The Connected Worker: Digitalizing Plant Rounds | AIChE

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The Connected Worker: Digitalizing Plant Rounds

Connecting workers digitally in their everyday tasks, such as plant rounds, improves not only communication and accountability, but also safety and operational stability.

Operators have been collecting data in the field for decades. As analog gauges and indicators were upgraded, digital readouts became available in control rooms, but the need for field readings did not disappear. Operators are still expected to walk around operating areas and record readings as part of their rounds. These walks expose personnel to sights, smells, sounds, etc. that can indicate an abnormality.

Operators today, however, are now relinquishing their clipboards and paper for digital technologies. Companies are finding that connecting their workers digitally in everyday tasks such as plant rounds improves not only communication and accountability, but also safety and operational stability. This article describes the digital transformation of the long-running practice of plant rounds in chemical manufacturing facilities, as well as the associated challenges to be overcome...

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