Worker Safety isn’t often given much thought outside the companies who build defense technologies. The dangers may not be as obvious as those facing skyscraper construction crews, but the nature of these technologies can create challenges in their own right. The US Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has a few things to say about these situations, and many defense firms and their unions have made safety programs an internal focus.
In August 2006, Lockheed Martin received a $3.5 million contract from Boeing for LMsafelink, a product designed to keep assembly workers safe when they must work in confined spaces. LMsafelink provides a 2-way wireless voice and data link that’s connected to a central monitoring station. The system keeps tabs on the location of the person carrying it, automatically checking health status and sending alerts when a worker needs help or does not respond. Monitors can query workers for status and send alert, and in an emergency situation, responders can locate a worker and have information on what chemicals are in that space.
The system went live at Boeing’s Everett, WA facility in December 2008. It is scheduled to go active in March 2009 at the Long Beach, CA plant, and will be operational at Boeing’s Renton, WA plant in June. Lockheed Martin release.