Monitoring solution mitigates worker fatigue

28th August 2015

By: Dylan Stewart

Creamer Media Reporter

  

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More than a dozen companies worldwide are using heavy machinery and engine manufacturer and designer Caterpillar’s 24/7 equipment operator monitoring service, which provides customers with the ability to see, mitigate and manage operator distraction or fatigue, says Caterpillar safety solutions manager David Edwards.

Through new safety technologies, analysts at Caterpillar’s operating centre in Peoria, Illinois, the US, can communicate with on-site personnel when a machine operator is showing signs of fatigue or distraction anywhere in the world.

Caterpillar’s Driver Safety System (DSS) uses an infrared camera that monitors head and eye movements of machine operators to establish when operators are fatigued. When there are signs of fatigue, the DSS triggers an instant seat rumble and audible alert in the cab of the machine, and information about the event is sent wirelessly to a safety analyst at the centre in Illinois.

Edwards notes that over 5 000 DSS units have been installed globally, with the biggest roll-out to date being at an iron-ore mine, where more than 250 trucks were fitted with the system.

He explains that, when Caterpillar’s monitoring centre is alerted, the company’s analysts follow a custom, preset safety procedure, which is drafted collaboratively by Caterpillar and the specific client, thereby highlighting the importance of accommodating the different cultures and operating methods worldwide.

For example, a company and Caterpillar will agree that, upon the first fatigue or distraction event, the action should be that the site manager receives a text message, notifying him or her that a plant operator is showing signs of fatigue. If a second event occurs, the analysts in Illinois would then call the customer and send an email, which can include specific recommendations for fatigue or distraction mitigation based on the company’s preset procedures.

Edwards notes that Caterpillar’s fatigue management solution extends beyond front-line employees and allows for improvement opportunities throughout the organisation, including education and training, shift scheduling and leadership coaching.

As part of Caterpillar’s collaboration with its clients, it conducts an on-site fatigue risk assessment to establish the level of fatigue prevailing at the site. In addition to using the DSS, Caterpillar uses the wrist-worn Cat Smartband– an actigraphy solution that captures information regarding operator sleep quantity and quality, developed by Fatigue Science.

Originally developed for US military fitness testing, the Smartband algorithm uses a complex mathematical model to measure a person’s movement and pattern of movement that qualifies sleep. The movement patterns, which correlate directly with a person’s electroencepha- lography (EEG), provide data on a person’s sleep quantity and quality at an accuracy rate of 93%, as compared with an EEG.

Worn voluntarily, the Smartband provides managers with important information regarding employees’ sleeping needs.

Caterpillar then analyses the DSS Cat Smartband and other site information with intelligent software called the Fatigue Avoidance Scheduling Tool, or FAST, to develop fatigue and distraction risk estimations, as well as advanced predictions about their impact on employees’ effectiveness and productivity, explains Edwards.

Caterpillar started offering the 24/7 equipment operator monitoring service in June to address the problem of worker fatigue and distraction. Edwards states that businesses have struggled with this problem for decades and now there are technologies and services to address it.

Edited by Samantha Herbst
Creamer Media Deputy Editor

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