From 2010 to 2020, the number of accidents at industrial plants and energy facilities in Russia decreased by 64.2%, from 355 to 127. At the same time, the number of fatalities decreased by 59.1%, from 367 to 150 incidents. This happened because companies began to use digital technology to detect faults and prevent emergencies. Video analytics is the best solution for increasing the industrial safety level.
The high level of injuries at industrial facilities and frequent equipment downtime due to breakdowns have a negative impact not only the company’s profit, but also on its image. Over the past decade, the general approach to industrial safety has changed significantly: businesses have realized that most usual methods of protecting their personnel (such as regular instruction or fines for non-compliance with safety precautions) and production equipment (routine checks, regular inspections by every shift) are costly and insufficiently effective. On average, the cost of industrial equipment downtime due to accidents varies from 200,000 rubles to 500,000 rubles (in case of emergency repairs) per hour. Video analytics and machine vision allow minimizing these losses and increasing the level of safety through timely notification of possible faults in the work of people or equipment.
Video analytics also helps solve another problem. It relieves employees from routine video analysis. A person cannot view more than 1% of the amount of footage that machine vision systems can process. As a result, a fully automated video analytics system helps detect up to 100% of accidents.
In addition to video analytics, companies are introducing systems for automatic condition monitoring and diagnostics of equipment. These systems perform round-the-clock monitoring to identify risks of equipment malfunctions, reducing the cost of repairs and increasing overall profitability. The Internet of things (IoT) has also upped the level of industrial safety, as IoT-based digital solutions help reduce occupational injuries.
Modern companies even provide their employees with individual wearable devices such as health monitors to keep track of their physical condition and location online.
In combination with video analytics, this technology tracks the movement of specialists, especially in hazardous areas, the use of personal protective equipment, and records violations of safety rules. The system does not just ensure compliance with standards; it can actually help people survive in an emergency by offering them an algorithm of actions, warning them about approaching a dangerous object or reminding them to take a break. In the event of an emergency or injury, the device will instantly alert an operator, which will speed up first aid.
From our experience, using a video analytics system and wearable devices reduces the number of equipment faults and safety rule-breaking incidents by 90%.
The past ten years’ trends suggest the demand for digital solutions in Russian industry will grow several times by 2030, and the market of such technologies used at industrial facilities will increase by 20.6% every year. Products enabled by artificial intelligence, machine vision, blockchain, digital prototyping, as well as industrial robots that can replace a person in dangerous working conditions will become widely popular. Russia’s oil, chemical, metals and mining industries, as well as fuel and energy will account for a huge share of industrial safety technologies. These industries usually show the highest level of occupational injuries; IoT and machine vision technologies minimize these risks.
This means cooperation between industrial enterprises and IT developers is creating a new working environment where digital technologies make the work of each employee safer and more comfortable.
By Vasily Dolgov, Head of Video Analytics and Machine Vision Systems Development at SATEL