Staying Connected means Staying Safe
The Oil and Gas industry is of the world’s largest industries and a major contributor to the Australian economy. Workers in the Oil and Gas industry are exposed to dangerous chemicals, hazardous noise levels, confined spaces, flammable substances, and high temperatures daily. From complex drilling to driving to a remote pipeline, all Oil and Gas workers are subject to hazards and potential injuries on a day-to-day basis.
Working in the Oil and Gas industry becomes increasingly dangerous when working in remote locations with no cellular connectivity, especially for lone workers.
Common Challenges
Some of the main challenges faced while working in the Oil & Gas industry include:
- Vehicle accidents
- N. 1 cause of fatalities in the Oil and Gas industry
- Vehicle collision contributed to 43% of Australian worker fatalities in 2019
- Driving to pipelines, pumping stations, gas sites in remote areas with unsafe roads
- Struck-by, caught-in & caught-between equipment
- Injury due to getting stuck in moving machinery, falling equipment, or high-pressure lines
- Explosions and fires / chemical exposure
- Presence of highly combustible hydrocarbons
- Presence of oxygen/ignition source
- Contact with toxic chemicals can lead to chemical burns, lung damage, blindness, or even a fatality
- Harsh and remote environmental conditions
- Hot environment, may be leading to heat stress / fatigue
- Working in remote areas reduces connectivity with control operators
Our Solutions
The Oil and Gas industry has many potential health and safety threats, but with the right worker safety management and monitoring capabilities, these threats can be mitigated.
Universal Site Monitoring (USM) design and develop Australian-made advanced connected worker safety monitoring solutions: an integrated system of wearable personal safety monitoring devices, mobile apps, communications hubs, reporting, and management software, plus ancillary products, providing essential safety data accessible from anywhere, at any time.
Our Personal Safety Monitors & Mobile Apps collect live data and feed it into the fully integrated Universal Data Interface smart alert and navigation system. This live data enables proactive decision making, prevention of rising emergencies, and can save lives in case of an emergency.
These are some of the connected worker solution highlights that address the common challenges of the Oil & Gas industry:
Real-time Data Streaming and Communication
- Live data allows proactive decision making from facility controllers
- Live and automatic emergency call & text messages (cellular)
- Push-to-talk & text messages (mesh)
Continuous Connectivity & Communication
GSM – Mesh – Satellite
- Ability for the control room operator to continuously monitor workers during their journey driving to a remote pipeline, thanks to proprietary Mesh Access Point technology linked to the Personal Safety Monitors and the connectivity to Iridium Satellite
- Ability to monitor and communicate with the workers even when they leave the car in a no GSM environment
- This video shows a 28-hour car drive journey in the remote Betaloo region of Australia and how the Universal Site Monitoring technology has been keeping the driver connected throughout the journey with the Personal Safety Monitor switching from a GSM connection to MESH, to Iridium.
Geo-Fencing
- Ability to restrict areas where dangerous machinery is operating, where hazardous chemicals are stored, or high temperature zones
- Ability to geo-fence areas to indicate the journey progress of lone workers driving to remote areas through check-in points that trigger alerts to the Personal Safety Monitors and to the control room operator
- Example of a check-in entry point geo-fence alert
Location & Motion Sensing
- Find a worker’s location indoor, outdoor and underground
- Monitor a no motion event, speed over ground of the worker and/or the vehicle and changing elevation
- Monitor workers as they drive to their destination even remotely, even when they leave the car
- Example of continuous remote connective in the Australian remote Betaloo region.
Slips, Trips & Falls
Monitoring & Alarm Capability
- Reporting G-Force events thanks through an in-built accelerometer in the Personal Safety Monitor PSM Hero 825 & 715
Biometric Monitoring
- Detecting early signs of heat stress/fatigue: heart rate monitoring & alarm capability
- Detecting early signs of infection: body temperature monitoring & alarm capability
- Ambient air temperature & atmospheric data monitoring & alarm capability
