Smart System for Worker Safety: Scenarios and Risk

The introduction of IoT (Internet of Things) in work environments has the potential to revolutionise the industrial scenario. Among others, IoT technologies have the capability to innovate the customer experience, to improve the effectiveness and accuracy of the process, to identify in the early stages possible problems and/or defects, to enhance the efficiency and the sustainability of the activities. Moreover, IoT can dramatically improve the safety of workers, allowing to assess the psycho-physical state of the workers, the effectiveness and the correct use of the safety devices and the status of the environment, with the capability to provide on-line and in the field assessment in order to improve the situational awareness. In this paper, we will illustrate the main uses of such technologies in the OSH framework providing a taxonomy in terms of purpose and typology of sensors (either worn or environmental), type of measurements collected and information processing. A specific attention will be posed on the privacy, since the risk of potential remote control of the worker is an aspect that can negatively impact on the adoption of these solutions. Moreover, we will carry out an analysis of the problems related to the use of smart systems at large in the safety framework. Specifically, the paper will analyse the negative consequences that can be induced in the consequence of the employee de-responsibilities and due to the systemic fragility introduced by the cyber security aspects. Finally, using a specific case study, we will provide some recommendations to design an effective and ``safe'' smart safety environment. In this way the paper provides an overview on the technological solutions that enable cutting-edge applications in the OSH framework.