In an emergency, personal emergency signal devices must be able to determine the exact location of the accident and transmit this to emergency contacts. This is the only way to ensure that help arrives at the scene early and can be provided effectively, because every second counts in an emergency.
Difficulties arise in buildings, large halls with thick concrete walls and metal roofs, but also when locating on different floors. GPS signals are attenuated and distorted here due to the lack of visual contact with the GPS satellites. This means that the location can only be determined inaccurately or not at all. To avoid this problem, companies should be aware of the various indoor positioning systems.
In this way, employers not only protect their employees in an emergency, but also fulfill their legal obligations under Section 25 of the German Accident Prevention Regulations (previously: BGV A1). According to this regulation, employers must ensure that reporting equipment is available so that help can be directed to the scene of an accident without delay in the event of an emergency.
The most important facts in brief
✓ Personal emergency signaling devices must precisely determine the location of an accident and transmit this information to emergency contacts to ensure rapid assistance, especially in buildings with difficult locating conditions.
✓ Indoor positioning is crucial for operational emergency management, as employees often work in closed rooms and precise positioning is necessary in the event of an accident.
✓ Different indoor positioning systems such as WLAN, Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) and Ultra-Wideband (UWB) offer different accuracies and application possibilities, whereby the choice of system depends on the specific requirements of the company.
What is meant by the term indoor positioning?
Indoor positioning refers to the localization of objects or people within a building. Indoor positioning is particularly important for operational emergency management, as workers often work indoors rather than outdoors. Even if the work is only partially carried out inside a building, an indoor positioning system tailored to the company should be used.
In complex, multi-storey buildings, such as exhibition halls, industrial plants or shopping centers, employees do not always work within sight and earshot of others. If an accident occurs, they are on their own and have no one who can provide first aid quickly.
Indoor positioning systems make it possible to locate employees inside buildings. Indoor positioning is not only useful for occupational safety. Indoor positioning of people and equipment is already an important technology in production facilities and industry, as it can also be used to optimize internal logistics processes.
Which indoor positioning systems are frequently used?
Based on the required accuracy of positioning, also known as granularity, companies can opt for different positioning methods. We give you an overview of the most commonly used indoor positioning systems.
Satellite positioning (GNSS)
GNSS is a collective term for global satellite systems such as GPS (USA), GLONASS (Russia), Galileo (EU) and Beidou (China).
GNSS receivers are widespread and are also used in occupational health and safety, but they cannot accurately determine the position of people in buildings due to signal shielding. Positioning via GPS is therefore particularly useful if employees mainly work outdoors.
WLAN / WiFi
Indoor positioning via WLAN works by measuring the signal strength of the WLAN signal. The network device that extends an existing network with a WLAN is called an access point (AP). A device equipped with WLAN can measure the signal strength of one or more APs in its vicinity and evaluate this data using an algorithm. The algorithm then uses the signal strength and the known position of the APs to locate the device.
The accuracy of indoor WLAN localization is 5-15m and can use the existing WLAN infrastructure. Various factors such as shielding by walls, ceilings and people can influence the accuracy. The number of access points also affects the accuracy of localization.
Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE)
Indoor localization with Bluetooth LE works via beacons. These regularly send out signals with a unique ID. Beacons are small Bluetooth transmitters with low power consumption. They are installed as fixed radio stations for this application.
Due to their low power consumption, BLE beacons can be operated with batteries. They achieve an operating time of up to 5 years before the battery needs to be replaced. The advantage of battery operation is that the beacons can be installed in buildings with little installation effort and at low cost.
In an emergency, smartphone-based emergency systems assign the location point stored in the system to the ID sent and transmit this to the emergency contacts stored. The more beacons are installed in the vicinity of the employee, the more precisely the position is determined.
Thanks to the use of beacon solutions, emergency cell phones and special apps are now available for the protection of lone workers indoors.
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UWB - Ultra-Wideband
The UWB variant describes a solution approach for short-range radio communication. UWB can be a helpful solution, especially in industry, where positioning accuracy is particularly important.
Ultra-wideband (UWB) positioning is a technology that makes it possible to determine the position of devices indoors and outdoors very accurately. The name refers to the extremely wide frequency ranges used by this system, as the bandwidth is at least 500MHz. The UWB system is capable of precise, continuous and three-dimensional tracking.
Positioning via UWB works as follows:
A transmitter sends out a UWB signal and a receiver receives the signal.
The receiver calculates the time difference between sending and receiving the signal and converts this time difference into a distance. The position of the transmitter can be determined by using several receivers and triangulation.
In contrast to other localization technologies such as WLAN and Bluetooth, however, the special UWB modules required for this have only been integrated in a few devices and smartphones to date.
How is data protection guaranteed with indoor positioning?
Location data and movement profiles are very personal data. For this reason, data protection and privacy have a high priority in the development of location-based services.
Data protection varies depending on the location technology used. The types of client-side indoor positioning described do not restrict privacy.
The location of a user is determined directly on the user's smartphone without the need to communicate with a server.
If tracking is carried out that affects people directly or indirectly, only the amount of data actually required for operational purposes may be collected. The persons concerned should be informed about the tracking, for example by means of a notification or a light display on the device.
Which indoor positioning system do I need in my company?
There are specific requirements and limitations for each method, such as range, accuracy and cost.
Choosing the right indoor positioning system depends on your company's requirements and objectives. Here are some of the most important factors to consider:
GPS-based tracking is an excellent choice for outdoor tracking, but there are difficulties with accurate indoor tracking due to obstacles such as walls and roofs.
WLAN-based positioning can be accurate enough, especially if there are a large number of access points. It is best suited for applications where the device is already connected to the WLAN.
Bluetooth-based positioning can be very accurate, but requires the installation of beacons throughout the coverage area.
UWB-based positioning offers the highest accuracy of all indoor positioning technologies, but requires the installation of special hardware and modern smartphones with UWB modules. Therefore, this type of tracking is the most expensive.
It therefore depends on the requirements of your company as to which system is best suited. We would be happy to carry out a detailed analysis of your requirements and objectives with you before you make a decision.
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