SafeTrack: An IoT-Based Smart Helmet for Real-Time Worker Safety and Emergency Response

Abstract

Worker safety in high-risk industries such as construction, mining, and oil and gas remains a significant challenge due to hazardous environments and limited real-time monitoring capabilities. According to the International Labour Organization, millions of occupational accidents occur annually, emphasizing the need for intelligent safety solutions. This paper presents Safe-Track, an IoT-based smart helmet designed to enhance worker safety through real-time monitoring and reliable communication. The proposed system integrates GPS-based backtracking for route recovery, an inertial measurement unit (IMU) for fall detection, an MQ-series gas sensor for air quality monitoring, and LoRa communication for long-range data transmission in low-connectivity environments. The system continuously monitors worker conditions and generates emergency alerts in hazardous situations. Experimental evaluation demonstrates that the pro-posed system achieves 97.2% GPS localization accuracy, 93.6% fall detection accuracy, 95.4% air quality monitoring accuracy, and a 96.5% LoRa packet delivery ratio over an effective communication range of approximately 1.2 km. The proposed solution is cost-effective, scalable, and suitable for deployment in industrial safety and smart city applications.