The power of data collected through safety devices can drive continuous safety improvement into warehouse and industrial intralogistics operations by identifying patterns, analyzing risks, implementing preventive measures and driving continuous improvement in warehouse environments.

Modern data tools provide deep insights into how a business is performing and safety is no exception. However, data collected from safety devices not only highlight operational adjustments to help prevent any safety incidents, but they can also be used to increase the efficiency and overall performance of logistics operations.

By installing a safety communication network that can identify all vehicles, moving objects and people throughout a facility, speeds, proximity with other people and equipment, location, etc. can be recorded. This provides powerful information about where and when ‘near misses’ occur. This intelligence can then be analyzed to identify areas of higher risk and suitable amendments to procedures implemented to keep these areas safer. 

Above and beyond this, however, the data can also identify times and places where it is safe to increase vehicle speed, giving the potential to significantly improve the efficiency of logistics operations. By analyzing the combined safety and efficiency data, this can further be translated into a single figure to measure overall performance of different zones within the facility.

Claudio Salvador, president and CEO at AME, says, “By collecting and analyzing all information relating to movement around a plant or warehouse we can generate a single figure we refer to as Efficiency Safety Indicator (ESI). This provides a straightforward measurement of how the site is performing, both overall and in individual areas, and gives a clear picture of the impact of any changes made, facilitating the adoption of best practices throughout the site(s).”

Currently, site managers can only fully analyze what has already happened if there is a safety incident. By continuously monitoring safety data, however, they also have an objective picture of what has not occurred, near misses, for example. Without collecting real data on speeds, locations, and proximity, this can only be achieved based on subjective feedback from personnel. Using sensors, everything that occurs can be measured, events that are close to an accident can be recorded, and risk levels more accurately evaluated, thereby reducing the potential for safety incidents. Such a system not only reduces the possibility of accidents between vehicles and vehicles and people, but also lowers the risk of collision with other site infrastructure, such as automated doors. As well as keeping operations running smoothly, this can significantly reduce maintenance and repair costs.

Installing safety sensors throughout a facility provides real-time information to avoid accidents but collecting and analyzing the data also gives insight into where and when the most dangerous “hotspots” are. This provides EHS managers with the intelligence they need to improve safety, by reducing vehicle speeds or implementing new safety measures in certain areas. While managers may already understand where the highest risk areas lie, the data analysis provides a new level of precision and a single knowledge dashboard to immediately understand how the site is performing. Furthermore, the historical data provides a record to track improvements and an objective business KPI measurement.

“The results we have been seeing from the collection of data in warehouse and industrial settings match the knowledge and experience of site or health and safety managers,” continues Salvador. “However, the system provides much more objective detail on which to base operational decisions and ensures that knowledge and experience are not lost if there are changes in personnel. The system further supports the implementation of new scenarios and processes and, ultimately, provides a better way to use the intelligence that currently resides with experienced managers on site.”

It is difficult to generalize the cost of accidents. However, having a system which provides a single measure of safety that compares with efficiency, means site managers can monitor progress and optimize operations. Even for businesses that are satisfied with their safety performance, an online data-based safety system can enable increased efficiency by allowing greater vehicle speeds without compromising safety. Indeed, using this approach has been shown to enable vehicle speeds to increase by as much as 67%, with forklifts operating at 10 km/h as opposed to previous levels of 6 km/h before the installation of the safety system.

Ultimately, a safety system that records and analyzes data from throughout a site or sites will reduce the overall risk within the working environment and provide a way to better control all potentially dangerous operations. It offers a way to safely increase vehicle speeds, improve overall site performance, and provide an objective KPI measurement.

Looking to the future, collecting real-time and historical data combined with intelligent analytics will mean the system will suggest improvements and, integrating with warehouse or plant automation systems, automate safety functions around hotspots at any time or location. It also means that information collected from multiple facilities can be analyzed, providing new insight and understanding of the safety-efficiency landscape.

For more information: AME your partner for a safer work environment (ameol.it)