That smartphone app could save your life

Monday, April 6, 2015

Safety experts and researchers are coming up with new high-tech ways to prevent tractor rollovers, provide onsite information for emergency responders and for farmers to signal for help

by MIKE BEAUDIN

A smartphone app that will detect a tractor rollover and send an automatic emergency email is among the latest innovations being developed to make farms safer.

Farm safety experts are developing satellite-monitored warning systems to pinpoint the location of an accident victim. They're coming up with quick response tags (QR codes) that provide emergency responders with onsite information about hazards and layouts of farms. They're even studying the use of drones to inspect hazardous locations.

Glen Blahey, a health and safety technologist with the Canadian Agricultural Safety Association, says a number of new technologies aimed at improving farm safety are on the cusp of development. In the next few years, he expects to see more safety devices built into equipment, along with the development of new smartphone apps.

Blahey says improving safety in an occupation still considered among the most dangerous in Canada is critical. From 1990 to 2008, 1,975 agricultural deaths were recorded in Canada, according to Canadian Agricultural Injury Reporting (CAIR).

Tractor rollovers, usually involving vehicles without Roll-Over Protective Structures (ROPS), account for almost half of all tractor deaths and 25 per cent of total farm fatalities.

A research team at the University of Missouri has been working on a smartphone app they believe will reduce rollover deaths. Called the Vehicle Rollover Prevention Education Training Emergency Reporting System (VRPETERS), it uses sensors and the GPS capability built into mobile devices to detect a rollover, then send an automatic emergency email and phone message with accident location coordinates.

Ali Bulent Koc, assistant professor of Agricultural Systems Management at the university, says the app calculates the stability characteristics of the vehicle and warns the driver as the vehicle's rollover point approaches. The smartphone is placed in a holder in a vertical position in the cab and will only send a signal if the tractor rolls. Koc says the automatic emergency alert is important if the operator is unconscious or pinned under the vehicle and can't reach a cell phone.

The free Apple IOS app can be downloaded now, but it can only be used as a warning device while developers continue to improve its cellphone tower connectivity.

Mapping apps are also proving to be key safety tools. The National Farm Medicine Center in Wisconsin has developed Farm MAPPER (Farm Mapping to Assist, Protect and Prepare Emergency Responders). It uses QR codes to provide emergency responders with onsite information about hazards and physical layouts of agricultural operations.

In an emergency, responders would simply use a tablet to scan a code on the mailbox and instantly get a detailed map of the farm showing power and gas shut-off valves, water sources and other information. The system is aimed at saving responders valuable time when they arrive on the scene.

Codes can also be attached to equipment. Responders can see a schematic drawing of a piece of equipment, allowing it to be quickly dismantled to free an accident victim. MAPPER has been developed and tested, but is on hold until it can be fully tested on a working farm, says Scott Heiberger, a communications specialist with the centre.

Basic GPS mapping apps already used by many farmers can also be turned into emergency locators. Farmers should know how to create favourites on their smartphones' GPS mapping app and should have every field saved so they can send locations easily.

Then there are safety devices designed to keep farmers out of harm's way. Manufacturers are including backup cameras as tractor options. Remote cameras can also be attached to implements with images sent to a screen in the cab. Blahey applauds the innovations, but cautions that technology can't address matters like reducing the number of incidents involving children and older adults, some of whom are still operating machinery at age 90. A lot of farms are still using outdated equipment and don't have access to high-speed Internet. Older farmers often don't have the wherewithal to adapt to new technology, he says.

"Advances are fabulous, but the one technology not evolving as quickly is the human technology," he says. "We come with our limitations, our perceptions and our biases."

"We can't let technology totally manage what we are doing." BF