An industrial health and ergonomics software specialist has added AI to its platform to make it easier for non-specialists to design and manage industrial environments that reduce industrial injuries and improve health and safety in the workplace.

The Accelerate Platform provided by VelocityEHS now features Active Causes & Controls, a proprietary methodology that integrates AI to help non-experts produce expert-level results. The new feature initially is aimed at prevention of musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs).

The ActiveEHS powered Active Causes and Controls is designed to help companies reduce training time, maintain process consistency across locations, and focus on implementing changes that maximise business results. The solution incorporates sensorless motion-capture technology and guides users through suggested root causes and job improvement controls. Recommendations are based on AI and machine learning insights fed by data collected from hundreds of global enterprise customers and millions of MSD risk data points.

“These are exciting times for anyone who cares about EHS and ESG,” said John Damgaard, CEO of VelocityEHS. “While it’s true, the job of a C-suite executive or EHS professional has never been more challenging and complex; it’s also true that leaders have never had this kind of advanced, highly usable, and easy-to-deploy technology at their fingertips. Ergonomics is just the start; ActiveEHS will transform how we think about health, safety, and sustainability going forward. It is the key to evolving from a reactive documentation and compliance mindset to a proactive continuous improvement cycle of prediction, intervention, and outcomes.”

MSDs are a major burden on workers and a huge cost to employers. According to the Bureau of Labour Statistics, for employers in the US private sector, MDSs cause more than 300,000 days away from work and per OSHA, are responsible for $20 billion every year in workers’ compensation claims.