breath and sleep being the world’s leading safety science company. But, given that our mix of expertise spans different and newly interacting fields, we figured it would be worthwhile for us to get all our definitions down in one place, so we can all speak the same language.

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The three fields we sit at the intersection of are:

1) ADVANCED ERGONOMICS: The study of peoples’ efficiency in their working environment and the applied science concerned with designing and arranging things people use so that the people and things interact most efficiently and safely – called also biotechnology or human engineering.

2) BIO-TELEMETRICS: the branch of information technology that deals with the long-distance transmission of computerized information as it applies to the health and performance of the human body under industrial – environmental stress. in this case, enabling the quantified industrial athlete™.

3) SAFETY ANALYTICS: the systematic computational analysis of data that informs the risk exposure at an industrial site and can be used to identify factors that drive workplace incidents and predict accidents to help develop effective prevention strategies.

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Within ADVANCED ERGONOMICS, our most used terms are:

SAFETY SCORE: StrongArm has leveraged decades of industry field research and developed a comprehensive “summary” of the leading factors know to be associated with high risk behavior. according to Dr. Marras in a leading Ohio State University study of 403 job functions across 48 different companies, back injuries can be pinpointed to the listed dynamic upper torso movements.

ERGONOMIC MONITORING: The science of ergonomics has made limited progress in the last 30 years, and still requires on site evaluation and reporting by trained ergonomists. The Fuse Risk Management Platform is a tool for remote monitoring, providing qualified scientists and assessors the ability to monitor multiple sites and workers concurrently.

EXOSKELETON: An external skeleton that provides support for the body. The human body isn’t designed to endure the physical tolls of unnatural postures and repetitive motions of the workforce. StrongArm’s patented Ergoskeleton™ products are wearable, self-powered and improve human productivity, health, and wellness during active work.

HUMAN CENTERED DESIGN: is a design and management framework that develops solutions to problems by involving the human perspective in all steps of the problem-solving process. The concept has informed a StrongArm philosophy that starts with falling in love with the “problem”, not the solution.

HUMAN SPINAL KINEMATICS: A branch of mechanics concerned with the motion of the spine without reference to the forces that cause the motion.

FLEXION: After capturing an Industrial Athletes™ neutral position, Fuse gyroscopic sensors gather data to assess the angle between vertical and spinal bend during a lift. Risk of injury due to the pressure on the lower lumbar (caused by poor lifting mechanics) represents a key input in calculating an algorithmic safety score.

LIFT RATE: Using an accelerometer to capture lift frequency overtime, and the rest period between those lifts, provides StrongArm a clear picture of shift activity / action. Average lift rate represents another data point used to calculate injury risk. When combined with other inputs it can provide a picture of any work period.

MAX LATERAL VELOCITY: Capturing the maximum side to side bending speed over any given time period aptly reflects an ‘Industrial Athlete’s’ high risk time without a neutral spine. Because ‘torque / twist’  is a contributing factor to high cost workplace injury this data provides our team insight into the appropriate safety intervention.

MAX MOMENT: An ergonomic calculation amounting to the sum of the length of your arm times the maximum package weight that an Industrial Athlete™ might encounter on shift. Due to the high cost of capture, and the nominal value in our algorithm we have chosen to forge this measurement, opting to use a client supplied average.

AVERAGE TWIST VELOCITY: This measurement reflects the speed with which an Industrial Athlete’s spine twists during any given lift, and it’s average twist speed throughout an active shift. Among other components, a magnetometer embedded in the fuse platform sensor enables StrongArm to capture these factors and run critical risk analytics.

POSTURE DAYS: According to the Bureau of Labor statistics in 2016 there are 8.5 million manual material handlers playing a role in the US workforce. After years of academic partnership and independent research, and with over 5000 sensors in the field StrongArm is the industry leader in capturing and analyzing lower lumbar risk data.

BIOMECHANICS: The study of the mechanics of a living body, especially of the forces exerted by muscles and gravity on the skeletal structure. The mechanics of a part or function of a living body, such as of the heart or of locomotion.

