IIT Delhi researchers are developing a Smart Monitoring System (SMS) to detect and alert workers about unsafe conditions while working at heights. Karam Safety Private Limited (KSPL), one of the leading global fall protection companies, and FITT, an industry interface organisation at IIT Delhi, have recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in this regard.

"Falls from a height are one of the main causes of serious and fatal workplace accidents. Most of these accidents occur when a worker is wearing the safety gear but forgets to connect it to the anchor point either due to habit or in a hurry to complete work," said Husain Kanchwala, Professor at Centre for Automotive Research and Tribology (CART), IIT Delhi, as per a report by PTI.

"In order to monitor whether the safety procedure is followed by a worker on a height we have proposed an SMS. If the worker has not connected the safety gear while working at height, the system will alert the user by audible warning alarm and also communicate to the supervisor and the safety in-charge via an app," he added.

Sunil Jha, Professor at the Department of Mechanical Engineering of the institute further explained that the SMS module will help maintain trackability. It will also be able to record repeated safety violations which can be used for counselling and training, as per PTI.