Workers in New Jersey, especially those in the construction and manufacturing industries, are at a high risk for sustaining on-the-job injuries. Every industry has its hazards, both foreseeable and unforeseeable, so it’s important for employers and workplace safety managers to do all they can to prevent accidents. Worldwide, such accidents lead to over 1,000 deaths every day and 500 injuries every minute.

In the effort to help employers and workplace safety managers prevent accidents, a software startup based in Iowa has developed wearable technology for workers. Its name is MākuSafe, and it has developed, in particular, a wearable band that records environmental and motion data and transmits it to a cloud platform. The data ranges from lighting and temperature changes to near misses and hazardous situations. Once the data is transmitted, special software makes it consumable for safety managers.

Thanks to machine learning, the platform can even identify risky areas in the workplace and unsafe trends. It is up to managers, though, to be proactive and implement the right safety measures. Downtime after an accident can be shortened with these bands.

The data can also help workers’ compensation insurers whenever they investigate a claim. Insurance companies developing more accurate property and casualty insurance policies may benefit as well while insurance agents can use the data in their effort to implement risk control strategies.

While workplace safety can be greatly improved with the right technology, accidents can never be 100 percent prevented. Under workers’ compensation law, though, injured workers can be compensated for medical expenses and a percentage of the income they lose during their physical recovery. This is regardless of who, if anyone, was to blame for the accident. Victims will want to hire a lawyer to assist them with filing for compensation. A lawyer could even help them with mounting an appeal as a last resort.