Operator fatigue and distraction can result in deadly accidents when using heavy equipment.
Property damage, increased fuel burn and tyre abuse have also all been tied to fatigued or distracted operators. Cat has launched an equipment operator monitoring service to help manage the human factor in the operation. In-cab and wearable safety technologies give customers visibility to both machine and operator information. Caterpillar’s 24 hour monitoring centre contains analysts that correlate data about the health and productivity of operators and equipment to reveal the magnitude of conditions such as fatigue and distraction and their impact on operations.
Various technologies were used to develop the monitoring system. The Driver Safety System (DSS™), developed by Seeing Machines, an alliance partner of Caterpillar, includes an in-cab camera and alert system to notify the operator the moment a fatigue or distraction event occurs. These events are tracked by analysts who also capture operator sleep quantity and quality information provided through the wrist-worn Cat® Smartband, an actigraphy solution powered by Fatigue Science. The enhanced visibility to risks extends beyond front-line employees to expose improvement opportunities throughout the organisation, including education and training, shift scheduling, leadership coaching and other cultural elements. Source: http://www.cat.com/en_US/news/machine-press-releases/caterpillar-launches-monitoring-service-to-help-manage-equipment-operator-fatigue-and-distraction-risk.html