The importance of RFID evacuation monitoring system in workplaces [Case Study]

Employee safety is important in every company, but it takes on particular significance in the logistics and manufacturing industries. Large logistics centers and manufacturing plants make evacuation a health and safety challenge in the event of a threat. In such a situation, organizational preparation within the company, including procedures and solutions to support the efficient removal of people from the facility, can be crucial.

Seeking to streamline the evacuation process and thus increase the safety of its employees, one of our clients decided to test the SNE RFID Evacuation Monitoring System. This system was designed to automate evacuation procedures in emergency situations. Real-time information provides the coordinator with complete control over the activities. They can precisely assess the situation and locate employees—both those in the threatened area and those already within the safety zone.

Evacuation test procedure

Employees and guests were equipped with RFID tags. These small devices, worn as keychains or badges, emit a unique radio signal. RFID readers were installed in strategic locations throughout the building, such as emergency exits and assembly points, automatically reading the signals from the RFID tags, registering the presence of people in each location. An evacuation simulation was then conducted, during which employees and guests were informed to leave the building and proceed to designated assembly points.

As individuals approached the designated areas, the RFID readers automatically recorded their presence. The system immediately updated the attendance list, eliminating the need for the emergency coordinator to manually check the employee list, who received real-time information on the movements and locations of individuals. After the simulation, the data collected by the system was analyzed. This allowed for the identification of any delays and issues that might occur during the evacuation process and the implementation of appropriate improvements.

Health and safety procedure test results

Thanks to automatic verification of employee presence at designated assembly points, the entire company evacuation process took a very short time. The system continuously provided key information about the evacuation, thus expediting its completion. Knowing who was still in the danger zone, who had already left the facility, and who had already reached the assembly point was crucial to the smooth running of the entire operation.

Benefits of using SNE RFID

Automatic employee attendance verification eliminated the need for manual attendance checks, which resulted in significant time savings. Manual counts in previous attempts were several, or even several times longer, than those conducted after the system's launch. Furthermore, the system provided immediate and accurate information about the presence of employees and visitors at assembly points, allowing for faster, more efficient, and more precise rescue operations. By using the SNE RFID Evacuation Monitoring System, the staff responsible for the occupational health and safety operation could focus more effectively on individual actions to ensure the safe evacuation of employees from the building. Overall, the use of the RFID Evacuation Monitoring System brought the company numerous benefits in terms of both safety and operational efficiency.

One of the evacuation coordinators noted a significant cost difference between using the previous employee identification method and the one using SNE RFID. While the time it took employees to reach the assembly points was the same, the correct inventory and headcount procedure took significantly less time than before. And this is of enormous importance.

From a cost perspective, assuming that 100 employees are involved in the evacuation process, the difference per hour is approximately PLN 2,500 net – assuming employees earn the "national average" hourly wage and not including the costs of production disruptions or warehouse delays.


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