From Insight to Impact Webinar: How Bendix CVS Used AI to Achieve an 84% Behavior Reduction Key Takeaways

Relying on low injury rates as a measure of safety can be a dangerous trap. In our latest webinar, Ed Casper, Safety Director at Bendix, and Shannon Donovan, Customer Success Lead at Protex AI, explore why the next evolution of workplace safety isn't found in lagging indicators, but in real-time, data-driven leading indicators.

Through Bendix’s journey of implementing AI-powered computer vision, this discussion highlights how technology can provide a 24/7, unbiased view of risk that manual audits often miss. From eliminating shift bias to using short video snippets as a "Guardian Angel" for proactive coaching, Ed and Shannon share how AI serves as a powerful shortcut to achieving safety maturity.

Beyond the shop floor, they demonstrate how these safety insights translate into operational ROI, solving productivity bottlenecks and supporting more informed business decisions. Whether you are a safety professional looking to move beyond reactive reporting or a leader seeking to scale a safety culture globally, these six key takeaways offer a roadmap for leveraging AI to protect your most valuable asset: your people.

The Foundation: A Strong Commitment to Behavior-Based Safety

A low injury rate doesn't always mean your safety program is mature; sometimes, it just means you've been lucky. In this segment, Ed explains that the absence of accidents is a lagging indicator that can provide a false sense of security.

Ed argues that true safety maturity is built on leadership commitment and individual accountability. The goal is to create a system where working safely is the only way to work, even when faced with daily pressure and competing priorities. He highlights the industry-wide struggle to capture data-driven leading indicators, the precursors to accidents and which is where AI-driven insights become a game-changer for safety professionals.

Unbiased, Consistent Visibility Across Shifts

Traditional safety evaluations, like audits and surveys, are valuable, but they often suffer from unintentional bias. Ed and Shannon discuss how safety behaviors can shift when leadership is present, a phenomenon that often leaves the night and weekend shifts with less oversight.

Ed mentions that Protex AI provides a 24/7, unbiased view of operations across all shifts. By applying safety rules uniformly, the platform uncovers "hidden" risks, such as pedestrians working in close proximity to forklifts, that employees may have become desensitized to. This constant visibility allows safety teams to compare risk frequency across shifts and ensure that training and resources are distributed where they are needed most.

Turning Insight Into Positive Behavior Reinforcement

In this piece, Ed mentions the "gold" of Protex AI lies in its ability to capture short, ten-second video snippets that provide an undeniable view of potential risks. Ed explains how these clips enable non-punitive coaching that transforms the way safety conversations are held on the shop floor.

Instead of reacting to an actual injury, leaders can use anonymized clips to have a "what if" discussion with their team. This proactive approach helps employees recognize hazards they may have become desensitized to, such as near-misses during high-speed production. By addressing these precursors before an incident occurs, organizations can move from a reactive culture to one focused on genuine prevention and continuous improvement.

Informed Coaching With Real-Time Insights

A common hurdle in safety is the "eye-roll" reaction to new oversight tools. Ed explains that the key to overcoming this is positioning AI as a "Guardian Angel" rather than a disciplinary eye. By sharing anonymized, 10-second snippets, leadership can move away from abstract safety theories and instead point to exact moments on the shop floor where a situation "could have been worse".

This real-time visibility enables a deeper level of conversation. Instead of a supervisor lecturing a worker after an injury has already occurred, which Ed notes is a "tougher discussion" for everyone involved, leaders can use these insights to intervene early. It transforms safety from a reactive requirement into a collaborative effort to ensure every employee returns home safely.

Evidence That Supports Operational Decisions and ROI

While the primary goal of Protex AI is to keep employees safe, the data it generates often reveals significant operational inefficiencies. Ed shares a powerful example from Bendix where the system quantified how often parts were being dropped in an automated cell.

By using the platform to move beyond anecdotal "pains" and into concrete data, the team was able to build a rock-solid business case for equipment upgrades. This didn't just eliminate a recurring safety risk, it also drove measurable productivity gains and time savings by reducing the need for manual recoveries. It proves that when you use AI to improve safety, you’re often simultaneously improving the bottom line.

Looking Ahead: Scaling Impact

Success with AI safety isn't just about the technology; it’s about choosing the right sites for expansion. Ed and Shannon discuss how Bendix is looking to scale Protex AI to global sites in Brazil and India, focusing on areas with the highest risk profiles or where safety maturity has reached a plateau.

A significant takeaway from Bendix’s pilot is that AI can act as a "shortcut" to safety maturity. While traditional behavior-based safety programs can take years to build from the grassroots level, AI-driven insights provide immediate, undeniable data that accelerates the process. This allows organizations to move from subjective "he-said, she-said" reporting to data-driven decision-making, ensuring that safety resources are deployed where they can have the most profound impact across the entire organization.

Bendix Case Study: Bendix Commercial Vehicle Systems Turns Data Into Everyday Safety and Operational Wins with Protex AI

Read Full Case Study.

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