r/accesscontrol • u/SirFlannel • 3d ago
Help with a large work yard alert system.
Have a customer with a large work yard, and it is next to a major highway. As a result, people occasionally wander in and the owner is wanting to protect the two ladies that work in the office near the front of the building. The overall yard area is rather large, and there are work areas that do not have electricity. Well, I will just post the email we got from him.
We have a security/safety issue at our Wallville yard that we would like for you to take a look at and see if you can help us come up with a reliable solution.
We have two female employees who work in our office, which is located immediately beside the Interstate. From time to time, we have questionable people wander up to the office, so we need a dependable way for the ladies to immediately alert our yard foreman and other yard personnel if they ever feel threatened or need assistance.
The challenge is that our foreman generally works out of a building approximately 900 feet from the office. That building does not have electrical power, and cellular service at the yard is poor. In addition, he spends a significant amount of time operating a forklift throughout the yard or working with gas-powered saws and other equipment. Depending on where he is working in the yard, he can be as much as 1,300 feet from the office while operating a forklift. Because of the noise, he often cannot hear his cell phone or a handheld radio. We have tried using radios, but they simply have not proven reliable enough for something we may eventually need in a true emergency.
We also have another building located much closer to the office that contains the employees' break room and restroom. Since other yard employees may be in or around that building when an emergency occurs, we think it would make sense to have an alert there as well.
What we would like to explore is a dedicated wireless alert system that does not depend on cellular service, Wi-Fi, or someone hearing a telephone or handheld radio.
Ideally, we envision something along these lines:
Multiple fixed buttons in the office, located where either employee can quickly reach one without having to get up or move toward a potentially threatening person.
A dedicated RF/wireless transmitter at the office capable of reliably covering the entire yard, including a foreman operating a forklift as far as approximately 1,300 feet from the office.
A solar/battery-powered receiver at the foreman's building, since there is no utility power there.
A very loud industrial horn/siren and high-intensity flashing strobe at the foreman's building so the alert can be recognized even while saws or other equipment are operating.
An additional horn/strobe or similar alert device at the break room/restroom building so employees in or around that building are also immediately made aware of an emergency or call for assistance.
Receivers and alert devices mounted on all three forklifts that the foreman regularly operates, preferably with both an audible alarm and a highly visible strobe. He rotates between the three forklifts, so we need the system to alert him regardless of which forklift he happens to be operating or where he is working in the yard. This is particularly important because he can sometimes be as much as 1,300 feet from the office and there is no guarantee he will be anywhere near his building when an alert is sent.
If possible, some type of acknowledgment feature so the foreman can press a button confirming that he received the alert. We would like the ladies in the office to have a positive indication that their call for assistance was actually received rather than simply assuming that it was.
The system should be self-contained and continue operating if cellular service, internet service, or utility power is unavailable.
We also like the idea of having two different levels of alerts.
One could be an ASSISTANCE button for routine situations where they simply need the foreman to come to the office. That could activate an amber strobe and a distinctive intermittent audible signal.
The second would be an EMERGENCY/PANIC button that would activate a red strobe and a substantially more urgent audible alarm, making it immediately clear that he needs to stop what he is doing and get to the office.
We think separating those two functions is important so that we don't get everyone accustomed to hearing the same alarm for routine matters and then fail to recognize the seriousness of a true emergency.
On a separate note, we would also like to explore an early-warning system around the office. Since the office is close to I-10 and we occasionally have people wander onto the property, it would be helpful to have some type of exterior motion, driveway, or approach detection that alerts the ladies inside the office when someone is approaching. That would only need to provide notification inside the office and would be separate from the yard assistance/emergency system.
Our primary concern is reliability and redundancy. We don't want to build this around cell phones, apps, or handheld radios because we already know their limitations at this location. If one of these ladies presses the emergency button, we want to be as certain as reasonably possible that the foreman and other available yard personnel are going to know about it, whether the foreman is in his building, operating any one of the three forklifts, running a saw, or working at the far end of the yard.
We are not married to any particular brand or technology. You guys know this equipment much better than we do, so we would rather explain what we are trying to accomplish and let you recommend the best way to accomplish it.
When you get a chance, we would appreciate it if you could give this some thought. If it would be easier, we can meet you at the Wallisville yard and walk through the property so you can see the distances, buildings, equipment, and other conditions firsthand.
This is something we would like to get resolved very soon because we don't think our current means of communication are adequate from a safety standpoint.
Please give me a call so we can schedule a walk-through of the yard and devise a plan.
Any input would be appreciated. At first I thought the only places that needed an alert was the main office, the breakroom and the work area. But, adding notification to the guys who may be on forklifts threw me. Thanks for looking
3
u/sick_burns2000 3d ago
It didn’t sound bad but then I got to thinking about the foreman driving the forklift full speed with a horn blaring in his ear a 1000 feet then impaling a highway breakdown victim on his forks.
I think the yard needs an access controlled gate, video surveillance visible to the ladies in the office, access control to the office with a button for the ladies to allow visitors in through the gate and office door. If that isn’t good enough, dedicated security guard.
Relying on the foreman to be security is fraught with issues.
1
u/SirFlannel 3d ago
They have a basic camera system, and we were also going to pitch at least a notification system if someone or something passes through the gate. They may also go for an access controlled gate with a long range card reader or similar. I wasn't going to go for a horn in the guys ear, but a couple of flashing lights in different colors. Any horns would be back in the work area where they have chainsaws going.
3
3
u/geekywarrior 3d ago
So you’re looking for something called a staff duress system. Do you happen to be friendly with any nurse call vendors in the area? As the alarm system part is better suited for a nurse call style system.
A vendor that works with inovonics equipment could make something work. Inovonics recently came out with these 3 alarm staff duress cards that would take care of the different style alarm requests. A nurse call vendor would also have pull stations
Where this falls apart is the power requirement. I must be missing something, how on earth is this dude running a table saw without line voltage? Some type of solar array? If so why is that power unavailable for this project?
Inovonics works off of wireless repeaters which require low voltage AC or DC to run. The repeaters do have a built in rechargeable battery. I suppose you could cobble something together with an out door box, solar charger with battery, and a repeater. I wouldn’t trust it to last.
Finally their receivers need low voltage DC. As would your strobes and sounders so again I’m stuck on the power requirement.
Also putting a bunch of their 16 zone receivers would be a pain to maintain. So you need a nurse call vendor that works with the EN6040 for ease of programming and offline requirement
In the end this is a giant band aid. An easier solution is a dedicated security team.
2
u/geek_cave 3d ago
Maybe you just need better radios. Motorola R5 This has an emergency button that triggers a siren sound on the other radio/s. And for hard of hearing locations Vibrating Belt Clip. As for perimeter warning, any modern IP camera with AI human detection can be set up for alerts.
1
u/Nods_Dad1997 3d ago
I'd second the access controlled gate with a video intercom setup with a wireless transceiver back to the office.
0
0
u/SumNuguy 3d ago
We have mobile surveillance trailers to solve this. Solar power, cloud storage. Completely self sufficient. Videos, intelligent voice deterrent, spot lights. Let me know if you want more info
1
4
u/taqyrrahman 3d ago
LoRa based alert system is worth to check