ThinkSafe's technology helps to prevent workforce injuries in hostile environments. Photo / Supplied
ThinkSafe's technology helps to prevent workforce injuries in hostile environments. Photo / Supplied
A Gisborne-based company's technology has been selected for a United Nations-led climate change initiative in the Pacific Islands.
ThinkSafe's mobile health and safety technology has been used to monitor workers in some of the world's most hostile environments and help prevent them from being injured or killed.
The technology hasbeen customised for the UN programme which aims to prevent the extinction of hundreds of endangered species in 20 Pacific Island nations.
The UN Environment invasive species initiative is designed to help countries better adapt to climate change by significantly reducing the socio-economic and ecological impact of invasive species on local ecosystems.
ThinkSafe managing director Andrew Burns said their technology helps to proactively prevent injuries to a workforce by using geolocation to identify and communicate potential hazards.
Data is collected from the field and aggregated and analysed to create incident monitoring and reporting models that help prevent injuries, he added.
"Our technology, which was developed and extensively field tested in Papua New Guinea jungles, has been modified to meet the unique needs of the UN environmental programme," he said.
ThinkSafe managing director Andrew Burns. Photo / Supplied
Burns said that the working environment in the Pacific Islands can be extremely hazardous and the infrastructure required to rescue remote workers who are injured is often insufficient or ineffective.
"As part of the eradication process, workers put themselves at extreme risk of injury and in many cases the low probability of being evacuated from these remote locations in time significantly increases the chances an injury will be fatal," Burns said.
"These risks range from being attacked by aggressive predators they are trying to eradicate including wild dogs and boar, harsh chemical burns, lacerations occurring during tree felling and bush clearing, as well as the potential for drowning while river crossing or boating."
He said the UN initiative is critical to helping reduce the threats from Invasive Alien Species (IAS) to terrestrial, freshwater and marine biodiversity in the globally significant Pacific ecosystems.
"Pacific Islands ecosystems are among some of the world's most biodiverse, however their isolation and relatively recent human occupation means native species have not evolved to cope with the devastating impact of predators," Burns said.
"Invasive species are the leading driver of biodiversity loss in the Pacific. They have a significant impact on ecosystem resilience leading to a loss of production in ecosystem services and a reduced ability to adapt to climate change.
"The UN-led initiative is critical to helping Pasifika adapt to the impact of global warming and will utilise a workforce of hundreds of staff across the island nations working to remove IAS from these habitats."
