Blockchain and the Disruption of Health & Safety Management
Blockchain has been earmarked as the ‘next internet’ yet it is widely misunderstood. In this article we look at the value blockchain technology brings and we explore how it will affect workplace health & safety management. We also reveal how blockchain will change the role of the health & safety professional forever.
Blockchain explained simply
Blockchain is described as “a decentralised database of transactions between peers that is secure and trustworthy”. In more simpler terms, it is a software platform involving algorithms that is used to create a large digtal database.
Blockchain technology requires massive amounts of computing and electrical power to operate. It takes a giant network of computers, known as nodes, across the world to create a blockchain platform. No one computer or entity controls the blockchain – and through this the platform is decentralised.
The origin of blockchain is said to have taken place in 2008 following the financial crisis. An unknown programmer found a way to handle money and other kinds of transactional data online. This digital system became known as Bitcoin. It placed a huge emphasis on online transactional security and soon gained popularity amongst the online community. Particularly those who wanted to process online payments quickly, securely and anonymously.
Blockchain is to Bitcoin what the internet is to email – a system on which you can build applications and programs
The creation of Bitcoin and the subsequent understanding of blockchain technology signalled the creation of hundreds of other blockchain platforms.
Ethereum for example is the second largest blockchain platform. It it is not a digital currency like Bitcoin but an open platform which utilises blockchain to develop “smart contracts”. A smart contract can be any type of contract including compliance systems and management processes.
What are the business applications of blockchain?
Many of the worlds leading financial, technology and manufacturing companies have begun utilising the benefits of various blockchain technologies to move and monitor assets around the world. E-commerce giant Amazon has moved in on the blockchain space and now provides blockchain tools as a web service to bluechip companies such as BMW, Nestle, Accenture, and Sony. Financial institutions and several banks have also embraced blockchain platforms such as Ripple to securely speed up international money transactions and reduce customer fees.
Experts believe that blockchain will revolutionise how we do business within the next 5 years. And the list of applications for blockchain seem endless:
- Asset management and sales
- Supply chain: quality control from source to consumption
- Insurance: claims processing
- Smart appliances: history and performance
- Money lending
- Currency exchange
- Healthcare: patient history
- Civil: passports, birth certificates and driving licences
- Wage and salary processing
- Ride sharing: replacing Uber and Lift
- E-voting
- E-learning: verification of completion and qualification
- Energy: ability to generate, buy and sell energy
- Compliance and conformance: in-house management systems
How does blockchain work?
Blockchain cuts out the middle-man. Take the sale of a house for example. Buyers and sellers typically utilise banks and notaries to ensure that house transactions are legitimate. The banks and the notaries act as middlemen and give peace-of-mind to both stakeholders. However if a blockchain platform is applied and a “smart contract” is created all interested parties will create the contract and will have equal access to the database.
The key transactions in the house sale are agreed by both parties and are digitally timestamped. Once the transaction is legitimatised by both parties it cannot be changed by a stakeholder, hacker or thief in the future.
Since the created blockchain code becomes law, it negates the need for middle-men and their costly processes
The full sale transaction is known as a “block” and it gets added to a database on the property deeds known as a “chain”. A block cannot be added to the chain without full consensus from both parties, and the thousands of computers that make up the blockchain.
In summary blockchain brings the following value:
- Removal of middle-men and their costs
- Full transparency and inclusivity
- A much faster transaction
- Tamper-proof and incorruptible records
What value will blockchain bring to health & safety management?
Risk is a significant aspect of doing business. It requires significant resources and expertise to ensure that business opportunities are seized, and that loss and injury does not affect the operations and objectives of the organisation.
Like brand reputation and competitor action, management of worker health & safety is an important dimension of enterprise risk. Companies who fail to address statutory requirements in health & safety regularly suffer legal and business consequences.
In the following items we look at the potential to leverage blockchain technology to manage key components of a health & safety management system:
(I) Third-part prequalification
Smaller contractors and organisations can struggle to meet the requirements of larger clients. Maintenance of proprietary system accounts can be a full time job for contractors, especially when different clients adopt different management platforms. From a clients perspective the selection and monitoring of safe and competent contractors is a key objective in risk management.
