On November 15th, NTT East Chiba held ”Safety Co-Creation Forum 2023” in Chiba City. Under the theme of ”Creating an opportunity for everyone to think about safety”, they held safety lectures, skill competitions, and DX tool exhibitions in communications construction, operation, and maintenance. Approximately 300 people participated on the day.
Machiko Sakai, General Manager of the Chiba  says, ”We would like to co-create safety with group companies, partner companies, and affiliated companies, treating safety as something to be created, not something to be protected”.
In the exhibition experience corner, ”VR Danger Experience” was held, which realistically reproduced service line construction using VR. Reenacting the dangers of climbing a ladder without considering safety. Scenes such as falling were recreated so realistically that I could feel the horror.
”Feeling backward fall experience” was also held. It was a simulated experience of what it would be like to fall if you climbed a telephone pole without making sure you were wearing a full harness.
Akihiko Yokokura, Chief of the Service Operations Department of Chiba experienced it himself. After the experience, he commented, ”I realized how terrible it would be if this happened on an actual site.I want the workers on the site to know how scary it is to fall backwards”.
Several other types of assist suits were also on display. One such suit, the assist suit developed by NTT East, is effective in civil engineering work such as pillar erection. The back of the suit has artificial muscles that support the movement of the legs and arms during excavation work. It is already being used in the field and is said to be effective.
Safety work initiatives using digital twins were also introduced.
Sensors are attached to both thighs, chest, and waist of the full harness worn by the worker to read the worker’s posture and create a digital twin. Then, if a worker adopts a dangerous posture while working, such as leaning over or leaning forward, an alert will be sent to the worker’s smartphone to alert them to the dangerous behavior.
Currently, it is being used for safety training and other purposes, and has not been used on actual sites, but NTT East and West plan to promote it.
In addition, NTT-ME’s navigation alert will also be on display. Using the image of a map-based SNS, employees visiting the site can register dangerous locations they notice and share them with everyone. By registering and sharing information such as ”This road has a height restriction” or ”That communication building has a lot of steps”, it helps avoid danger. NTT-ME plans to roll out the system internally from March next year.