Edinburgh’s Zelim has won this year’s British Safety Council  Health and Safety Transformation Award for its AI-driven automatic man overboard  detection system, ZOE.

ZOE was chosen from a shortlist of ten organisations worldwide, including energy companies Saudi Aramco and Pertamina and leading safety body the Universities Safety and Health Association, highlighting its global relevance and transformational impact across the maritime, offshore, and defence sectors.

Developed with input from the US Coast Guard, ZOE uses machine learning and a proprietary dataset of over 7 million maritime images to automatically detect and track persons in the water, even in extreme conditions.

It boasts a 96.8% detection probability from 300 metres and eliminates the need for manual visual confirmation or wearables. Essentially, it distinguishes humans from small craft, seabirds and other objects in the water.

“ZOE addresses the most critical gap in maritime safety and security response,” said Sam Mayall, CEO of Zelim. “Knowing exactly when and where someone has gone overboard. This prestigious award validates the operational importance of what we’ve built.”

ZOE integrates with existing sensor and camera systems to deliver a continuous lookout, day and night. When an incident is detected, it triggers alerts, geo-tags the incident, logs video footage, and provides crews with a scripted mayday response and recovery checklist.

Already deployed on North Sea jack-up rigs and a UK-operated cruise vessel and soon to be deployed on a Navy frigate, ZOE is currently undergoing trials with asset operators, maritime agencies, port authorities and defence agencies globally, not only to reduce MOB fatalities, but also to prevent navigational accidents and security breaches.

Since its foundation in 1957, the British Safety Council campaigns to protect workers from accidents, hazards and unsafe conditions, playing a decisive role in the political process that has led to the adoption of landmark safety legislation in the UK.

Sponsored by Croner-i, the BSC’s Health and Safety Transformation Award recognises organisations each year that have significantly changed or transformed any aspect of health, safety, or wellbeing through the innovative use of information.

The ZOE system also holds Approval in Principle from Lloyd’s Register for ISO 21195, the man overboard detection standard, and will soon complete testing to become the worlds first fully type approved man overboard detection system.