3M™ PELTOR™ technology helps communicate at a safe distance

In current times, particularly with the evolving COVID-19 situation, communication and connection is more than ever important, but how does that translate into a busy worksite whilst maintaining social distancing?

Being situationally aware can have a very real effect upon recognising, responding and communicating onsite. For general workplace tasks along with reacting to incidents and minimizing risk factors, strategies and understanding the workplace surrounds is being situationally aware, an important component of a safe workplace.

So, what is Situational Awareness?

Put simply Situational Awareness is being aware of your surroundings and being able to react appropriately if an incident arises. That could mean avoiding a situation or reacting to the occurrence. An additional component is that Situational Awareness is a frame of mind in which you are relaxed yet aware of your surroundings and are also aware of whom or what could be of help to you if a problem were to arise.

In essence, Situational Awareness can be described as your mental picture of what is going on around you. This involves picking up information and cues from the surrounding area, putting those pieces of information together so you can develop a good idea of what is going on, and then without realising it, use it to predict what might happen next.

In a busy workplace, Situational Awareness is important for businesses who might have high traffic areas or areas with loud machinery that could cause difficult situations.

How can you develop situational awareness?

Simply requesting that employees ‘remain situationally aware’ is not a strategy. Both the employer and employees need to consider how situational awareness can be improved together, or how can we improve situational awareness when it matters most. You can identify potentially hazardous or dangerous situations, as well as ways to diffuse them, before the situation escalates.

Situational awareness is important to everyone — it is important that everyone is aware of their surroundings and the potential hazards they face. It is important that everyone is not only aware for themselves but that understanding, and enhancement should be a key element within safety programs across industry. It may form an element of a risk mitigation strategy.

Situational awareness and communications — That’s where technology can help.

Operating large equipment safely on a worksite relies upon many things, from site design to appropriate work practices and importantly having machinery operators well informed on where other pieces of plant, obstacles and personnel are in relation to their equipment.

The very nature of large equipment leads to blind spots, not only at the rear, but to the sides and also the front, especially with elevated driver positions.

3M PELTOR technology can help workers communicate at a safe distance.

3M PELTOR communication hearing products help maintain connectivity between workers while keeping distance between them in noisy environments. Some of this technology includes:

Situational Awareness

Active listening microphones on the headset means you are always aware of your surroundings. This gives the user the ability to amplify face-to-face conversation in a noisy environment.

Bluetooth Connection

Bluetooth connectivity to a mobile device or a compatible communication radio. Provides wireless connection for workers who need to communicate at a worksite.

In-built 2-way radio

Our 3M Peltor LiteCom range come equipped with 2-way radios built into the headsets. This means there is no need for the user to carry a separate 2-way radio for those operating in a radio network.

Voice Activated Mic

Hands-free communication (Vox) allows the user to speak through radio without the need of pressing a button. Transmission using the user’s voice means less touching of equipment.

The 3M PELTOR smart hearing range provides wireless, hands-free comms at a safe distance to help maintain production and operations — all while protecting your hearing. Whether you need in ear, electronic earplugs or headsets the 3M range has you protected and connected. For more information on hearing protection visit 3m.com.au/ppesafety