Dayton-Based Start Up Creates Lifesaving Wearable Technology for Workers in Dangerous Industries

Abstract: Launched in 2020, Sentinel Occupational Safety personalizes safety monitoring through sensors, software, and AI to provide an “intelligent guardian” for those in many risk-prone settings. In 2021, the Dayton-based company introduced its “Safety as a Service” platform SafeGuard™. SafeGuard™ combines wearable sensors and wireless communications with artificial intelligence and analytics software to monitor the health and safety of workers in a variety of dangerous occupational settings.

Launched in 2020, Sentinel Occupational Safety (Sentinel) personalizes safety monitoring through sensors, software, and AI to provide an “intelligent guardian” for those in many risk-prone settings. Sentinel’s vision is to create a world without preventable injuries, illnesses, and fatalities by developing simple and effective technology. Dayton-based Sentinel is a spin out of Aptima, Inc., a human performance engineering company with a rich history of delivering intelligent systems requiring military-grade quality and performance. 

Funded by the Dayton Development Coalition’s Accelerant Fund and Aptima Inc., Sentinel was launched to commercialize an innovative confined space monitoring system originally developed to improve safety oversight of U.S. Air Force aviation maintenance personnel. Through research and development contracts and collaboration with the Air Force Research Lab, US Navy, and industry partners such as Lockheed Martin and NextFlex, Sentinel introduced its “Safety as a Service” platform known as SafeGuard ™. SafeGuard ™ combines wearable sensors and wireless communications with artificial intelligence and analytics software to monitor the health and safety of workers in a variety of dangerous occupational settings. 

“We’re excited to take innovative technology designed to protect military personnel and transition it to the urgent safety needs of works in the wider industrial market,” said Zachary Kiehl, CEO of Sentinel Occupational Safety. “We were able to realize the lifesaving potential of fusing together context to personalize worker safety monitoring. SafeGuard™ not only better protects workers in dangerous jobs, but it’s also a workforce multiplier enabling better allocation of human labor.” 

SafeGuard™ technology can monitor factors such as body temperature, respiration, heart rate, motion levels, posture, and noise exposure. The unique technology can also detect dangerous gases or compounds within the environment. SafeGuard ™ offers more than 20 sensor-integration options, including wrist bands, armbands, chest straps, and textile base-layers. 

This wearable technology can prevent injury or death for frontline workers who work inside dangerous confined spaces in the presence of noxious fumes, chemicals, and other hazards. “You’ll find a lot of wearable devices and technology that are focused on athletics or consumer use, but not many specifically developed for these complex, difficult environments, and that’s something that we’re looking to change,” said Zachary Kiehl. SafeGuard ™’s lifesaving technology aims to protect and prolong the lives of those at risk through predictive and personalized health and safety monitoring technology. 

Created to prevent injuries for confined space workers with the US Air Force, Sentinel now works with companies seeking to enhance workforce health, safety, and productivity. In 2022, Sentinel hopes to continue to transform safety solutions among multiple industries. 

About the Company: 
Founded in 2020, Sentinel is a Safety-as-a-Service ™ company that provides solutions for industrial safety and personal health monitoring. Built on a foundation of five years of R&D in the Department of Defense, Sentinel’s flagship product, SafeGuard ™, uses intelligent guardian technology and commercially available wearables to protect individuals in risk-laden environments. Sentinel’s mission is to protect and prolong the lives of those at risk through intuitive, personalized, and predictive health and safety monitoring technology.