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.
Critical Area Safety for recycling plants and paper mills
You can create virtual safety zones and detect operators in real time as they enter or move within hazardous areas. When a person enters a predefined risk zone, the system can generate a safety event and automatically stop the machinery, depending on the safety logic configured for the plant. This helps prevent dangerous proximity situations from developing into accidents.
UWB technology can detect and locate people wearing personal safety tags in real time. Fixed antennas and UWB zoning nodes can define specific hazardous areas and automatically detect when an operator enters them. The system can then trigger an alert or a predefined safety action according to the rules configured for the area.
A UWB-based proximity detection system can identify people and industrial vehicles in real time and detect potentially dangerous proximity situations. The driver receives an immediate warning and, depending on the configuration, the vehicle can be automatically slowed down. Safety events can also be recorded for subsequent risk analysis and safety management.
You can define virtual safety zones around areas served by overhead cranes and continuously monitor the presence of operators. When a person enters a hazardous zone, the system can generate an alert and, depending on the configuration, automatically stop the overhead crane. Safety zones and related rules can be configured according to the specific layout and operating conditions of the plant.
You can associate access permissions with each operator's personal safety tag and verify them in real time when they enter a monitored area. If an unauthorized person enters a restricted zone, the system can generate an alert and trigger the safety procedures defined for that area. Access events can also be recorded on the central platform for full traceability.
A self-check station can verify the presence and correct operation of an operator's personal safety tag before they enter operational areas. This provides a preliminary check that the required safety device is available and functioning correctly. The check can be integrated into the site's access and safety procedures.
You can manage people, vehicles and machinery through an integrated safety system combining proximity detection, collision avoidance, access control, safety zoning and event management. A central platform can be used to configure the different safety rules and define the actions associated with specific risk situations. This provides a coordinated approach to protecting operators, industrial vehicles and equipment.
Yes. Virtual safety zones and their associated rules can be configured and modified as the plant layout, machinery and operating processes change. This makes it possible to adapt safety logic to different areas and evolving operational requirements. The system can therefore support changing production environments without requiring the entire safety architecture to be redesigned.
Yes. Events such as access to critical areas, unauthorized access and potentially dangerous proximity situations can be recorded on the central platform. This information can help HSE and safety managers analyze recurring events, identify potential risk patterns and support the continuous improvement of safety procedures.
A UWB-based safety system uses personal tags, devices installed on industrial vehicles and positioning infrastructure to detect the location and proximity of people and vehicles in real time. This information can be used to identify hazardous proximity situations, access to restricted areas and the presence of people within predefined safety zones. Depending on the configured safety logic, the system can generate warnings, trigger vehicle or machinery slowdown or stop actions, and record the event for subsequent analysis.