The introduction of a ‘unifying platform’ through blockchain would bring measurable efficiencies to all stakeholders. For example, a maintenance contractor would be obliged by the blockchain platform to update training, inspections, audits and performance reports. The contractor submits this information once as required, and in doing so ensures that all their clients have eyes on the information.
This system would negate the need for ongoing resources from both parties to ensure due-diligence and compliance is achieved. It would also remove many of the frustrations for small contractors struggling with profits margins and the myriad of conformances that come with each new client.
(II) Safe systems of work
Typically organisations attempt to manage workplace safety by outsourcing risky tasks to contractors. They then try to control the work activity with tools such as pre qualification, work permits, site controls, and safe work plans such as RAMS.
It can be tricky, expensive and frustrating for smaller organisations who have to comply with the varying requirements on each work site. And the clients initiating the work are often far from comfortable with the quality and authenticity of the information they receive. Often times they struggle to get actual visibility on the work to verify who is carrying it out, and to what standard. For example the work may be outsourced 3 to 4 times to smaller and smaller contractors without the clients knowledge.
The above requires huge resources on either side of the contract, which can make the process of submission, review and document approval painstakingly slow. Blockchain tools would create a visual sandbox where all required information would be available to all stakeholders with full clarity on all sides of the “contract”. The health & safety requirements would be unambiguous and this would remove human bias from the approval process.
(III) Auditing and inspections
Blockchain enabled systems would allow full visibility on historical work events, both positive and negative. This trusted record of performance would provide valuable feedback to both government inspectors and system auditors who would both be linked to the platform.
The open platform would also give the workforce peace-of-mind that identified workplace hazards and unsafe conditions are either closed-out, or in progress, and not brushed-under-the-carpet.
And this is why blockchain is so powerful. Absolute clarity and full disclosure may actually be too much for some companies. Especially those who are used to flaunting legal requirements and ‘white-washing’ over environmental, safety and health concerns in the workplace.
(IV) Anonymity for workers and contractors
The safety culture of any workplace is improved by the direct involvement of the workforce in health & safety management. The requirement for employers to consult with workers on matters of health & safety is also a legal requirement in many jurisdictions. Provision of information on work hazards and involvement of the workforce in managing the associated risks helps to ensure a safe and efficient workplace. This type of collaboration benefits both parties.
Self-reporting and worker-driven health & safety may be the goal for many large organisations but it is rarely achieved. Through blockchain technology, this level of workplace trust and cultural maturity may actually be achievable . A platform open to all stakeholders would allow workers and contractors to anonymously speak out on health & safety conditions in the workplace, without fear of repercussion. This type of system would create an important conduit between senior management and the workers, where it would be virtually impossible to dilute or distort important information.
How will blockchain affect the future role of the health & safety professional?
With each year we are better able to predict the emerging technologies that will disrupt current business models. Blockchain is front-and-centre as a technology that will impact our world within the next 5 years. The organisational applications for blockchain are endless and the potential savings will be attractive to big business.
Blockchain technology will disrupt and automate the current model for compliance management in the same way it is changing other management fields. And whilst some jobs will be lost it is becoming clear that most roles will change due to the “automation” of certain management tasks.
Unpopular as it may sound, health & safety professionals may actually be the middle-men in the current compliance model
Companies will require personnel to up-skill and learn how to operate complex blockchain tools. But the health & safety professional may not be too keen to do so. Fear of professional obsolescence in favour of automated technologies, and age-related shyness towards digitalised systems is sure to present major barriers to blockchain integration. These are in fact classic symptoms of job disruption through technology.
As challenging as it may be, the potential to leverage blockchain technology to drive cooperation, consultation and collaboration between stakeholders is too great an opportunity for private business and regulators to pass up. Given the effectiveness and savings involved the adoption of blockchain into risk compliance seems imminent. It will likely be up to each individual health & safety professional whether they choose to evolve with these impending technologies or diversify into other areas of employment.
Garry McGauran is author and editor at Emerging Tech Safety. He has 17 years experience as a prototype risk assessor, design safety consultant, and academic research advisor, as well as heading up his own drone inspection service. He is a freelance safety consultant serving the tech, industrial, and utility sectors in Ireland and the UK.
Do you want to:
Learn about the new technologies that are impacting worker health & safety ?
Understand how emerging technologies are affecting modern work and employment?
Keep up-to-date with work trends driven by climate change and global issues?
