Unpopular opinion: The new safety gear at the Detroit plant is a step backwards

I was on a job at the Ford River Rouge plant last month and they rolled out these new 'smart' harnesses. They have a bunch of sensors and beep if you move 'wrong'. It's like $800 per unit and honestly, it's just annoying. The foreman said it's to 'reduce incidents' but it beeps constantly during normal work and slows us down. Has anyone else had to deal with this kind of over-engineered gear?

2 comments

2 Comments

paulhernandez1mo ago

Wait, is that the same system they tried at the Sterling Heights stamping plant? Honestly, the beeping on ours was because the sensitivity was set wrong from the factory. Tbh, our safety guy had to get the rep out to recalibrate the motion range. It still beeps sometimes, but not like before where it went off if you just reached for a tool.

clark.iris1mo ago

I see it as a needed change, honestly. That constant beeping is a real pain, but it did make my crew stop and think about some risky moves we'd gotten used to. The slowdown might just be the cost of getting everyone to work safer.