Canada & Latin America

Thought Leadership Series

By Alex Lima, Executive Vice President of Sales,

Canada, Latin America & the Caribbean at

ProcessMAP

The Internet of Things (IoT) and EHS

A New Set of Opportunities and Challenges

Visibility, alignment, information centric and disciplined execution

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Introduction International Data Corporation forecasts a huge expansion in our connected world by the year

2020:

Four billion connected people.

25+ million different software applications.

25+ billion embedded, intelligent and globally connected devices.

More than 50 trillion GB of data.

Quite a complex networked environment! What will this evolution bring to environmental, health

and safety (EHS)? Will it give us more control to protect the environment? Will it make us

healthier? Will it help make the world safer? Within this context, the concept of The Internet of

Things has been growing for a while. The internet has evolved from an original email network

created by DARPA to a networked world of many types of devices, platforms, applications,

databases and networks bringing people and organizations closer. This evolution presents

clear benefits but also significant challenges to overcome in all aspects of EHS.

This paper summarizes some key points based on the exponential level of growth in connectivity

and its implication to EHS, very specifically:

Safety benefits and implications.

Expected improvements to the safety of our lives and work.

Tools available to properly protect the environment.

Privacy challenges and dangers.

Understanding the Internet of Things (IoT) In a May 13, 2014 Forbes Magazine article, Jacob Morgan defined IoT succinctly with the

following: “Simply put this is the concept of basically connecting any device with an on and off

switch to the Internet (and/or to each other). This includes everything from cell phones, coffee

makers, washing machines, headphones, lamps, wearable devices and almost anything else

you can think of. This also applies to components of machines, for example a jet engine of an

airplane or the drill of an oil rig. As I mentioned, if it has an on and off switch then chances are

it can be a part of the IoT.” The conventional global internet connection between computers

and users now expands to include connection through any device, in any business or

organization, and within our personal lives. Some consequences that we will discuss later in

more detail are immediate and include effective communication between platforms,

interoperability, significant increases in the generation and collection of data, the sharing of

personal data in many locations. Despite its complexity, the IoT’s effective purpose is simply to

enable decision making that will improve our quality of life, optimize the operation of

businesses, and protect our planet making it a better place.

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Understanding the Growth of the IoT

The exponential growth in connectivity in recent years is obviously credited to the technology’s

penetration into our personal and professional lives. The shape of the internet is changing. BI

intelligence estimates a Compound Annual Growth Rate of 35% of connected devices over the

next five years including cars, wearables, smart TV’s, tablets, smartphones and PC’s. Clear

implications to safety include the ability to track safety metrics, alert people of unsafe

conditions, quickly calculate trends and probabilities, and control a device’s path and

navigation. Google as well as some automotive manufacturers are developing self-driving cars

and related technologies to mitigate the dangers presented by human error.

Accelerated growth presents the technical challenge of maintain the collaborative nature of the

IoT while preserving privacy and data security. As more elements are connected, the chain

becomes more complex, and more points of failure become available. Consequently, it will be

crucial that our approach to problems is technically sound.

Figure 1 – BI Intelligence 2013 – 2019 CAGR IoT growth

The Diverse Participants of the IoT In 2015, the McKinsey Institute carved the typical 9 key areas of the IoT, each containing health,

safety and environmental implications. To cover all the intricacies of the IoT would be an

immense task and is not suited for a single white paper. Therefore, we will focus on how these

areas effect EHS. Accordingly, we will discuss behavioral, social, economic and political aspects

of the IoT from the EHS perspective.

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Figure 2 – McKinsey Institute, 2015

The IoT can assume a variety of forms, with various possible combinations of connected

elements, never providing a linear evolution pattern. The exponential nature of growth in

connectivity will disarray a Cartesian understanding of the new environment. The true

differentiator is to consider each fundamental area, or setting (as McKinsey calls it) and

understand the potential applications to safety, health and the environment. It is important to

discern between an application’s potential and its present day possibilities. Many

functionalities are available today, but are not yet economically feasible in application. EHS

professionals of the future will need a holistic understanding of this new environment to help

guide organizational executives into the proper levels of investments and risks. Overall

complexity will increase, providing the benefit of more complete data while also presenting

increased risk of security breaches.

