IoT in forestry: Human-focused assistive safety technology

Abstract

Internet of Things (IoT) solutions are becoming increasingly prevalent in workplace safety. However, some industries are still in their infancy in adopting this technology. The New Zealand forestry industry is one such example. The forestry industry is one of the most dangerous industries in New Zealand (and internationally). Yet, while IoT solutions are being adopted in other industries, human-focused IoT systems for safety in forestry are lacking. The contribution of this paper is to highlight this, investigate whether IoT can be used as assistive safety technology in the New Zealand forestry industry, and highlight the challenges associated with it. To this end, this paper investigates feasible uses of technology for safety and injury prevention in the New Zealand forestry industry by introducing an IoT based system. This includes an outline of the generalised system, a proof-of-concept implementation, and an evaluation of its use within two forestry scenarios. Finally, this paper includes a discussion on how this system could be adapted for use in a variety of scenarios, provides a comparison with other existing approaches, and discusses the challenges involved in developing solutions for use in hazardous industries. This work is part of a larger project centred on the use of technology for safety and injury prevention in the New Zealand forestry industry.