An accident that required surgery was the catalyst for Pieter Muller inventing a safety device using Bluetooth technology to ensure workers use protective equipment.
A safety device that utilises Bluetooth technology to ensure people wear protective equipment in workshops could have wider implications if inventor Pieter Muller has a say.
He designed Safe Buddy after a workplace accident left him needing surgery on his face.
The blade on an angle grinder he was using in a plastics factory disintegrated and hit him in the face.
He spent three days in hospital, had hours of surgery then 10 days off work to recuperate.
That wasn't the end of the story.
Six months later he was diagnosed with depression - and worse - and it was put down to the accident.
"I was feeling pretty sorry for myself but, with lots of support from my wife and family, my boss and ACC, I picked myself up," he says.
That got him thinking.
Even after the accident other guys in the factory were not always using safety gear properly, so Muller decided to do something about it.
His plan was to make sure power tools wouldn't work unless a safety helmet was being worn properly.
He built a Bluetooth system into a helmet - networked to the power supply.
There are two connectors - one to ensure the helmet is in contact with skin and a second to make sure the visor is down. Only then will the power supply switch on.
Mr Muller says having made it work in a safety helmet, he can see potential for other applications - such as in motorcycle helmets and lifejackets.
He brought his demonstration device to the Fieldays Innovation Centre to gauge reactions and to look for people with the business and sales knowledge to promote the product. "The response was amazing."
So Muller he quit his day job to concentrate on Safety Buddy.
It came second in People's Choice.
He is now building a prototype.
-Safety Buddy: rotobuddy@live.com.
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