SafetyCloud’s innovation efforts are informed by two approaches: design thinking and open innovation. Design thinking entails clarifying the following aspects:

• What is our winning aspiration when designing the product?
• Where will we focus our energy when designing the product?
• What features must the product have to make an impact?
• What capabilities must we have to develop the product?
• Which technologies must be in place to develop the product?

Open innovation implies that an organisation uses a variety of external resources (such as industry bodies and associations, patents, competitors and adjacent technologies and industries) to inform and drive innovation, rather than relying only on its own internal insights and knowledge

As part of its open innovation approach, SafetyCloud is a member of the Global Occupational Safety and Health (GOSH) Network of the International Organisation of Employers (IOE). GOSH is a unique initiative of the IOE and its member organisations dedicated to offering senior global OHS professionals (working in firms that are affiliates of their national employer ) exclusive, confidential forums to discuss issues of common concern with international peers. Through these forums, SafetyCloud has access to global policymakers and thought leaders in the OHS industry, enabling it to develop new insights into the trends and developments shaping the global OHS agenda. This ensures that SafetyCloud is well-informed about the OHS challenges currently impacting organisations and those that organisations will face in the future. Accordingly, SafetyCloud is in a prime position to develop products for clients that are relevant to today’s OHS challenges and also sustainable and future-oriented. These products are based on emerging themes, such as:

• Digitalisation and the digital transformation of OHS (health, safety and environmental) capabilities
• Incorporating ecosystems into Fourth Industrial Revolution OHS solutions
• Environment, social and governance (ESG) engagements and responsibilities for OHS capabilities
• Renewables as the world moves towards green energy sources
• The increased complexity of OHS roles and the need for a diversified and multidisciplinary skill set
• The OHS implications of remote/hybrid work

The longstanding and mutually beneficial relationship between SafetyCloud and GOSH also gives the latter access to OHS representation from the African continent and South Africa in particular. Thus, SafetyCloud is able to share knowledge about factors impacting the health, safety and well-being of South Africans. For example, SafetyCloud was invited to participate in GOSH’s July 2022 conference in Paris and October 2022 conference in Munich. SafetyCloud shared the findings of a research project on the requirements for a mental wellness solution as well as the approach that SafetyCloud followed to conceptualise and develop an integrated next-generation mental wellness solution. This showcased SafetyCloud’s eminence in the OHS industry both in South Africa and among thought leaders globally.

For more information on the research relating to mental wellness as well as the solution developed to support managers and employees of organisations in dealing with mental wellness please contact marketing@safetycloud.co.za