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Within BIO-TELEMETRICS, our most used terms are:

CLOUD ENABLEMENT: is the process of creating, deploying and operating some or most of an organization’s IT infrastructure, software and resources through the cloud. Cloud enablement shifts in-house to a public, private or hybrid cloud environment. Cloud enablement service is delivered by cloud enablers or cloud service providers.

IOT SENSOR TECHNOLOGY: “Internet of Things (IoT)” is the internet working on physical devices, vehicles (also referred to as “connected devices” and “smart devices”), buildings, and other items—embedded with electronics, software, sensors, actuators, and network connectivity that enable these objects to collect and exchange data.

PREDICTIVE ANALYTICS: Predictive analytics is an area of data mining that deals with extracting information from data and using it to predict trends and behavior patterns. Often the unknown event of interest is in the future, but predictive analytics can be applied to any type of unknown whether it be in the past, present or future.

‍SAAS PLATFORM TOOLS: The SaaS platform and its cloud connectivity allow the user to receive the benefit of an ever-evolving service. Tools can be developed as more data enters the ecosystem allowing the SaaS to better serve the clients needs based on the types of patterns recognized over time.

MACHINE LEARNING: is a subfield of computer science that evolved from the study of pattern recognition and computational learning theory in artificial intelligence. In 1959, Arthur Samuel defined machine learning as a “field of study that gives computers the ability to learn without being explicitly programmed”.

TIMELY HAPTIC FEEDBACK: Haptics, or kinesthetic communication, is tactile feedback technology which recreates the sense of touch by applying forces, vibrations, or motions to the user. Haptic communication can lose effectiveness as a user becomes inundated with stimuli. It is imperative to precisely deliver haptic notifications based on a series of learned behaviors from the user’s own history of usage.

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And lastly, within SAFETY ANALYTICS, our most used terms are:

WORKER ANONYMITY: Employers receive tools from StrongArm such as advanced haptic feedback, consultation, and training recommendations to help reduce risk, while still respecting privacy. Employers often prefer this, as it may help protect them from liability if litigated, yet provides tools to help their associates.

SAFETY INTERVENTIONS: An applied means of deterring the progression of harm or risk in an environment. Such examples are exoskeletons, ergonomic training or workflow changes that reduce the long and short term effects of stress and lower risk. Assessing an environment, evaluating cost, introducing an intervention and monitoring the success of the deployment are all critical in the process.

UNDERWRITING INSIGHTS: The FUSE Platform delivers cutting-edge risk management data which can provide insurance providers with competitive advantages via more accurate underwriting capability. Indexing this risk against national standards also allows interventions to be implemented and evaluated accurately in efforts to to reduce injury and insurance-related costs.

REAL-TIME ROI: The FUSE Risk Management Platform (and device) provides a tool to identify and reduce risky worker behaviors by delivering real-time haptic notifications which can prevent avoidable injury. StrongArm’s FUSE device is enabled to provide conditional haptic on-body feedback. In other words, your industrial workforce is notified if they are ever in a sustained period of high risk.

DATA MANAGEMENT: The SaaS platform and its cloud connectivity allow the user to receive the benefit of an ever-evolving service. Tools can be developed as more data enters the ecosystem allowing the SaaS to better serve the client’s needs based on the types of patterns recognized over time.

WAREHOUSE MAPPING: A proximity-based alert can be delivered to help avoid collisions. the fuse can identify proximity risk and prevent collision by delivering a haptic signal to at-risk workers immediately. Workplaces are constantly changing, and FUSE provides the ability to map and build early warning signals around anything from uneven ground to fast moving forklifts.

GUIDELINE ADHERENCE: The OSHA regulations are complex and often change. Safety protocols also evolve for individual organizations as more is learned and safety reports identify new trends. The ability to to utilize data to maintain adherence to reduce risk exposure is a benefit of IoT and SaaS products.

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Now that we’re all speaking the same language, check out the rest of the blog or let’s set up some time to talk. StrongArm Tech would love to use some jargon with you and tell you about the dramatic impact our FUSE Risk Management Platform can have on your worker safety, retention and productivity.