Z.GARD – Connected Worker
Every worker seen. Every risk flagged. Every shift safer.
An add-on smart helmet module and vital-signs wristband that monitor workers, their surroundings and their location in real time, with instant alerts to a central dashboard.
Hazards move faster than manual safety checks.
In mines, tunnels and petrochemical plants, conditions change by the minute. Supervisors cannot see where each worker is, whether they are wearing protective gear, or when the air turns dangerous — and an injured worker may not be able to call for help.
A wearable safety layer from helmet to control room.
Z.GARD clips onto standard safety helmets as an add-on module. It senses the environment, detects falls and helmet removal, tracks worker position with sub-30 cm accuracy and pairs with a wristband that measures vital signs. A panic button, headlight and audio/LED feedback keep workers in the loop, while supervisors follow everything live on a dashboard.
Technical details
From the worksite to the control room.
A low-power architecture designed for underground and industrial sites with limited connectivity.
Everything the system does.
The helmet module installs as an add-on to standard safety helmets and works together with the vital-signs wristband.
- Detection of wearing / not wearing the safety helmet
- Installable as an add-on to safety helmets
- Real-time monitoring of air quality, air pressure, humidity, temperature and toxic gases, with alerts
- Worker fall detection
- Emergency alert through a panic switch embedded in the module
- Real-time worker location in one and two dimensions, with accuracy under 30 cm
- Headlight and audio / LED feedback module
- Removable, rechargeable battery with USB-C port — 6 to 7 hours of operation
- Measures blood-oxygen level and heart rate
- Sends data to the helmet via Bluetooth
- 1.3-inch black-and-white OLED display
- Three-way switch for changing modes
- Vibration feedback module
- Charges through USB Type-C
- Entering the pilot and testing phase
- Partners: Noori and Maroon petrochemical companies
- 15 + 35 smart helmets customized for the petrochemical industry
- Business plan, pitch deck and roadmap available
- An add-on to standard helmets, so no new safety certification of the helmet itself
- A separate wristband for vitals, which are hard to read during heavy physical work
- UWB receivers along the tunnels give positioning where GPS cannot reach
Built for the field.
Key specifications of the current hardware generation, now entering pilot deployment.
The people behind it.
A multidisciplinary team of engineers, researchers and domain experts.
More from this project.
Visuals of the system and its components.
Scaling for broader impact.
Following the pilot, we are adapting Z.GARD for more industries, adding new sensors and deepening analytics on worker safety trends.
Discuss a similar project
ZLABPart of the FANAP ecosystem
FANAP Advanced Technologies Laboratory