IoT specialist MachinesTalk will deploy its ‘Workforce and Vehicles’ Smart Locator technology on 3,000 trucks after it was awarded a contract by The Red Sea Development Company in Saudi Arabia.
According to the organisations, smart locator badges will eventually be worn by up to 36,000 construction workers, and more than 3,000 vehicles will be tagged “to ensure safety and security”.
The smart badges and tags will aid help the identification of workers and vehicles within the mega-development while securing the construction area against unauthorised individual and vehicle access.
TRSDC confirmed in a statement that individual access rights will be granted based on “role, responsibility, category and group of workers. In addition, the possibility of identifying vehicles remotely, geo-fencing perimeters and setting up alerts based on worker and vehicle access breaches will further enhance security.”
Workers in distress will also be able to use a panic button to send an SOS signal back to TRSDC’s security and emergency response centre.
Once implemented, it will be one of the largest smart wearable technology and wireless tagging programmes of its kind in the region.
John Pagano, CEO, TRSDC, said delivering a project of this scale against an ambitious timeline while aiming to meet and exceed the highest international standards for health, safety and sustainability, required “innovative solutions.”
He added: “Our partnership with MachinesTalk will play an important role in ensuring the welfare of our workers, given their proven track record providing smart construction technology and alignment with our business goals.”
TRSDC was recentlyawarded the Excellence in Health and Employee Safety award at Big Project Awards 2020 for their Covid-19 Health and Safety Plan, which demonstrated the efforts employed to maintain the health and safety of their workforce during the pandemic, whether onsite or at their headquarters.
“We are honoured to have won this contract with The Red Sea Development Company,” said Nawaaf Alshalani, CEO of MachinesTalk. “It shows real forward thinking and care for employees when a company wants to implement these solutions at such scale. Using IoT technologies will keep the workforce safer and support secure and more efficient operations.”
The new technology aims to address four key considerations for TRSDC’s core construction site area of 3,500km2: site security, worker safety, access control, and process efficiency.
Ian Williamson, TRSDC’s chief projects delivery officer, further explained: “We asked ourselves how we could enhance security on our site and enable an efficient construction process at the same time, while considering upwards of 36,000 workers across 3,500 km2.
“How could we ensure worker safety in case of health emergencies or prevent workers getting lost in remote locations in the desert or on islands? How could we control access and track the 3,000 vehicles of multiple contractors across the construction site, delivering materials, tools and transporting employees?”
