Project Scope and Suggested Topic

  • Participants can submit projects or ideas to demonstrate the application of innovation and/ or information technology in improving the safety and health of the working environment, including but not limited to occupational safety and health management measures, publicity and promotion, education and training, etc.
  • Participants can apply different innovative technologies such as Big Data, Internet of Things, Cloud Computing, Robotic Technology, Virtual/ Augmented Reality and Artificial Intelligence in their entries. In addition to utilizing advanced technology, participants can design devices or systems, or design creative small inventions based on simple principles to improve existing equipment or processes. They can also submit creative designs such as interactive games, software programs, etc.

Examples of Innovation & Technology Projects/Ideas Related to Occupational Safety and Health

Occupational Safety

Identified Issues / Industry Pain Points Solutions
1 Mobile elevating work platforms (MEWP) are widely used to carry workers for working at height, such as repairing or cleaning external facilities of buildings, repairing of ceilings, tree pruning and repairing of street lights, etc. Unsafe operation or use of MEWP can lead to serious injuries or even fatalities. Develop and deploy a sensor- and vision-analytics–enabled secondary guarding device (SGD) to detect potential obstructions around and overhead of a powered elevating work platform in real time. Upon identifying a potential entrapment hazard, the device shall trigger warnings and automatically pause/reverse the platform movement to reduce the risk of crush or entrapment incidents during travel and positioning.
2 When personnel need to work inside a lift shaft for safety inspection, failure to implement adequate safety measures may give rise to various potential hazards during access and egress to and from the lift shaft, such as fall of person from height or being trapped between lift car and lift shaft. Develop a drone equipped with high-resolution cameras and AI image recognition capabilities, specifically designed for safety inspection work in indoor confined spaces, enhancing safety and efficiency.
3 Entering and working in confined spaces (such as manholes, sewers, tunnels, pipelines and water tanks) involves extremely high risks. These environments may contain hazardous, flammable, or explosive gases and situations such as sudden inflows of sewage or soil may also occur. Any incident may result in serious injuries or fatalities. Developing Internet of Things (IoT) or wireless radio frequency identification (RFID) technology etc. to ensure that confined spaces are accessed only by authorized personnel, or for the design and invention of any technology that uses drones/ quadruped robots for surveying and cleaning confined spaces.
4 Slips and trips are persistently among the most common workplace incidents. Beyond causing bruises, sprains or other injuries, slips and trips may also lead to serious accidents. Develop innovative solutions to reduce slips, trips and falls in workplaces, such as IoT‑connected fall sensors and AI-based fall detection systems that accurately identify various fall postures and issue instant alerts.
5 Construction sites, factories and warehouses often store flammable materials and frequently involve hot works such as welding and cutting, constituting high fire-risk work environments. Develop AI-enabled image recognition fire detection devices to identify flames and smoke in real time, pinpoint the seat of fire and likely spread, and promptly alert duty holders for swift response and activate the fire extinguishing system to minimize fire hazards .

Occupational Health

Identified Issues / Industry Pain Points Solutions
1 Workers who must maintain prolonged wrist and forearm flexion or extension when using hand tools (e.g. wrenches) are at increased risk of developing tenosynovitis of the hand or forearm.。 Design a variable-speed, electric wrench to replace traditional hand tools, reducing repetitive operations and lowering the risk of occupational tendon strain.
2 Employees whose excessive work pressure is not addressed in a timely manner may suffer adverse impacts on their physical and mental health. Combining virtual reality/augmented reality technology to improve the mental health of employees through mindful cognitive practices, or developing innovative solutions to detect and reduce work stress and fatigue.
3 Outdoor workers (such as cleaners, horticulturists, and construction workers) who do not adopt any heat‑prevention measures are at heightened risk of heat stroke when working in hot environments Develop portable devices to analyze heat stress index in real-time; or design wearable devices to continuously monitor health indicators such as body temperature and heart rate, providing timely warnings.
4 Professional drivers who drive for long periods are prone to accidents due to fatigue and distraction. Develop devices to monitor drivers' mental states in real-time, using cameras and AI to assess fatigue levels and issue timely alerts.
5 Workers in the logistics industry often perform frequent and repetitive manual handling of loads; without adopting correct manual lifting posture and techniques, they are prone to upper-limb musculoskeletal disorders. Develop robots or exoskeleton devices to reduce workers' physical burden; or use AI cameras and wearable smart devices to continuously monitor employees' correct lifting postures. When incorrect lifting postures are detected while handling heavy objects, immediate alerts will be provided.

Requirements for submission of entries:

  1. Project report (up to 5 pages, photos, videos and other additional materials are not included) , the file size submitted must be within 10MB. The report can be written in either English or Chinese. For details on submission, please refer to the 'Enrolment' in 'Apply Now'.
    Suggested Outline for Project Report:
    1. Project title
    2. Project overview
    3. Details description
      • Purpose of the project
      • Technology or principles utilized in the project
      • Target audience and application scenarios
      • Uniqueness of the project
      • Occupational safety and health issues anticipated to be addressed by the project
    4. Conclusion
  2. Project introduction video clip (no more than 3 minutes). The participants must upload the video clip to the third-party online platform (e.g., Google Drive, Dropbox, YouTube etc). Ensure that anyone with the link to the uploaded file can view its content, but it is not necessary to set the viewing permissions to public. The participants shall abide by the terms and conditions of such third-party online platform.
  3. Participants must bring their actual work/ models to participate in the finals, and must show the research log to the judges.
  4. The actual entry/model of the entry must be clearly marked with the entry number and labelled with the entry, and should not be larger than 200 cm (length) x 150 cm (width) x 200 cm (height).