Listed below are summarized discussions of McKinsey’s key areas of IoT aimed at capturing

the fundamental EHS points of each. We cannot list all potential areas of improvement in EHS

management without making this list unmanageable.

Autonomous vehicles & condition-based maintenance - Self-directed vehicles show great

potential for reduced costs and increased revenues by understanding maintenance patterns

(e.g. recognizing the need for replacement parts) and by making driving conditions safer.

Vehicles could detect road conditions, speed limitations, weather patterns and accidents ahead.

Fleets would be more efficient and deliver their cargo or services in less time using less fuel.

Vehicles could report in real time (RT) their conditions to a supervisory control group to optimize

decision making.

Home chore automation and security – Integrated alarms with the police and security

companies have been common for many years. However, with the integration of appliances,

overall electricity behavior and gas consumption, owners or renters will be able to track unusual

conditions or trends, and make appropriate decisions to prevent the occurrence of a short-

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circuiting device or an exploding pipe. Sensors can be placed in the house to track all relevant

data at an appropriate frequency, making the data available online via a smartphone, tablet or

PC. Energy savings and combinations of usage of the appliances in the best time, power

settings and other recommendations will become commonplace. The impact of energy savings

will be massive when applied on a large scale, potentially effecting millions of homes in the

many cities in the world.

Office security and energy savings – We spend considerable amount of time at work. Energy

efficient buildings, integrated security systems that identify the ins and outs of a building,

sensors that track any anomaly in the air conditioning systems, or the electrical substation, or

smoke will mean lives saved, less operating costs and less energy consumed, which

cumulatively will bring a positive impact to the environment.

Factory operations and equipment optimization – The integration of business processes and

the optimization of the equipment information exchange will provide a new level of intelligence

and revolutionize manufacturing efficiency, naturally linking people, technology and processes.

As a by-product, shared services such as HR, Finance, Legal, IT, Logistics and Distribution will

be streamlined generating more value. Energy saving techniques and new types of energy will

be used in intelligent buildings and offices.

Figure 3 – manufacturing machines generating and sharing data in real time

Human health and fitness – Tracking physiological conditions like blood pressure, heart-rates

and sugar levels in real time can be of great value for personnel conducting several tasks

including the operation of heavy equipment, activity in confined spaces, or complex

maintenance of machinery. Monitoring changes in physiological conditions could identify

potential health risks. Preventive measures could then be taken to reduce the overall threat to

employee safety, avert damage to facility equipment, and protect the environment. Wearable

tracking devices are available today in a variety of formats, data sensitivities and accuracies.

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Figure 4 – North American Consumer technologies survey, 2014

Logistics and transportation – Sensors have the ability to capture operation data such as

delivery times, fuel consumption, speeds, GPS location, volumes moved, and cargo weight. This

data can then be integrated within the production value chain and used to aid in the

optimization of the overall process. Deviations from established parameters introduce

immediate safety risk and process inefficiencies. For example, a freight truck could violate

parameters by traveling above its assigned speed limit, carrying a load above its weight capacity,

taking a suspect route, or stopping in an unplanned area. A breach of established restrictions

will prompt corrective protocol, therefore ensuring safety and efficiency. Telematics have been

available for many years and are currently used in many fleets, but the integration of these

techniques with safety and environmental data is new and exciting. Logistics also encapsulate

the ability to monitor health data of personnel such as drivers, sailors and engine room

mechanics.

IoT will Force EHS to Shift from Reactive to Predictive There is no way to manage this value chain of connectivity and interdependencies without truly

understanding the data, trends and patterns needed to make decisions. Companies that do

not invest in business intelligence and in good data management will be increasingly

overwhelmed by data collection as interconnectivity grows exponentially. These businesses and

organizations will not be able to compete in this more demanding business environment.

Increased connectivity leads to increased complexity of the value chain. Demands on EHS

professionals will grow multi-fold to align with these extended business processes. Today’s

known impediments for business intelligence will be more relevant than ever. Data quality

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problems will increase; this new interconnectivity will make using applications more difficult and

integration of different systems will become more complicated (but crucial).

Figure 5 – barriers for business intelligence

Managing EHS in a Collaborative Platform All safety, environmental and health processes will have to be managed in a structured, disciplined

format. It will be impossible to coordinate all the new data requirements and make sense of these

interdependencies just by using spreadsheets or portals to post EHS data and create some reports.

