RFID Pedestrian Detection For Warehouses: How Does It Work And How Does It Keep Employees Safe?
One of the biggest challenges that forklift operators encounter is poor visibility. Warehouse floors are often cluttered with pallets and shelving, creating numerous corners that operators can't see around. In addition, visibility from the seat of a forklift is often hampered by the forklift masts and the load that the operator is carrying, which makes it harder for them to scan the environment for pedestrians. One way that you can help forklift operators avoid colliding with unseen pedestrians is to install an RFID warehouse pedestrian detection device in your building. This system warns forklift operators whenever a pedestrian is nearby, even when they're unable to see them. To learn more about how an RFID warehouse pedestrian detection system works and how it can make your warehouse safer, read on.
How Does an RFID Detection System Work?
When you install an RFID warehouse pedestrian detection system, RFID broadcasters will be installed on all of the forklifts in your warehouse, and these broadcasters will constantly emit radio waves that can travel through pallets and shelving.
When these radio waves are detected by RFID devices that are worn by your warehouse workers, the RFID broadcaster is alerted. An alarm on the forklift will sound, and a light on the RFID broadcaster will start flashing, alerting the forklift operator that there are pedestrians within range. In addition, the RFID devices that your workers are carrying will begin to vibrate, alerting them that there's a forklift nearby.
How Does an RFID Detection System Keep Employees Safer?
Since the radio waves from the RFID broadcaster goes through shelving and pallets on the ground, forklift operators and pedestrians no longer have to rely on line-of-sight. This reduces the problem posed by forklift operators having poor visibility while they're driving a forklift, as they can slow down and scan the environment around them whenever they're alerted that a pedestrian is nearby. Alerting forklift operators when they need to be careful helps to significantly reduce their risk of colliding with an unseen pedestrian.
In addition, RFID warehouse pedestrian detection systems can help improve the safety of guests who aren't acclimated to the warehouse environment, like contractors and corporate employees. Guests may not know the paths that forklifts usually take on the warehouse floor, and having them wear an RFID device while they're inside your warehouse will make them safer by alerting them and the forklift operator whenever a forklift is nearby.
For maximum safety, it's best to sew the RFID devices into the high-visibility vests that warehouse employees and guests wear when they're on the warehouse floor. This prevents pedestrians from putting themselves at increased risk by preventing them from forgetting to carry their RFID devices.
Overall, RFID warehouse pedestrian detection systems help eliminate one of the biggest problems that forklift operators have on the warehouse floor by allowing pedestrians to be detected outside of sight range. When your operators are trained to be extra careful when an unseen pedestrian is nearby, your employees will be kept safer while they're working. If your warehouse isn't using an RFID warehouse pedestrian detection system, you should strongly consider purchasing and installing one. They're typically inexpensive and don't require much setup, you simply install the broadcasters on your forklifts and have your employees and guests carry the RFID devices that can pick up the radio waves.