Consulting | R&D

Verdi Technology’s mission is to offer the world an automated, fully configurable (‘out of the box’), affordable platform designed to meet both the strategic needs and the day-to-day tactical challenges of companies of all sizes that need the capability to effectively prevent, predict, measure and manage chemical and physical risk to human and environmental health as an essential business process.

To get there, we’ve funded our development of the webOSCAR™ software platform and its powerful, patented/patent-pending data analytics through contracted Research & Development (R&D) projects. Read the case studies below on Noise/Audiometry and Biological Monitoring to learn why “the big boys” chose Verdi Technology when they ‘already had a solution,’ and how our technology and expertise helped them solve real-world problems their enterprise EHS systems do not address.

When called upon to solve their complex problems, our world-class expert technical team of Occupational Medicine, Statistics, Industrial Hygiene, and Data Management professionals devised statistically-based, automated solutions that transform reactive, one-employee- and one-test-at-a-time, compliance‐driven practices and data with minimal preventive capability into population-based, ‘best practices’ risk management process directly linked to aggregate prevention and corrective action—the information companies really need to make critically important decisions and policies that directly safeguard their employees’ health and substantively reduce the risk and associated cost of doing business.

Beginning in July 2023 with Dr. Craner’s retirement from his full-time role as Tesla’s Corporate Physician, VTI began offering consulting services focused on the EV and lithium battery value chain—from mining and refining to manufacturing, R&D, and recycling. We now serve numerous key companies—small, medium, and large, publicly traded and private—in these and other hazardous, highly regulated industries. In October, 2025 we announced the formation of a Strategic Partnership with Integral Consulting, Inc. and its team of Toxicology, Epidemiology, Industrial Hygiene, Engineering, Environmental, and Regulatory experts and technology to further advance our comprehensive occupational health, safety and chemical risk management solutions for companies which rely on chemical innovation and applications (read the press release here).

Verdi Technology developed and proved out novel metrics that transform complex audiometric data into a biomarker and analytics that address population risk for more effective secondary prevention of noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL).

Read about the problem and the rationale and need for amore effective approach prevention of NIHL in Dr. Craner’s 2022 publication in the American Journal of Industrial Medicine.

Noise is a significant, difficult-to-control hazard in precious metal mining. Noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL) is the most prevalent and disabling occupational disease in the world. One of North America’s largest and oldest gold mines, owned by one of the world’s largest gold mining companies has conducted audiograms on its workforce for many years, with results compiled in an industry-leading software “database.” However, this software and the company did nothing more with the data than report individual results and compliance “threshold shifts.” The company’s senior industrial hygienist wanted to know the mine’s testing performance (i.e., whether and to what extent audiograms were being conducted consistently and on-time) and understand the aggregate trends or outcomes of whether and to what extent NIHL was being effectively prevented within and among similar exposure groups (SEGs). After months of labor-intensive, error-prone work importing this basic database into their corporate EHS platform, neither the in-house team of occupational nurses, physicians and industrial hygienists nor their consulting audiologist could even begin to answer these two fundamentally important questions.

Verdi Technology uploaded, cleaned up, and analyzed this entire historical database using our proprietary W metrics and trend analytics to detect and predict employees at increased risk for noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL), and measure the comparative and overall effectiveness of their HCP in preventing NIHL. This approach was developed into a proposed corporate Best Practices program for noise medical surveillance.

Verdi Technology’s invention, which was awarded as a Finalist in the 2016 OSHA/NIOSH Noise Challenge, is now patented in the EU (2025) and patent-pending in the US and Canada. It is currently completing an additional refinement and validation for 66 companies culled from one of the world’s largest occupational audiometry data sets in preparation for global implementation and integration with standard occupational audiometry software and practices.

Verdi Technology transformed a biological monitoring program from a one-employee-one-test-at-a-time approach using arbitrarily determined interpretation thresholds into a Best Practices, population-based medical surveillance program using statistically-based sampling and data analytics.

