New York, February 4, 2021 — Urbint, the AI platform to prevent worker accidents and identify threats to infrastructure, and National Grid, one of the largest energy companies in the world, today announced a new collaboration to protect workers across National Grid’s U.S. service territory. National Grid will deploy Urbint Lens for Worker Safety, a new artificial intelligence technology that identifies potential hazards to workers in the field, so supervisors can intervene to prevent serious injuries or fatalities (SIF).
“We have thousands of people performing critical infrastructure work in the field for our communities, and nothing is more important to us than sending them safely home at the end of every day,” said Rudolph Wynter, President of National Grid New York. “Using AI to protect workers is a game-changer for us, and we are very excited to work with Urbint and to leverage Urbint Lens for Worker Safety to continuously improve field work safety during construction operations.”
Across the industry, serious worker injuries and fatalities have not been meaningfully reduced in the last 14 years. And now, with mounting challenges including extreme weather, aging infrastructure, a changing workforce, increased construction activity, and the pandemic, field risk is at an all-time high. Urbint’s technology seeks to give utilities and other infrastructure operators clear risk insights in advance so they can take action.
“Field work can be dangerous, and unfortunately research shows that even the most experienced workers can only spot 45% of worksite hazards on their own. That means it’s up to utilities and other operators to protect workers from everything else,” said Corey Capasso, Founder and CEO of Urbint. “National Grid is at the forefront of using AI technology to identify potential safety incidents before they happen.”
Urbint Lens for Worker Safety uses AI to identify worksite hazards before they threaten lives. The software enables field operators to identify high-risk tasks and take specific actions to prevent serious injuries and fatalities. The solution connects data on worksites, schedules, historical incidents, and environmental conditions, and identifies leading indicators of hazards to deliver a clear and actionable picture of safety risk across job sites.
“We’re always looking for cutting-edge ways to keep our communities and workers safe with technology,” said Lisa Lambert, Chief Technology and Innovation Officer at National Grid and Founder and President of National Grid Partners, the utility’s venture capital arm, which is an investor in Urbint. “Running safety programs and performing smart, timely interventions across hundreds of worksites and thousands of workers is a monumental task for any utility. Urbint’s AI will give us a clearer picture of risk so we can be as targeted as possible in protecting our teams.”
This latest news deepens the relationship between Urbint and National Grid, building on the utility’s success using Urbint’s AI-powered damage prevention technology to protect underground energy infrastructure from being struck by third party excavators.
Capasso added, “We want utility workers and contractors to go home to their families in the same condition that they left that morning. Utility workers are essential workers who literally power our society. We’re proud to work with National Grid to keep them safe.”
