Blackline Safety’s G7 wireless gas detector and connected safety solution has been awarded a sought-after Red Dot Award. The expert jury panel, comprised of 39 product designers, professors, architects, ergonomic engineers and other industry leaders, selected G7 as the winner of a Red Dot Award: Product Design 2017 from over 5,500 submissions sent in from 54 countries, for its innovation and design quality.
The Red Dot Awards: Product Design is recognised as one of the world’s most prestigious design competitions, awarding only products that feature outstanding design. Headquartered in Essen, Germany Red Dot initially convened more than 60 years ago to assess the best designs of the day. Since then, the Red Dot jury has been awarding their seal of quality for exceptional products of the year. Manufacturers and designers around the globe entered their products in the 2017 competition and were judged on degree of innovation, functionality, ergonomics, durability and overall quality of design.
“THE RED DOT WINNERS ARE PURSUING THE RIGHT DESIGN STRATEGY,” SAID PROFESSOR DR. PETER ZEC, FOUNDER AND CEO OF THE RED DOT AWARD. “THEY HAVE RECOGNISED THAT GOOD DESIGN AND ECONOMIC SUCCESS GO HAND IN HAND. THE AWARD BY THE CRITICAL RED DOT JURY DOCUMENTS THEIR HIGH DESIGN QUALITY AND IS INDICATIVE OF THEIR SUCCESSFUL DESIGN POLICY.”
DEFINING THE WIRELESS GAS DETECTOR OF THE FUTURE
Industrial work for employees can be risky. Many organisations use a personal gas detector to monitor for toxic or combustible gases, but they are traditionally disconnected and cannot call for help. With G7 a new level of personal safety is defined — as the world’s first wireless gas detector with 3G wireless, two-way speakerphone and live monitoring, G7 provides comprehensive safety coverage for even the most hazardous working conditions. With constant connectivity, every incident is communicated and managed in real-time, allowing teams to deliver optimised emergency responses tailored to the situation.
“THE HALLMARK OF ANY GOOD DESIGN IS ONE THAT ENABLES USERS TO DO NEW THINGS WITHOUT THINKING TOO MUCH ABOUT IT,” SAID BARRY MOORE, VP PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT AT BLACKLINE SAFETY. “G7 NOT ONLY LOOKS GREAT, BUT MORE IMPORTANTLY IT MAKES AN EMPLOYEE’S JOB EASIER BY COMBINING THREE DEVICES INTO ONE — A GAS DETECTOR, A LONE WORKER SAFETY DEVICE AND A COMMUNICATION TOOL. THIS AWARD RECOGNIZES THE EFFORTS OF OUR DEDICATED DESIGN TEAM WHO DEFINED A NEW LEVEL OF PERSONAL SAFETY FOR OUR CLIENTS.”
G7 features an exclusive modular design to support customisation that caters to diverse working conditions. Gas detection is customised to teams’ working environments with the choice of field-replaceable single- or quad-gas cartridges, and a selection of gas sensors including combustible gases, oxygen, carbon monoxide, and hydrogen sulfide. G7 solves the old problem of replacing sensors inside a gas detector, traditionally requiring a device be removed from the field for maintenance, with the Blackline Cartridge Replacement Program. Cartridges arrive ready to use and can be easily switched out on-site, increasing product up-time and fleet efficiency without teams having to worry about complex ordering processes.
OUTSTANDING WIRELESS GAS DETECTOR DESIGN MEETS CONNECTIVITY
Should a fall, no-motion or dangerous gas level be detected, G7 instantly connects workers with the Blackline 24/7 Safety Operations Centre, teams. Using seamless 3G or satellite connectivity, G7 gas detectors communicate environmental conditions in real-time directly with Blackline’s teams, who are then empowered to mobilise the appropriate response based on businesses’ pre-determined response protocols. The safety operations teams also leverage wireless gas detection insights to notify responders of possible hazards to be prepared for during emergency responses, should they need protective equipment or respirators— keeping everyone involved informed and safe.
A beautiful appearance is not enough — a Red Dot Award is presented only to those products that help users cope with daily life, to make working environments safer, or to make daily activities more comfortable. The Blackline Live web portal is a core of the G7 wireless gas detector solution — as an alert management tool, the portal serves up all pertinent information needed to deal with an emergency effectively. Available on desktop or mobile, Blackline Live provides easy wireless gas detector management, employee location mapping and alert management tools. When designing Blackline Live, we understood that the people requiring safety solutions aren’t always those wearing the equipment or the ones that are in the field. The people that need and value the safety information are often safety managers, operations teams, industrial hygienists or first responders. Blackline Live is the window they need to get useful, necessary and timely information easily. G7 wireless gas detectors are easily configured through the portal for specific working environments, where alert settings, emergency protocols and calibrations schedules are managed.
THE RED DOT AWARD DISTINCTION
The Red Dot Award: Product Design 2017 will conclude in Essen on July 3, 2017, where, at the Red Dot Gala award ceremony, the Red Dot best of the best laureates receive their trophies. At the subsequent Designers’ Night after-show party, the award winners receive their certificates and celebrate in the midst of all the prize-winning products inside the Red Dot Design Museum Essen. The Red Dot museums, located in Essen, Singapore and Taipei feature past and present award winners from diverse industries and applications. In a repurposed coal mine designated as a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage site, the Essen museum celebrates the award-winning design and quality of everyday objects. Visitors experience the innovations first-hand, touching and testing the latest inventions alongside historic industrial architecture. For five weeks, the special museum exhibition “Design on Stage” in Essen will present the awarded products of the year as part of the world’s largest exhibition of contemporary design.
G7 will also be featured in the Red Dot Design Yearbook for award-winning design 2017/2018, coming out on July 3. This international reference presents the year’s winning products and is available online, via the Red Dot App and on the design platform, Red Dot 21. For more information on Red Dot visit www.red-dot.org.
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POSTED BY JAIME SEAMAN