Blackline Safety is a pioneer in connected employee safety monitoring. They have asked and answered all the tough questions, creating an industry-leading safety-monitoring platform. From detecting lone worker injuries and man-down events to evacuating entire facilities, Blackline Safety created a complete employee monitoring system that enables businesses to respond in real-time.

And then a quantum leap.

Several years ago, the leadership team at Blackline Safety drove innovation in the personal gas detection industry at a previous business. At Blackline Safety, they saw an opportunity to integrate gas sensors into Blackline's world-leading connected safety devices, broadening the overall value for customers. Entering a new market, Blackline Safety pushed beyond conventional lone worker monitoring solutions. Over the previous decade, gas detection innovation had slowed and was ready for disruptive change. Blackline readied a new generation of connected gas detector with work-anywhere wireless communications and comprehensive monitoring, inspiring an otherwise commoditized industry.

This result of Blackline's product development was G7 — a device with integrated 3G connectivity, two-way speakerphone, interchangeable gas sensor cartridges and live monitoring. A grand slam! A major component of G7 design was its series of interchangeable gas sensor cartridges, to support diverse customer requirements while streamlining periodic gas detection maintenance. This integration offered Blackline's clients and their employees a dramatic improvement in risk reduction, real-time assurance and a drastic reduction in emergency response times. Cody Slater, Blackline's CEO sums it up well:

"With current gas detection, typically the response is a recovery operation. With the G7 you can know instantly what is happening in the field. Now you are instead mounting a rescue operation – the difference is that dramatic" — Cody Slater, CEO, Blackline Safety.

Starting from the strong foundation of Blackline's previous Loner M6 product, Advanta worked with Blackline to address the new design opportunities. Approaching the product enclosure design, a significant challenge was to develop a removable and replaceable gas sensor cartridge system to accommodate different sensors, all while maintaining a water-tight seal to IP67. Compounding the challenge, this device was to meet strict intrinsic safety requirements that required special material-design considerations for use in hazardous locations.

"Creating good mechanical designs that seal against water in harsh conditions is always a challenge. Advanta's experience of having developed many such designs makes a real difference for Blackline" — Sébastien Bonneau, Senior Designer, Advanta Design.

Advanta worked with Blackline to develop the entire G7 product ecosystem with the main G7 device, its interchangeable cartridges and the G7 Dock gas calibration and charging station. The result was a game changing safety device, with award-winning design!

Congratulations to Blackline Safety and the Advanta team for this product design recognition. Contact Advanta to see how we can help create a design for your next game-changing solution!