Six Honeywell Safety Solutions Win 2023 Design Awards

This year, Honeywell Industrial Automation is proud to have six solutions across gas detection, electrical safety and fall protection receive recognition in the well-regarded Red Dot international design competition. Products selected to win Red Dot Product Design Awards are judged for their innovation, functionality and longevity by a jury of experts.

Honeywell’s 2023 award-winning solutions in Industrial Design include:

• PrismShield™ Plus face shield—Designed to protect electrical workers from arc flash, the face shield has an innovative, one-piece double-curved design. This provides the largest viewing window currently available in the industry, allowing workers to look down more easily and see better in their peripheral vision. Nanoparticle technology gives the lens increased color differentiation and improved light transmittance through the shield. Two new passive vents on every lens make the face shield more comfortable and help reduce fogging by directing fresh air into the face shield. 
• Honeywell H700 utility safety harness range—Our harness designed for utility workers at risk of falls has ergonomic design elements enhancing freedom of movement and allowing for prolonged positioning at height. Its anti-fatigue design, created with the help of pressure-mapping technology to assess pressure distribution, helps minimize the risk of back and waist injuries. The harness is constructed predominantly with sustainable materials, including 100% recycled padding and webbing certified by the Global Recycling Standard (GRS).  
• OmniPoint™ fixed gas detector—This gas detector is used in industrial operations—from oil and gas to petrochemical plants and offshore environments—to protect workers and property from toxic or combustible gas hazards. The touchscreen can be operated even when wearing thick gloves. A mobile app paired with the device provides area safety information in real time and allows operators to remotely interact with the gas detector.   
• Honeywell Miller Söll VC510 fall arrester—This entry-level fall arrester is for workers who climb tall ladders equipped with the Söll Vi-Go vertical cable system, such as those in the telecommunications sector. When climbing a telecom tower or power utility pylon, the fall arrester connects the worker’s harness to the vertical cable along the ladder. With the new technology, workers do not need to repeatedly secure themselves; once they are attached at the bottom of the ladder, they are secured to the cable all along the ladder. If a fall occurs, the VC510 will lock and absorb energy to protect the worker from hazardous impact.
• Honeywell Miller Söll VC570 fall arrester—This premium fall arrester is also for workers at height climbing ladders equipped with the Söll Vi-Go vertical cable system. For workers in telecom, power utilities or working offshore, the Söll VC570 provides a safe, uninterrupted and smooth glide on the cable, whether it is in the middle or on the side of the ladder. The fall arrester is designed so that, when connecting to the cable, the worker can hold it with one hand, keeping their other hand on the ladder. This allows a seamless transfer from one ladder to another when wearing gloves. The fall arrester has a redundant, independent locking mechanism for enhanced safety.
• Honeywell Miller Söll VR670 fall arrester—This detachable fall arrester is for ladders equipped with the Soll GlideLoc vertical rail system. It can be used when climbing up a windmill or a telecom tower or down into a manhole. Unlike most fall arresters, the VR670 provides an uninterrupted, smooth and safe glide when climbing up or down, no matter what body posture or climbing style the worker prefers. You can connect to the rail at any point, which is useful for unpredictable inspection and repair operations or critical rescue tasks. The fall arrester requires an intentional dual action and features a redundant braking mechanism.

What’s Behind the Awards: A Team Focused on User Experience Design

Honeywell has a long history of design innovation and focusing on the user experience: since 2017, we have received 57 international design awards for our safety and productivity solutions. This is made possible by a dedicated Honeywell User Experience Design team made up of nearly 70 experience designers around the world. The team uses insights from key customers, deep domain knowledge, comprehensive understanding of technologies and a co-design approach with users when designing new products.

Team members weigh product ideas using various metrics including usability, desirability and innovation, placing emphasis on solutions that use new methods and paradigms to meet market needs. Over six months to two years, depending on the project, Honeywell User Experience Design follows an iterative process that includes discovery, design, delivery and deployment.

The user experience is of critical importance when designing safety solutions. If a product is difficult to use, heavy, clunky or not intuitive, it may lead to incorrect use, and disastrous consequences. If it’s a piece of personal protective equipment (PPE) that is uncomfortable to wear, it may not be worn at all, putting workers at risk.

An Example of User Experience Design in Action: Fall Arresters  

Three of this year’s six winning products are fall arresters, critical pieces of safety equipment in an anchorage system that connect workers’ harnesses to the ladders they are climbing. Fall arresters are designed to stop an individual from falling, and will automatically lock after a distance of only 10-15 cm (approximately 3.9 to 5.9 inches). They absorb energy generated from the fall to help prevent the worker from getting injured. Fall arresters are vital to industries like telecommunications and utilities, where workers are required to climb tall structures or descend into confined spaces, and even retail operations, where workers may need to climb onto the roof of a large store to fix the HVAC system.

In North America, anchorage systems with fixed ladders are often designed with cables so workers can hook onto the ladder. In Europe, anchorage systems with rails connected to the fixed ladder are more common. Without a cable or rail system, workers must wear lanyards and snap hooks on their harnesses when they climb, which means they must secure their hook above and below them, readjusting each time they move up or down several rungs. This can be an arduous process with significant opportunity for fatigue and dangerous errors when working at height.  

When designing a fall arrester, the User Experience Design team knew they needed to accommodate various climbing styles seen across industries and across regions, different hand sizes and positions and varying climbing skill levels. Booming industries like telecommunications are hiring more and more workers to install and maintain telecom technology located at the top of tall towers; these individuals’ primary skillset is in the technology – they may not also be expert climbers.  

With these considerations at the forefront, designers intentionally made the new VC570 shaped like a racetrack so workers can more easily press its top button with either their thumb or index finger, while at the same time keeping the other fingers out of the way. The top button is also more accessible in the latest design when workers are wearing thick gloves; it can be pressed with just the tip of the index finger. The design incorporates two distinct movements to unlock the trigger and open the device’s gate for safety reasons—one vertical and one horizontal motion. This design feature is critical so the fall arrester cannot become detached by accident.

“Each solution we design goes through multiple layers of usability testing and validation by designers and engineers in lab,” says Tanguy Prevot, a Fellow and Experience Designer at Honeywell Industrial Automation who helped design the VC570, VC510 and VR670.

“We seek and incorporate feedback on our prototypes from safety trainers we work with and from end-users operating these devices each day. By designing products that take less effort to learn to use and can accommodate a variety of hand sizes and positions, we are helping enhance worker safety and enabling them to do their jobs with confidence.”

Learn More

To learn more about Honeywell’s award-winning products and how we prioritize user-focused design, visit our website or browse our blog.