Plinx is a construction safety system that manages the proximity of workers to hazards. The system protects construction workers and employers by increasing awareness of hazardous activity, equipping construction sites with tags which provide an accurate, up-to-date record of hazard and worker location.
SHP spoke to Tommy Williams, Plinx Founder and CEO, to find out more about the system, how it works and how it has been adapted to help social distancing in construction during the coronavirus pandemic.
Tommy Williams (TW): “Safety systems help to prevent injury or fatality on construction sites, protecting the workforce from harm and in turn improving employee satisfaction and preventing costly project delays.
“Plinx consists of a range of tags that are deployed around the construction environment that provides a notification when users are approaching hazards. The early warning system prevents injury from contact with hazards and the spread of contagious disease. The Plinx system captures and stores rich location and proximity information that protect employers from prosecution or reputation risk by providing a robust audit trial.”
(TW): “The Plinx system consists of three different tags which connect together using a blend of wireless technologies. Plinx’s proprietary wireless technology enables the tags to connect together over long distances and deep within buildings or tunnels. Operatives are protected by their TeamTAG, a small tag that connects to a construction helmet, which monitors their location in relation to HazardTAG’s which are positioned on the top of a cone or MachineTAG’s which are temporarily connected to plant equipment.”
(TW): “No, Plinx tags connect together to protect people, plant and places. As well as protecting people the system can prevent misuse of equipment, plant equipment from entering restricted zones marked by hazard tags, loss of equipment or speeding amongst other things.”
(TW): “Plinx deploys a local wireless network which covers the working area, active tags connect to the network so that real-time safety information can be retrieved and site management can react to incidents before they escalate. In most cases it is preferred that the system is connected to the internet at the site office to allow remote access, but it is not required for full local functionality.”
(TW): “The Plinx system provides a detailed breakdown of each incident allowing site managers to be able to perform root cause analysis of the incident and improving process or protection.”
(TW): “Plinx has identified that their proximity technology can be used to effectively manage social distancing. Plinx’s TeamTAG’s provide accurate 360degree social distancing to construction workers, tracking the amount of time operatives have spent within a 1-2m zone. The Plinx Intel platform provides a heat map which shows ‘hot spots’ and a contact tracing map which enables site management to safely contain and reduce the impact of an outbreak.”
