New Global Initiative for Future Industrial Safety

• “Global Initiative for Future Industrial Safety” will encourage positive practices of industrial safety by promoting policy responses, best practices and advanced manufacturing capabilities
• The Global Initiative for Future Industrial Safety will invite policymakers, manufacturers and innovators from around the world to connect and collaborate through a range of activities designed to drive safety culture in the workplace
• Announced at the fourth edition of GMIS (#GMIS2021), the Initiative will also drive the adoption of cutting-edge safety technologies through the development of universal standards
• #GMIS2021 is held at EXPO’s Dubai Exhibition Centre from November 22-23, followed by side-conferences between November 24-27

The Global Manufacturing and Industrialisation Summit today announced the launch of the ‘Global Initiative for Future Industrial Safety’, an unconventional collaborative platform that will promote industrial safety technologies through policy responses, advancing best practices and facilitating cross-sectoral collaboration.

Launched in partnership with Lloyd’s Register Foundation and the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), the ‘Global Initiative for Future Industrial Safety’ will bring together a global coalition of stakeholders that puts safety at the heart of Fourth Industrial Revolution developments and aims to make the world a safer place by developing tools and resources to advance safety capabilities in the manufacturing sector.

This Initiative, a continuation of the ongoing relationship between Lloyd’s Register Foundation, GMIS and UNIDO, was supported by the University of Cambridge that facilitated the implementation of the project scope through working groups with industrial safety experts. Together, the three partners aim to build global consensus on universal safety standards, guidelines and trainings, in addition to promoting the latest safety technologies and industrial innovations.

The partnership was announced by Namir Hourani, Manging Director of the Global Manufacturing and Industrialisation Summit and member of the GMIS Organising Committee, Philip Rice, Managing Director and Consultant of Lloyd’s Register Group and Sergey Korotkov, Director of the UNIDO Centre for International Industrial Cooperation in the Russian Federation at a press conference at the fourth edition of GMIS (#GMIS2021) on November 23, 2021 at EXPO’s Dubai Exhibition Centre.

Bernardo Calzadilla-Sarmiento, UNIDO Managing Director, Directorate of Digitalization, Technology and Agri-Business, said “Innovation is happening at a rapid pace which means disruption not only surpasses safety but produces uncertainty. Sharing knowledge and expertise, innovative approaches and technologically driven solutions are critical to enable secure industrial safety globally. Adopted at local, national, regional and international levels, this newly emerging industrial safety paradigm will be decisive in addressing industrial safety and security risks, ensuring high productivity and efficiency of enterprises and preventing devastating disruptions, while boosting competitiveness and impacting economies and societies at large. This collaboration is a crucial step in that direction. We are delighted to launch the Global Initiative for Industrial Safety as it carries a promise for developing universal standards and state-of-the-art capabilities necessary to reinforce the safety of the workforce against rapid industrial technological advancements.”

Industrial safety and security is an important but often overlooked aspect of pursuing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. At the same time, as technologies and human-machine interactions become more complex with hyper-connectivity of businesses resulting in industry-wide transformations, the need to establish productive discussion platforms in the global manufacturing sector comes to the forefront.

Through the organization of international conferences, specialized webinar series on “Ensuring industrial safety and security” and technical assistance projects, UNIDO has accumulated expertise from governments, regulatory institutions and committees responsible for industrial safety; international organizations; academia and the private sector, which led to the formulation of essential concepts and best practices for ensuring safety and security. Depicting major trends that encompass a broad spectrum of organizational aspects, technological safety and implications for cybersecurity in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, UNIDO and its partners will work towards encouraging a wider adoption of industrial safety practices that help overcome challenges and generate opportunities in developing and least developed countries, while promoting the introduction of new technologies into the workplace within the context of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR). As a result of these activities, a handbook on the same subject has been developed jointly with Rostechnadzor, the Russian Federal Environmental, Industrial, and Nuclear Supervision Service and the British Standard Institution, giving a quick guide on how to effectively improve safety at an organization or company. 

In this backdrop, the Global Initiative for Future Industrial Safety will act as an international platform to tackle new potential safety challenges brought as a result of emerging technologies such as Artificial Intelligence, Internet of Things (IoT) and Robotics, fill gaps in safety-related knowledge and awareness, tackle issues of transparency and openness in the industrial landscape, and gather new safety insights for business leaders and policy makers.

The initiative will also ensure that emerging technology tools and solutions are adopted by industries safely through its three focus areas. The first is set to facilitate new evidence, insights and tought leadership; the second vouches to disseminate awareness and recognition; whilst the third aims to offer resources to convene communities of practice.

Dr. Ruth Boumphrey, Director of Research & Strategic Programmes for Lloyd’s Register Foundation said: “The launch of the Global Initiative for Industrial Safety is a continuation of a fruitful and dynamic relationship with GMIS, which initially began in 2019 to explore the safety-related challenges posed by the Fourth Industrial Revolution. Over the past few years, the Foundation has identified an urgent need for cross-disciplinary research and collaboration to develop possible actions and interventions to increase industrial resilience. Currently, 7,500 people die from unsafe working conditions every day globally, whilst 1,000 die from occupational accidents and an additional 6,500 from work related diseases, together representing 5-7% of deaths globally. The data demonstrates a need for closer attention to potential hazards at industrial sites and a more thorough global approach, encompassing all nations. The Global Initiative for Future Industrial Safety holds great potential to shape the future of health and safety for manufacturers worldwide.”

The launch of this global initiative represents the Global Manufacturing and Industrialisation Summits ongoing efforts to drive positive outcome and lasting legacies through ongoing collaboration amongst global industry experts.

The Initiative was announced at the press conference that was held at the fourth edition of the Summit. The announcement was further explored in a session titled ‘Navigating Health and Safety in Cyber-Physical Environment’, which opened a discussion regarding stakeholder responsibilities to fill safety gaps in the manufacturing industry and challenge global disparities in the occurrence of workplace accidents and fatalities.

Badr Al Olama, Head of the Organising Committee of the Global Manufacturing and Industrialisation, said: “As the world’s first cross-sectoral and cross-functional platform to support industrialisation, innovation, and technology, GMIS has strong ambitions to facilitate the development of safety technologies for all.  The ambitious co-development of the Global Initiative for Industrial Safety will lead the way for more resilient capabilities together with our partners and global organisations. The future of global industrial safety starts with shaping the policy responses of tomorrow, owing to cutting-edge manufacturing capabilities and refined best practices.”

#GMIS2021 is currently being held as part of the six-day GMIS Week from November 22-27 at EXPO’s Dubai Exhibition Centre, featuring over 250 global speakers. The GMIS Week will include a Global Prosperity Conference run by the Mohammed bin Rashid Initiative for Global Prosperity and The Green Chain Conference, an Alternative & Renewable Energy Conference –– on November 24.

The GMIS Week will also host country-focused conferences in partnership with the United Kingdom, Australia, Italy and the United Arb Emirateson November 24 & 25. Throughout the week, the Summit will run an exhibition to highlight the UAE government’s ‘Make it in the Emirates’ campaign, a first-of-its-kind initiative to encourage local and international investors, developers and innovators to benefit from the facilities and incentives offered by the country’s industrial sector.

Participants can join #GMIS2021 live and access the full programme agenda at the following link: https://gmisummit.com/