Subscription-based gas detection
INSTRUMENTS
When will you
make the switch?
By CHRIS LANGE
L
et’s face it; the world is subscription-based and
you’re living in it. In a recent online article titled,
“It’s a subscription economy, and you’re just
living in it” found on Fortune.com, it’s pointed out
that subscription-based programs are actually not that
new. Businesses have been selling monthly subscriptions for all sorts of goods and services for years.
HNI, headquartered in New Berlin, Wisc., specializes in insurance, benefits and business advisory for
many industries. Their subscription-based program,
Safety On Call, gives you 24-hour access to the
safety information and answers you need, when you
need them. When a subscriber has a safety question
or problem, a safety consultant is standing by 24/7
to address any concerns via phone, text or email.
Many subscription-based models offer peace of mind
and convenience and Safety On Call is no different.
Rather than flooding their customers with information
that is impossible to navigate or digest, subscribers
receive exactly what they need, when they need it, for
a monthly fee.
ISN, headquartered in Dallas, Texas, has a sub-
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the detectors and what they are being exposed to, and
at what levels. Without this data, you’re not able to
correct unsafe behavior and your people aren’t motivated to use the life-saving equipment.
Managers of gas detector fleets have the hefty
responsibility of ensuring their people are kept safe
from hazardous gases and that they go home at the
end of each day. The above requirements are not easy
to manage and are really, really hard to not only do,
but do them right. Subscription-based gas detection
programs can help. These programs are designed to
give you peace of mind that your detectors are properly maintained and proactively serviced; that you
are able to provide required records on demand with
minimal effort; and that your people are kept safe
from hazardous gases. When no one else has time to
think about your gas detection, subscription-based
programs do.
Photo courtesy of Industrial Scientific Corporation
The future
But more recently, lots of unexpected industries have
started dabbling in subscription-based business models, offering anything from toothbrushes to genome
sequencing for a flat monthly fee.
Most of us can immediately identify with popular
innovators of subscription-based selling models such
as Netflix, the leading provider of movies and television on demand; or Spotify, the go-to subscription
site for music lovers. These popular services offer
us convenience and selection without ever having
to leave our houses. Even our pets feel loved in our
subscription-based world. If you’ve introduced your
dog to BarkBox, you won’t be surprised to find them
waiting patiently each month for their box of toys and
treats delivered right to the door for a monthly fee.
Even the few examples above make it clear that
subscription-based models are a part of our everyday
lives. But what about our professional lives? What
about utilizing subscription-based services to improve
employee safety within the workplace?
Subscription-based safety:
Is there a trend?
Chris Lange is the Director of Marketing at
Industrial Scientific Corporation. He can be
reached at clange@indsci.com.
Gas detection
as a service
Let’s look at the challenges faced
in gas detection. Gas detectors are
easy to buy, but difficult to own and
manage. There are several challenges
associated with managing a fleet of
detectors. First, gas detectors require
maintenance including regular “bump
tests” and calibrations. In addition,
and similar to your car, there are
consumable items associated with
gas detectors such as sensors, batteries and filters that must be checked
periodically and replaced, as needed.
Second, recordkeeping is critical and
necessary in the event you are called
upon to provide records. However,
manual upkeep is time-consuming
and prone to error. Finally, it is
important to have field visibility into
how your people are actually using
ISHN NOVEMBER 2014
www.ishn.com
In fact, several subscription-based models have
surfaced within the safety industry. In May of this
year, the Hudson-Hub Times of Kent, Ohio, published
an article announcing the nation’s first subscriptionbased driver safety training program. Every year in
the U.S., there are more than 390,000 truck crashes.
The article explained that most companies with delivery trucks cannot afford to provide their truck drivers
with ongoing safety training. Ohio-based company
DriverSheets.com offers a program that delivers
ongoing, targeted and easy-to-understand safety
sheets and small safety posters to professional drivers
for a monthly fee.
“It’s an affordable way for companies to keep safety on the minds of employees behind the wheel,” said
DriverSheets.com founder, Brian Diehl.
scription-based program called ISNetworld that standardizes contractor management across multiple sites
and geographic regions. The result is lower incident
rates and higher compliance numbers. ISNetworld
brings together hiring clients and contractors to create
safer work environments and lasting partnerships.
All of the mentioned subscription-based safety offerings have one thing in common — a goal to keep people
safer on the job. These services simplify the day to day,
and solve customer pain points in various ways. It only
seems logical that more subscriptionbased programs will be introduced,
offering convenient solutions to difficult challenges facing safety professionals today. As a result, this will
likely lead to improved safety.
More subscription-based services exist today than
ever before to assist us in our busy lives. We subscribe
to these services for various reasons, but at the end of
the day, one common one is that we are all looking
for “peace of mind.” The freedictionary.com defines
“peace of mind” as the absence of mental stress or
anxiety. Couldn’t we all use a little more of this?
For the safety industry, subscription-based programs carry more weight in that they have the potential to not only reduce our stress and anxiety, but they
can also truly keep workers safer. Only time will tell
how quickly and to what extent the safety industry
gravitates to subscription-based safety programs.
However, one point that will be difficult to argue is
that improved workplace safety is inevitable with
further introduction to and adoption of these types of
programs. So, when will you make the switch?
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10/27/14 2:33 PM