SafetyQube Addresses UK Manufacturers’ Need to Both Document Actual and Potential Safety Risks plus Enhance the Safety Culture on Their Factory Floors

Headquartered in London, Quber Technologies was created 3 years ago to improve the performance of engineering and manufacturing firms via the adoption of digital technologies in processes and workflows where digitalization is underutilized.

Safety is one aspect of firms’ operations that Quber Technologies has identified where information is often collected reactively by an Environmental, Health, and Safety (EHS) manager after an injury or accident on paper forms, stored in a folder, and largely forgotten about. The company launched SafetyQube, a cloud-based solution that is both a system of record for EHS managers and a tool for companies to use as part of improving the safety culture of the organization.

The core audience for SafetyQube is the EHS practitioner, helping them record what happened, when it happened, and where. The software is more than just cloud-based software application to replace a paper form, as users can upload images, videos, and witness statement—all of which matches the expectations of the United Kingdom’s Health and Safety Executive (HSE).

The software is a proactive tool whereby users, not just EHS practitioners, can upload images, video, text regarding near misses, and their observations of safety risks. SafetyQube has modules for risk assessments, plus submitting issues and observations, and creating audits. The data can activate inspections, notifications via any mobile device, and action plans for non-compliance.

Types of incidents vary by industry and SafetyCube can be customized to accommodate the following:

• The risk assessment and safety audit needs of heavy equipment manufacturers to understand the root cause of issues.
• Product safety needs of food & beverage manufacturers to ensure safety on-site and manage microbiological hazards.
• The hazardous substances handled by chemical and pharmaceutical producers.

SafetyQube maps health and safety workflows, and the analytics can monitor task completion trends and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), and various metrics, with the results available via dashboards. Furthermore, the software can be integrated with a customer’s Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and Human Resources (HR) systems.

SafetyQube has been adopted by 30 companies. To reiterate the point that the software is not just for EHS managers, the user base for each customer is typically more than 100 individuals. The Software-as-a-Service (SaaS)-based solution, allied with the site-based pricing model, is essential for ensuring the solution is used as widely as possible to develop a culture of reporting potential risks.

Ensuring safety on the factory floor cannot be delivered just by a software application. Individuals need to consider safety as part of their responsibility, too. SafetyQube helps its customers introduce aspects of gamification, such as running competitions that reinforce good practices. Moreover, SafetyQube looks to enable EHS managers to focus on more strategic tasks, such as keeping track of and implementing programs that adhere to the latest policies and guidelines published by the HSE.

SafetyQube is targeting smaller U.K. manufacturers that employ 2,000 to 3,000 individuals that typically are not as advanced in their adoption of digital technologies. Often, these firms have invested in digitizing their processes only relatively recently and are still adapting to the change. Targeting these types of firms with solutions underpinned by Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the ability to create digital twins would be premature. However, SafetyQube will be ready to serve their needs thanks, in part, to the company’s work alongside researchers from Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) looking into ways to predict safety incidents based on data collected on the factory floor.

Worker safety is currently a key focus area for ABI Research’s Industrial & Manufacturing Markets Research Service, which will be publishing market overviews, case studies, forecasts, supplier evaluations, and best practice guides in the coming weeks and months.