Emergency response during tunnel construction

Linking RFID Access Control and Emergency Alarms to Sepura Radios

The Norra Länken project in Stockholm was designed to reduce the volume of traffic and noise pollution from the roads surrounding the Swedish capital. Trafikverket, the company responsible for the project, proposed that a large percentage of the traffic was directed through tunnels under the city. To achieve the highest level of employee safety during the construction of the tunnel network, Vägverket selected a combined safety solution from IDENTEC SOLUTIONS and ZONITH.

Combined Elements of Safety

The Tunnel Safety Solution uses RFID tags to monitor employees entering and existing sectionsof a tunnel. This enables safety staff to know how many people are in a tunnel section at any time. A TETRA radio system was deployed to support secure voice and data traffic.

Sepura radios are used to display employee numbers in each location and to receive technical and critical alarm information via text messaging. The panic button on the TETRA radio and wall mounted alarm points using the ZONITH RTCU, enable any employee to activate emergency evacuation alarms from anywhere within a tunnel. By combining the TETRA and RFID access systems, safety staff are instantly notified via text message about the number of people in a tunnel when an emergency alarm is activated. The solution also uses ZONITH software to centralise all technical and critical safety alarms. The software automatically dispatches information to the available resources using TETRA radios via text message. This ensures that immediate action can be  taken and delays in construction are minimised.

Solution Features

• All construction workers and staff are individually identified using RFID tags.
• RFID readers are located at entrance and exit point to the tunnels.
• All voice and data traffic is transmitted using secure TETRA communications.
• Alarms are immediately dispatched in clear text to on-duty staff.
• During an evacuation managers are kept informed via text about the number of people inside each tunnel.
• In emergencies only sections of tunnel need to be are closed avoiding downtime and project delays.