Analysing spatio-temporal worker movement patterns: implications for safety and productivity in smart factories

Understanding the spatio-temporal dynamics of worker movements within complex factory environments, such as shipbuilding facilities, is crucial for proactively assessing safety and enhancing operations through potential process adjustments and factory layout optimizations. While existing literature offers methods to study worker movements, the detailed elicitation of movement patterns remains limited. This research proposes an analytical framework for studying spatio-temporal worker movements using Ultra-Wideband (UWB) tracking data. The framework classifies worker movements into two categories: dwell and transit, serving as the foundation for uncovering movement patterns. The study reports the movement patterns derived from data collected on six workers performing an assembly task and offers actionable recommendations to improve workplace safety and productivity.