Internally developed EHS systems and applications are traditionally poor in functionality, tend to have

poor performance, lack strong collaborative features and are technically challenged as companies have

focuses other than the development of EHS systems. The power of ProcessMAP to integrate multiple

applications, streamline the decision-making process, allow global access and provide powerful

business intelligence and analytics (including adding mobile extensions) will be of even higher value in

an extended networked world. The internet of things will take the following situations, as examples, to

a whole new level:

More participants in the network will create challenges for a collaborative environment, which

will need to have high performance, easy access, strong security capabilities and rich

functionality to accommodate so many different stakeholders.

Performance in general will be a key element. As new players are added to the network, the

overall chain will become heavier. Information flows and data exchanges will naturally become

more complex.

Business intelligence and analytics will become exponentially more important, but also more

complex as data generation will grow tremendously. The ability to make sense of the data,

generate streamlined and objective reports, dashboards and alarms will require a high level of

capability and technical competence.

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IoT will Bring Clear New and Bigger Challenges Today, most of the risk management strategies and execution that I have encountered are

qualitative driven. People correlate the risks with mitigation strategies based on their

experience or common sense. Quantifications are very rarely in place. When quantifications

have been made, the data insight and probability methods are unclear or are gross estimates.

In some cases, we see probabilities driven from the actual frequency of occurrences. However,

EHS professionals generally are not yet that statistically enabled. Therefore, the concepts of

expected values and probabilities are not typically applied. If they are applied, they are

somewhat loose and unscientific in terms of capturing a phenomenon. This will certainly

change in the next ten years.

The usage of Statistical Process Controls (SPC) and the integration with other groups will provide

an extended value chain with metrics to understand the capacity to form trends and patterns.

Better quality of data will provide information that is more reliable. Therefore, risks will be better

quantified and mitigation activities will have a strong quantitative component. EHS

professionals as well as employees at every level will know more about business processes and

related risks. Both groups will be more data intuitive. With increased access to data patterns,

we will be able to assess a situation quickly through glancing at the data. In general, this

evolution will enable tangible contributions to the business top and bottom lines through

effective risk prediction and mitigation.

A topic that has been extensively discussed in the media is the new level of internet security

required due to increased data sharing. Data breaches and hackings present privacy concerns

and introduce diverse dangers to our personal and working lives.

IoT will Make Mobility and Cloud More Ubiquitous This extended value chain of the IoT will reduce distances and bring many players into the EHS

decision process. Despite geographic separation, suppliers, consultants, partners, service

providers, employees and clients will need to collaborate to reach EHS goals. Improved

communications with a mobile extension to support decision-making will become more

important, and real time access to data may be a differentiator. ProcessMAP has observed that

the use of mobile audits typically yields improvements in productivity of 60 to 90%. This

extended chain will become more complex and increases in productivity and cost effectiveness

in EHS operations should follow with more significant dollar values. System architecture will

need to be streamlined in response to the continuous growth in cloud applications. IT

departments will not be able to continue to support this maze of new applications, embedded

devices and external devices. Organizations may become fonder of outsourcing given the

complexities introduced by the IoT.

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Figure 6 – ProcessMAP application with extended mobile capabilities

With stronger alignment and deeper integration with other functions within the organization, the

usage of SPC, greater predictability, and better risk frameworks will introduce more

requirements and complexity into the management process. Eventually, simplified

infrastructure and IT environments will be required in order to allow people to focus on what is

truly important.

IoT will place EHS in An Accelerated Path to Perform at All Levels

The IoT has already begun to revolutionize the personal, business and organizational areas of

our lives. It will only become more pervasive in the coming decade, with millions and billions of

devices connected. Connected devices such as monitors, wearable systems, industrial

automation and business applications can provide additional insights to EHS professionals

including machine status, meantime to failure, breakdown consequences, spills and other

elements. The EHS professional will need a holistic view of its business in order to provide a

safer, healthier and cleaner working environment. They will become information specialists as

they learn to navigate through dashboards, statistics, trends and patterns more proficiently.

EHS professionals will have to communicate more extensively within as well as outside the

organization, stating their cases and needs.