The integration play a crucial role to ensure real time monitoring HSE implementation and effectiveness. It's basically proactive approach towards identifying presence risk and hazards, prevent incidents and accidents, and ensure compliance with local and international standards and legal obligations. The actual data provides massive insight regarding workplace conditions, personnel safety, and environmental impact which helps for decision making at each level within the organisation to enhance overall HSE performance. By realtime HSE indicators monitoring changes the approach of organisation from reactive to proactive approach which creates safer workplace.
Purpose of Real-Time HSE Monitoring
The main objective of establishing realtime HSE monitoring technologies as follows:
- Immediate hazards and risk recognition including unsafe conditions and unsafe behaviour before it's turn into incidents.
- Realtime data help leaders to make right decision. Data provides accurate statistics to top management.
- Incidents prevention by continuous monitoring reduce the likelihood and probability through early detection and alerts and safety intervention.
- Realtime statistics can help to ensure operation meet the local and international objective.
- As perspective of continuous improvement, it's provide the details of area of weakness and strength where management can take action for further improvement and recognition.
Types of Real-Time HSE Monitoring Technologies
The realtime monitoring technologies are designed gather wide range of data in workplace safety, health and environmental protection. These technologies are basically categorised into environmental monitoring, equipment monitoring, personal monitoring and statistics management systems.
1. Personnel Monitoring Technologies
The personnel monitoring technologies are widely focused on the employees safety and their wellbeing, these monitoring devices are providing instant warning alerts for the presence potential risk.
Examples include:
- Wearable smart devices, that includes smart helmet, safety vests or wristbands to track signs of fatigue, heat exposure, and toxic gases etc.
- Location tracking system to monitor the movement in high risk areas.
- Mandown sensor to early detection if someone suddenly falls or inactivity which trigger immediate alert.
- Proximity sensor plays a crucial role where moving equipment are presence to detect unsafe distance or hazardous zones
2. Environmental Monitoring Technologies
The environmental monitoring primarily focuses on contamination of air, noise, chemical exposure, land and other environmental parameters that adversely affect environment and ecological compliance.
These are the Common technologies include:
- Gas detection system and sensors to provide immediate alert when oxygen drop less than permissible limit and if any hazardous or toxic gas presence.
- Air quality monitoring sensors to measure presence of pollution, oxygen levels and high risk areas.
- Track noise level decibel in work zone to ensure compliance with noise levels exposure limit.
- Continuous monitoring of water and soil contamination from the chemical, spills to prevent environmental damage.
3. Equipment and Process Monitoring
The equipment monitoring basically ensure safety and reliable operational risk of incidents.
Key technologies include:
- Machine sensor to track equipment performance including but not limited to this, measure temperature, pressure, vibration or any malfunction conditions.
- Automatic shut down equipment, stopped the operation during the unsafe detection.
- Measuring electricity, fuel and gas consumption to conserve energy and ensure efficiency of the equipment.
- Planned preventive maintenance and predictive maintenance use to ensure equipment efficiency and ensure equipment are safe to use.
4. Data Management and Analytics Platforms
This very important to manage comprehensive statical data for the continuous trend analysis and recognition of weak areas to take immediate corrective and preventive action.
Examples include:
- Developing HSE lagging and leading indicators or centralised platform display for the key matrix trend analysis. Which basically consists of incident alerts emergencies person locations or any adverse environmental readings.
- Develop mobile apps to allow all supervisors workers to receive notification when they are working in confined space or any hazardous place.
- The data analysis will define a pattern and predicted risk areas where management can established preventive actions.
- Just really important to integrate with HSE management automated feeding in real time data for tracking
Benefits of Real-Time HSE Monitoring
The implementation of monitoring real time HSE technologies brings uncountable benefits:
- Build positive safety culture were employee are more a aware of associated risk and adhere to safe practice.
- By implementation of HSE technologies can provide early symptoms or detection about the condition to prevent accident and occupational illness.
- Right technologies can provide immediate alerts and intervention during emergencies.
- Maintaining adequate statical data allow management to make right decision to operational risk.
- All records will be maintained for legal and industry HSE requirements
- Preventive approach will save many indirect cost due incidents, equipment failures. With accurate data and real time technologies we can prevent it
- The real time data provides assistance to every organisation for continuous improvement.
Challenges and Limitations
The real time monitoring technologies have wide range of advantages, however organisation should get familiar with potential challenges for successful adoption and implementation.
- It's required higher invest cost for complete setup including software hardware and infrastructure.
- Sometimes it's hard to get acknowledged by existing employees when there is sudden change.
- Excessive data or statistics overwhelm team without having proper training and knowledge.
- Frequent maintenance required for seniors or devices to ensure efficiency and calibration.
Conclusion
Realtime HSE monitoring technologies are change workplace safety management systems. These technologies basically empower organisation to prevent workplace incidents and accidents, optimise operation and ensure compliance by getting adequate information from the technologies. Integration of environment sensors, personnel sensors and machines sensors will added additional value to be proactive and enhance positive safety culture that will improve overall performance.