Arsenic is a significant, difficult-to-control hazard in certain underground mining operations. Chronic arsenic exposure is associated with increased risk for lung and other forms of cancer. Standard industrial hygiene air monitoring measurements do not effectively stratify internal exposure levels and long-term disease risk, particularly when respiratory protection and other exposure controls are variably utilized.

Like in many hazardous industries, at another of North America’s largest precious metal mines, the value of biological monitoring as a biomarker to assess long-term internal exposure and population risk remained limited because the ‘standard operating procedure’ was unreliable, inefficient, and expensive. Specifically, the conventional but unproven method of sampling a biomarker in every employee’s urine at a recurring frequency, arbitrarily adjusting for creatinine without knowing how much error is introduced, comparing individual test results to a single numerical biological exposure index (BEI), and temporarily removing those employees whose tests exceed this threshold resulted in significant operational disruption without objectively reducing risk.

The company’s enterprise ‘occupational health and industrial hygiene’ software platform collected air monitoring and biological monitoring raw data but did nothing more with it than produce tabulations and charts of individual results, averages, and maximums. The company’s industrial hygienists struggled to create their own data analyses using separate Excel spreadsheets. The mine’s senior industrial hygienists needed methods and tools to analyze their aggregate longitudinal biological monitoring data to objectively inform them whether or to what extent exposure controls are effective in reducing employees’ long-term health risks. They realized and acknowledged their expensive EHS platform couldn’t do this and could potentially take many years and a lot more money to build a ‘one-off’ customization.

Verdi Technology devised a population-based Best Practice approach to inorganic arsenic biological monitoring, transforming an inefficiently conducted biological monitoring program into a population-based, critical control management process by using statistically-based sampling and predictive and retrospective data analytics in conjunction with standard industrial hygiene data and exposure classifications. We developed a statistically-based sampling and aggregate data analysis and interpretation strategy and methodology, which was rigorously evaluated in a one-year pilot study involving over 2,000 tests among 400+ employees. Controllable components of biomarker variability were being quantified, and changes were measured over time to evaluate the overall and relative effectiveness of exposure controls within and among similar exposure groups (SEGs). Statistical outliers (true positives) were identified, investigated and systematically addressed at the individual or group level. We also developed a customer portal for managing results—obviating the need for and use of their ‘enterprise’ software platform (the ‘solution’ they ‘already have’).

These analytics and portal are now being utilized by leading companies in lithium battery cell manufacturing and recycling who are utilizing biological monitoring to manage exposure risk around lithium, nickel and other cathode metals.

The following are examples of consulting projects completed or in progress by Verdi Technology (2023-2025).

• Developed and implemented an Emergency Response Medical and Diagnostic Laboratory Test Program for a major battery recycling company.
  • In conjunction with a major medical toxicology laboratory, VTI hosts a 365/24/7 Clinical Diagnostic Test Report that transforms raw laboratory results into an automated clinical interpretation report with tabular and graphical analytics.
• Developed and implemented a pilot study for cathode metals biological monitoring for a major EV company and devised its Biological Monitoring Best Practices strategy.
• Developed a battery recycling company’s Industrial Hygiene Program, created and provided training on Lithium & Black Mass Toxicology and Health Effects, and devised its Biological Monitoring Best Practices strategy.
• Developed a Safety Data Sheet for Black Mass for a battery recycling company.
• Developed a Mercury Medical Surveillance & Biological Monitoring Program for a junior gold mining company.
• Contributed (as an invited expert) Health and Safety content to US Department of Energy’s 2024 report, Bridging the US Lithium Battery Supply Chain Gap.

The webOSCAR technology platform was developed by an Occupational Medicine physician with over 25 years’ experience providing medical and compliance consultation services to highly regulated, hazardous industries.

His insight into the challenges and complexities these industries face in achieving effective compliance, and the importance of this process to protecting their employees’ health, was his impetus for starting Verdi Technology and creating webOSCAR.

RESOURCES

+1 775 386-2530