RoboSafety’s Mary Yazdani says Ottawa is a national hotspot for smart mobility technologies, including robots, drones, autonomous vehicles and the support technologies that power them, but asks, what about safety?
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Every year around the world there are thousands of safety recalls for everything from cars to food, consumer goods to airplane parts. Why so many?
Manufacturers will tell you that things are more complex, so there are more things that can go wrong. Agreed, but shouldn’t that complexity dictate more investment in safety processes and safety engineers?
I believe the larger reason is a corporate mindset that safety is not a priority. But I would argue that a culture of safety can actually improve the bottom line.
Consider auto recalls. One of the Big Three automakers recently had to spend more than a billion dollars to fix a single recall. A European automaker faced a recall that forced the company to scale back its outlook.
Or how about autonomous cars that collide with other vehicles and pedestrians? This is a clear safety issue that must be solved to gain full user confidence.
The recent GCXpo tech show in Ottawa was a huge showcase of the latest devices in “smart mobility.” Ottawa is a national hotspot for smart mobility technologies, including robots, drones, autonomous vehicles and the support technologies that power them.
But what about safety?
It’s not always the first subject discussed. Yet these machines are out in the world, with limited human control. There is a real risk that failures could cause human injury, death or property destruction. We often assume safety has been addressed, but standards aren’t always keeping up with the pace of technology. In some cases, there are no standards at all.
Canada’s safety regulations often come up short when compared to Europe and the U.S., leading some business executives to have a very concerning mindset that safety is expensive, so they’ll only invest in safety when it’s mandatory.
Many companies purchase parts from suppliers assuming they are safe. Others sell their devices and expect buyers to ensure that safety standards are met.
