Helpful guides

Worker safety

The 4th industrial revolution is upon us with the introduction of wireless communications, internet, supply chain, predictive maintenance, MES systems, and robots, but Industry 4.0 also means improved workplace safety. We need to provide solutions that can also automate emergency management to minimize intervention times and save more lives.

Direct and indirect costs

An injury causes a significant destabilization in the equilibrium of the work environment in which it occurs. Several studies have shown that an accident causes 128 potential negative consequences, of which 55% would be borne by the company. Direct costs are immediately visible and quantifiable. This category includes:

  • Health costs for the injured person (hospital costs, medical consultations, rehabilitation, medication)
  • Legal costs (defense, litigation, possible protection, reimbursements, civil parties)
  • Insurance costs (coverage of deductibles, social security, premium increases)
  • Costs for damage to the production facility (machinery, infrastructure, equipment, buildings, vehicles)
  • Costs from production interruptions caused by accidents (absences, inefficiencies, etc.)
  • Personnel costs (loss of productivity, disability, etc.)

An injury causes a significant destabilization in the equilibrium of the work environment in which it occurs. Several studies have shown that an accident causes 128 potential negative consequences, of which 55% would be borne by the company.
Direct costs are immediately visible and quantifiable. This category includes:

  • Costs for strikes with consequent reduction in the productivity of the workforce
  • Extraordinary costs and replacements (staff turnover, production recovery and / or absences)
  • Cost of investigation activities, compilation of reports and relations with the supervisory authorities
  • Legal costs (extension of company responsibility / administrative responsibility 231)
  • Damage to image (corporate, commercial, marketing)
  • Retraining and recruiting costs if an injured worker needs a new role, or due to the high turnover of personnel working in unsafe work environments.

What does legislation require

After having carried out the analysis of the risks within the working environment, the employer is obliged to prepare all the safety measures necessary to protect the health of the workers. Analyzing art. 45 of Legislative Decree 81/08, it emerged how important it is that workers are equipped with devices capable of promptly reporting an emergency such as sending an alarm in the event of aggression or accident, or a man down situation. Furthermore, the employer is obliged to provide workers with the necessary and suitable Personal Protection Equipment (PPE), or, as defined by Article 74 of Legislative Decree 81/08, any equipment intended to be worn and held by the worker in order to protect them against one or more risks likely to threaten their safety or health during work, as well as any complement or accessory intended for this purpose.

Our solution

Smart Track, an innovative startup and UNIGE spinoff, offers a low power and proprietary IoT system called “Connected Worker” capable of:

  • Monitoring and reporting a "man down" situation in enclosed spaces in the absence of GPS signal
  • Automatically manage evacuation plans, i.e. knowing in real-time the number of people who have reached collection points and consequently knowing where any missing persons are
  • Integrating existing security solutions (e.g. access control, video surveillance, etc.)

The solution is based on wearable devices, called WeTAGs, interoperable with a network of sensors distributed throughout a site which is to be monitored. It directly communicates (via WiFi / LAN) with a central server where the proprietary Smart Track algorithms reside.

Managing an emergency and intervening in a timely and targeted manner saves lives and reduces risks.