Honeywell Safety Watch: Industry 4.0 Protection for Industrial Workforces

When I meet with customers around the world, one of their foremost concerns is the safety of their workers. They are looking for an all-encompassing, Industry 4.0 safety system built for industrial environments – and not just something repurposed from the commercial sector.

Plants and industrial facilities, after all, are unique in their complexity. Disparate systems and manual processes have historically challenged real-time access to information on industrial personnel and other assets, which can contribute to serious incidents and legal consequences.

Our solution is Honeywell Safety Watch. Based on proven, multi-protocol Honeywell industrial wireless infrastructure and Real-Time Location Solution (RTLS) technology, this integrated safety system enables our customers to do more in a safer and more productive way.

First and foremost, Safety Watch is designed for industrial settings. Here, the details matter, from ISA100 Wireless tags with longer battery life to higher location accuracy, extended transmission range, and an interface that provides much more than real-time location information.

There are four ways that Safety Watch makes a difference to our customers:

• Improved safety – During emergencies, Safety Watch automates the mustering process, reducing mustering time from hours to minutes. It can also track non-mustered workers and locate emergency support staff to accelerate search and rescue efforts. In addition, Safety Watch can locate fire extinguishers, valves, shutdown equipment and other safety assets in the event of an emergency and ensure they are always in compliance. Moreover, with location and real-time data, the system can enforce safety rules such as maximum work hours and time-based fatigue rules.
• Improved security –?With Safety Watch, the sign in/sign out process is automated using geo-fencing. Operators can see people walking in and out of a facility in real time and can identify those not trained to be in a specific zone or whose contract states they should be working in a specific location. In addition, Safety Watch can track assets such as welders and high-torque pumps in the event of theft. The same functionality facilitates preventive maintenance programs by ensuring the right pieces of equipment are maintained at the right times.
• Enhanced productivity – Safety Watch helps identify and reduce movement bottlenecks, enabling workers to be more productive at their work location. For billable contract workers on site, the solution calculates actual on-site work hours and billed work hours reconciliation. Furthermore, resource allocation and management capabilities allow plant managers to more efficiently direct personnel towards assigned tasks.
• Better return on investment – With Safety Watch, industrial organizations can harness real-time data to boost safety, security, productivity and operational efficiency. Furthermore, the flexible, multi-protocol wireless infrastructure allows them to implement other forms of wireless communication alongside RTLS to maximize their investment, such as ISA100 and Wireless HART for wireless instrumentation and WiFi for mobility and wearables devices.

I’m proud of what our R&D team has achieved with Safety Watch. From enabling more intelligent site safety, emergency evacuation, and productivity measures to boosting the confidence of workers, it’s a prime example of Industry 4.0 in action.

To learn more about Honeywell Safety Watch, visit the Real Time Location Solution page.