Blackline Safety expanding quality assurance program

Blackline Safety Corp., a provider of connected safety technology, has announced a major expansion of its quality assurance (QA) program. As part of the expansion, the company says it has increased its QA team, upgraded its inspection equipment and boosted in-lab testing of its entire product line.

Headquartered in Canada with offices in the UK, France, U.S. and UAE, Blackline manufactures connected safety wearables and area gas monitors that provide live monitoring, automatic incident alerts and location-based insights.

“When most people think of safety technology, they think about the moment it matters – a gas leak detected, an SOS alert triggered, or a worker protected – but our team is focused on everything that leads up to that moment because protection starts on the bench, in the lab, and on the line,” said Blair Svoboda, Director, Quality Assurance at Blackline Safety, in a press statement on Aug. 13.

According to Blackline, the expansion of the company’s QA program, which is conducted at the company’s manufacturing facility, builds on Blackline’s investment of $2 million in Surface Mount Technology (SMT) and advanced inspection tools. Reportedly, automated equipment tests product reliability (dock insertions, button presses, etc.) and ensures the devices are able to withstand water immersion, extreme temperatures and dust penetration, which could potentially damage internal components.

“All of our quality assurance testing is done in true-to-life simulated environments just steps from the manufacturing floor to enable us to react in real time as needed – a process that just can’t be achieved when manufacturing is done elsewhere,” Svoboda said. He explained that Blackline’s global team of 35 quality assurance specialists runs a 68-point quality test on every single safety device before it ships, from testing radios, sensors and alarms, to conducting connectivity checks across cellular and satellite networks.

“Every test and check in our QA process comes down to one simple question: will this device keep someone safe when it counts?” Svoboda emphasized. “At Blackline, quality assurance isn’t about ticking boxes – it’s about protecting professionals like the lone worker in a remote oilfield, the firefighter charging into danger, or the technician maintaining a power grid in a storm.”