Drones can significantly speed up some types of OSHA inspections, according to a safety expert. That could increase the number of inspections the agency is able to do.
Safety trainer/consultant and former OSHA staffer John Newquist has posted a video on YouTube of an experimental safety inspection using a drone.
Newquist used a Blade Chroma from Horizon Hobby for a mock OSHA visual safety inspection.
After the drone’s flight, Newquist says he took out the micro SD card and downloaded the mp4 file. What’s the potential violation? We’ll tell you below.
Other applications
Newquist notes that, as a consultant, this technology would also allow an industrial facility to send him a video of a plant to review for hazards.
Turns out that in the safety field, some experiments and applications using drones are already underway.
Safety One Training uses drones for tower climbing safety:
Budget airline easyJet has experimented with drones to inspect aircraft following incidents such as bird or lightning strikes:
Safety service company Total Safety uses drones to conduct flare stack inspections at industrial facilities:
The potential violation in Newquist’s video? The roofing flags are too close to the parapet, so the general contractor would be asked whether the parapet is 42 inches high.
How might you be able to use drone technology at your company? What would you think of OSHA using drones for safety inspections? Let us know in the comments below.
