Safety doesn’t have to come at the expense of productivity.
That was the common refrain ringing through every session the Smart Manufacturing track at the 2016 Safety Leadership Conference. Every discussion of IoT, the Connected Enterprise, safety technology and robots sang that same song, all of them offering new tools and new strategies to keep workers safe while keeping plants running smooth.
Until we got to lockout/tagout.
Of all the safety mechanisms in the plant, this one is the only real, undeniable productivity blocker, literally shutting down production at its power source to keep workers safe.
