When pedestrians and forklifts operate together in confined space, there are still considerable risks involved. If an accident occurs, the damage can be immense. The new Linde Safety Guard assistance system from Linde Material Handling alerts pedestrians and drivers of each other early on – even through walls.
the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work confirms this statement: 68 percent of European companies report that there is still a high risk of accidents when using industrial trucks. There are already a number of production plants and warehouses in which pedestrians and forklifts are warned of each other by beeps and flashes to prevent costly accidents. However, the problem is that these assistance systems alert everyone in the vicinity. The result is sensory overload which eventually leads to the signals no longer being fully perceived.
he Linde Safety Guard issues a warning signal only when there is real danger, since the concept is based on locating vehicles and pedestrians. “This allows for selective warning – with an accuracy of ten centimeters,” says Mertel. All it takes is the fixing of an installation measuring only 12 x 7.5 cm (truck unit) to the vehicle and a mobile unit (portable unit) for pedestrians to wear on their body. What’s special about this solution is that the pedestrian can “sense” the danger, as the mobile device issues not only acoustic and visual alarms, but also vibrates. The added value for drivers is that in addition to issuing the warning, they can see on the display how many people are in the warning zone and from which direction they are approaching the truck.
A big advantage of the Linde Safety Guard is that it can see through walls, shelves and shutters. Also thanks to ultra-wideband technology in the 4-gigahertz range, the signal goes through walls so that a pedestrian is warned of the approaching truck before opening the doo
However, the Safety Guard does not only work from person to truck, but also from truck to truck. If two vehicles are likely to cross paths, both drivers are alerted by their truck unit and receive information concerning the direction of the approaching vehicle.
