Safety Technology Pavilion: The Future of EHS 2025

Safety Innovation Challenge

This year, the Work to Zero team is excited to present the Safety Innovation Challenge, aimed at discovering technologies that prevent, monitor, or address heat stress! After a rigorous application process, 10 companies have been selected to showcase their innovative solutions to combat heat stress.

We invite you to join us for the Safety Innovation Challenge showcase in the ballroom on February 18th, where you’ll have the chance to help decide the winner of this exciting challenge. Don’t miss out on this opportunity to see cutting-edge innovations in action!

Safety Technology Pavilion

Innovation and technology have always been fundamental to effective safety and health strategies. In today's rapidly evolving environment, the urgency to explore and implement new ideas, interventions, and solutions is higher than ever.

We invite you to connect with a select group of partners who will be on-site to showcase their technological solutions. This is a unique opportunity to engage in personalized visits, ask questions, and explore demonstrations of technology that could benefit your organization.

The 2025 Safety Technology Pavilion Partners are listed below.

TechHub Marketplace

At the National Safety Council, we believe technology can reduce stagnant workplace injury and fatality rates. NSC helps thousands of companies assess their risks and identify the right technology to address these risks.

To streamline this process, NSC has created the TechHub Marketplace, a searchable directory of NSC-approved technology providers. The TechHub Marketplace directly connects companies to the technology providers that can make their workplace safer.

Apex Cool Labs

Apex Cool Labs develops thermoregulation solutions to mitigate heat stress, prevent heat illness, and improve performance in the toughest and hottest conditions. Our flagship product, the Narwhals®, is a portable cooling device engineered to alleviate heat stress by removing excess body heat through the palms. More than 20 years of peer-reviewed research demonstrates that one of the most effective ways to quickly reduce a person’s thermal stress is to offload excess body heat via the palms even when wearing insulating gear. The palms experience 10X the blood flow of other skin areas when core body temperature is elevated. Simply, cooling the palms properly, cools the blood. To optimize this technique, a device must maintain a specific temperature range (50-60°F), avoid thermal barriers, and provide superior thermal conductivity. The Narwhals meet these requirements in a device that is easy to set up, long-lasting, and portable. By holding the Narwhals for several minutes, workers experience faster core body temperature reduction, improved heart rate recovery, and extended work capacity. The Narwhals are designed and built in Boulder, Colorado with global and domestic components. Learn more at www.apexcoollabs.com.

Bodytrak

Bodytrak provides smart safety solutions that monitor physiological responses to hazardous environments in the workplace, in real-time. Precise data is captured through wearable in-ear devices to prevent workplace incidents related to heat stress, fatigue, MSDs and more. Machine-learning algorithms analyse data against individualized baselines and thresholds to provide critical alerts so that intervention can be enabled and incidents prevented.
Bodytrak is the only non-invasive product of its kind on the market. Due to its proximity to the temperature control center of the body, the hypothalamus, the ear is an excellent site to measure core body temperature and heart rate. This provides unparalleled accuracy compared to wrist or other skin-based devices.
Geolocation, geofencing and an SOS alert are additional features provided by Bodytrak solutions that add another level to safeguard teams. Whenever an alert is generated, Bodytrak can instantly identify where the user is located, allowing rapid assistance to be deployed.

Critical Ops

Critical Ops helps organizations navigate change and maximize the value of their data. We guide businesses through pilot programs, new initiatives, and large-scale projects, ensuring smooth transitions and measurable results across various industries. Our process includes the Integration Strategy and Framework Design, Structuring and Leading Functional Teams, Workstream Development, Milestone Setting, System and Process Transition Monitoring, and Optimization.
We extend our integration expertise though specialized services like Remote Sensing, which uses drones and advanced tools like LiDAR, thermal imaging, and Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR). These technologies allow us to collect detailed, actionable data while maintaining a "leave no trace" approach to the environment. Critical Ops is your partner in overcoming complex challenges, reducing risks, and discovering new opportunities.

Cryogenx

Cryogenx Ltd is a London-based MedTech startup founded in 2019. We design and manufacture portable body cooling technology for the treatment of the spectrum of heat-related illness, particularly heat stroke. Our device, CGX1, is a class 2a medical device and regulated by the FDA. Full FDA clearance is expected in Q1 2025. Cryogenx is ISO 13485 certified. Heat illness consitutes a significant and largely preventable source of illness, injury, and mortality with mostly avoidable rehabilitation requirements. CGX1 is a portable cooling device in-the-field/pre-hospital treatment of heat illness. Designed to overcome the critical logistical and performance issues with current treatment protocols, CGX1 provides a compact, lightweight, on-demand cooling device able to be deployed in multiple scenarios. All current methods of cooling require external additional resources (ie water, power, user input, specialist storage), whereas CGX1 is truly "plug-and-play", rendering it suitable in the most remote and harsh of environments. CGX1 will significantly reduce the burden and deleterious effects of heat, in a similar fashion to how defibrillators have managed cardiovascular risk at the workplace. The Cryogenx team has 20+ years of medical experience and specialist expertise in heat illness management. We have support from the world's leading environmental medical scientists and have developed extensive commercial links into the industrial, sports, defense, and healthcare sectors.

MākuSafe

MākuSafe is a leading connected worker wearable and safety data analytics platform designed to reduce workplace incidents, enhance safety, and improve productivity. The solution combines innovative wearable sensor technology with powerful data analytics to monitor and mitigate risks in real time. The AllyTM, a compact armband device, captures a range of environmental and physical data via sensors, such as motion, heat, air quality, noise levels, and ergonomic strain, providing safety leaders with actionable insights to proactively address hazards.
The MākuSmartTM platform enables organizations to identify trends, track near-misses, and visualize risks across facilities, helping to improve safety management strategies. MākuSafe also supports worker health by offering personalized exposure data, enabling timely interventions to prevent injuries like heat stress, musculoskeletal disorders, and noise-induced issues.
MākuSafe’s approach collects no PII to ensure worker privacy, while fostering collaboration between safety teams and frontline employees through accessible, real-time data and MyVoiceTM push-to-talk communication capabilities.
Trusted worldwide by industrial clients, MākuSafe empowers organizations to create safer, more productive workplaces by leveraging data-driven insights, fostering a culture of safety, and seamlessly integrating with automated Industry 4.0 environments. MākuSafe ScoutTM integration with powered industrial trucks (PITs) for forklift safety is in beta testing now. www.makusafe.com

Wright Brothers Institute

Wright Brothers Institute (WBI) is a leading expert in collaborative innovation, delivering the best possible solutions to the Department of the Air Force to achieve mission success. Our reputation for excellence and proven results have positioned us as the unbiased, trusted advisor and unrivaled partner for driving transformative outcomes. Since 2002, we have helped to incubate and develop hundreds of projects, technologies, and initiatives that further Warfighter capabilities, driving defense and commercial market solutions through world-class innovation and collaboration leadership with diverse partnerships.
WBI has developed a ‘Ready for Market’ footwear technology for passive core temperature thermal management. Originally designed and validated for military jungle warfare, this boot offers protection in the most challenging environments. Key industries identified by the NSC can mitigate heat stress hazards through core temperature regulation. Feet play a crucial role in regulating body temperature, and insufficient breathability in footwear exacerbates heat and moisture buildup. WBI collaborated with stakeholders to create a boot that balances protection, comfort, and durability, while enhancing evaporative and convective cooling. The system features innovative materials and design elements that reduce moisture buildup and maximize airflow. An improved footwear microclimate, compatible with the full spectrum of end-users, equates to reduced heat-related illness.