Critical Area Safety for Paper Mills and Recycling Plants
Protecting workers, industrial vehicles, conveyor systems, and critical areas through real-time proximity detection, access control, and automatic machine shutdown
Leading circular economy company
A leading Italian circular economy company operating 25 facilities across the country.
The customer operates in complex industrial environments where industrial vehicles, pedestrians, conveyor systems, overhead cranes, and automated machinery work simultaneously. In these settings, maintaining high industrial safety standards is essential to ensure operational continuity and protect workers and assets.
Enhancing Worker Safety in Critical Areas
The customer needed to improve safety across high-risk operational areas by reducing interactions between pedestrians and vehicles and automating protection procedures in hazardous zones.
The objective was to manage multiple safety risks through a single integrated solution, including:
- Workers and industrial vehicles operating in the same areas
- Pedestrian accident risks involving industrial vehicles
- Vehicle-to-vehicle collisions
- Unauthorized access to hazardous areas
- Personnel working close to moving equipment
- Safety management around conveyor belts and overhead cranes
Particular attention was given to paper processing and paper mill production lines, where workers operating near conveyor systems could be exposed to serious safety hazards.
The primary requirement was the automatic detection of personnel entering hazardous areas and the immediate shutdown of machinery to prevent accidents, falls, and accidental contact with moving equipment.
Ubiquicom Safety Ecosystem with Proximity Third Eye Technology
To address these challenges, Ubiquicom deployed an integrated industrial safety ecosystem capable of simultaneously managing:
- Collision avoidance
- Industrial access control
- Critical area protection
- Automated safety procedures
The solution combines:
- ThirdEye wearable tags for workers and visitors
- ThirdEye vehicle kits installed on industrial vehicles
- In-cab vehicle terminals for real-time alerts
- Self-check stations for device verification
- ThirdEye zoning nodes to define hazardous areas
- Fixed antennas covering critical zones
- Locator Platform for centralized configuration and management of safety rules
Before entering the facility, each worker verifies the functionality of the assigned device through a dedicated self-check station. The platform validates the presence and correct operation of the wearable tag, allowing access only to properly equipped personnel.
During daily operations, the system continuously monitors personnel throughout the site and detects potential hazards in real time.
Personnel Authorization Management in Critical Areas
Third Eye enables advanced access authorization management for hazardous work zones. By associating wearable tags with specific roles and permissions, the system automatically verifies whether workers are authorized to enter restricted areas.
Unauthorized access attempts generate immediate alerts and activate predefined safety procedures. All events are recorded within the centralized platform, ensuring compliance, traceability, and enhanced operational safety.
Proximity Detection and Collision Avoidance Between Workers and Vehicles
When a potentially dangerous situation is identified:
- Drivers receive immediate alerts
- The presence of nearby pedestrians is displayed in real time
- Automatic vehicle slowdown can be activated
- Safety events are recorded for analysis and reporting
This approach significantly reduces the risk of vehicle-to-pedestrian collisions, even in environments characterized by limited visibility, heavy traffic, and complex industrial workflows.
Automatic Conveyor Belt Safety Protection
One of the most critical aspects of the project involved protecting personnel working near material handling and conveyor systems.
For areas classified as hazardous, dedicated safety scenarios were configured to continuously monitor worker access.
When a tagged worker enters a predefined danger zone:
- The system instantly detects their presence
- A safety event is generated
- The conveyor belt is automatically stopped
- Site-specific safety procedures are activated
This mechanism enables proactive intervention before a proximity event can escalate into an incident.
Overhead Crane Safety and Controlled Access Areas
The same protection logic was implemented in areas served by overhead cranes.
When a person enters a monitored area:
- Presence is immediately detected
- An alarm is generated
- The overhead crane can be automatically stopped
- Predefined incident management procedures are activated
Safety zones and operational rules can be modified at any time to accommodate changes in plant layouts, operational processes, and production requirements.
Critical Area Protection for Integrated Industrial Safety Management
Real-time safety for workers, vehicles, and industrial assets
Today, thanks to the Ubiquicom Safety Ecosystem powered by ThirdEye Proximity Technology, the customer benefits from a fully integrated industrial safety platform capable of protecting workers, vehicles, machinery, and infrastructure through continuous monitoring of critical areas and automated safety actions.
By combining real-time proximity detection, intelligent zoning, industrial access control, personnel authorization management, and automatic machine shutdown, the solution reduces operational risks across the most critical production processes while ensuring continuous workplace safety throughout the facility.