Prevention as a Value Drives Innovation

This article was developed and submitted by DuPont, a World Safety Declaration charter signer.

Prevention, supported by early detection and education, is the more effective way to mitigate hazards. When prevention as a value drives innovation,  remarkable achievements can be made to help prevent injuries and save lives. Consider many innovations of the recent decades — automotive air bags, personal protection equipment and even cell phones are examples of technologies that prevent harm from occurring to people. 

Looking toward the future, the possibilities of improving safety and health in the workplace and at home are remarkable. Imagine the prevention of inadequate food supplies through bioengineering to increase yields, more advancement in robotics to separate humans from hazard, and innovations in detection as a way to mitigate hazards.

Often innovation occurs through partnership. Knowledge creation is occurring too fast and the solutions to today’s challenges are too complex. Success through individual efforts alone is unlikely, and all of us need to be more adept at developing the right partnerships between government, industry and academia. We need to innovate in quite different ways than we did in the past — practicing what is currently called “Open Innovation.” Innovative efforts must be structured differently and can no longer be done in isolation.  But with prevention as the driving value, much can be accomplished.

One World Safety Declaration Charter Signer — DuPont — shares two examples of innovation that focus on prevention.

Evolving Innovation Based on Prevention
Several decades ago, scientists at DuPont set out to develop a material that would add strength to tires in order to prevent automobile accidents. The result was KEVLAR®. DuPont scientists then began to understand that the property of the material could be applied in one of the most hazardous jobs — that of police officers. 

What if KEVLAR® fiber was formed into bullet-resistant vests? How many injuries and deaths could KEVLAR® prevent among those who risk their lives to protect us? To date, literally thousands of police officers are alive because of this focus on technology to mitigate risk.

Over the years, a steady stream of improvements based on prevention thinking have been made to Kevlar®, so that it now can also protect police and correctional officers from stab wounds, as well as being lighter and more comfortable to wear.

Today KEVLAR® is used in protective apparel in industries ranging from automotive to glass handling to computer assembly and metal stamping. It enables workers to perform their tasks — safely and comfortably — in some of the most demanding environments imaginable.

Recently, the company has begun applying KEVLAR® to building construction to create storm rooms that will prevent injuries from hurricanes and tornados. In Florida these storm rooms are being tested in the marketplace. In Europe, the new massive Airbus super jumbo A380 relies on KEVLAR® for lightweight and strong construction. And by the way, KEVLAR® has been incorporated in passenger car tires, as originally anticipated. 

Adaptive Innovation Based on Prevention
One of the predominant needs of the world is safe and reliable electrical power. Without safe and reliable electricity, the health and welfare of people is jeopardized. Distribution of electricity requires transformers to modulate voltages. Reliable insulating materials extend the life of electrical equipment, reduce premature failures and act as a safeguard in unforeseen electrical stress situations. Reliable transformers reduce maintenance costs, reduce frequency of interruptions and most importantly reduce the risk of injury to those who use, and maintain the electrical grid. 

An insulation often used in transformers is DuPont NOMEX® aramid fiber, an innovation that provides a high level of electrical, chemical and mechanical integrity. This material is best known, in fiber form, for its use in personal protection garments that protect firefighters, oil field, refinery and chemical process workers around the world, because of its heat and flame resistance.   In sheet form, NOMEX® is the material of choice for electrical insulations.

DuPont saw an opportunity for NOMEX® in China as that country’s rapid growth demanded increasingly safe and reliable electricity. When the company entered the market, it hit a serious roadblock in transferring technology; it could not penetrate the market even though there was a need. The company relocated one of its top scientists to China to gain market insights. Although China needed more reliable transformers, what DuPont discovered was that the transformer industry in China was not ready for the materials.

How did DuPont work to assure that China receive the safe and reliable energy it needed? First, the company began working to develop improved industry standards. Next, it helped transfer technology from a European manufacturer of transformers to companies in China in order to build transformers that would meet these standards. Then it helped to set up transformer manufacturers in China who could produce these new transformers to the specifications that the materials demanded.

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