Bharat Forge launches Health Risk Monitoring System

One of the leading defence multinational companies in India, Bharat Forge Limited (BFL), in collaboration with AI startup Blackstraw, has launched HRMS: an Artificial Intelligence (AI) based solution that enables companies and institutions to comply with Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) provided guidelines for safe reopening. HRMS stands for Health Risk Monitoring System, an Intelligent Video Analytics solution, which has been developed to empower workplaces with worker safety for holistic growth, and is aligned with the future dependability of enterprises on technology and AI to monitor compliance of laid MHA policies, by employees.

It primarily comprises of two major components:

(a) A contactless thermal screening system integrated with RFID badge reader. An integrated system comprising of AI, Thermal scanning through cameras and RFID reader, the system records at high speed with unmatched accuracy, the temperature of associates, and also maintains an automatic daily record of the temperature of every person entering and exiting the premises.

(b) AI algorithms running on surveillance CCTV cameras to monitor and control human behaviour. Using state-of-art AI software, the system alerts administrators and provides them a dashboard when social distancing norms are not met or if an employee is not wearing a face mask. These alerts and dashboards are then reviewed to drive sustainable behavior change across the enterprise.

HRMS is ideal for deploying in high–footfall areas like educational campuses, hospitals, gated communities, retail stores, railway stations, airports and transit points to monitor individual and societal health. Presently, HRMS is being deployed at The Kalyani School, Pune and all critical facilities of BFL pan-India. BFL has partially resumed operations at its manufacturing facilities by taking several safety measures, and has added HRMS as a crucial tool to help prevent the spread of Covid-19 infection, thereby creating a safe environment for its thousands of employees entering and exiting the facility. The company also intends to make the developed HRMS system available widely across schools and enterprises which will help them to safely re-open their premises and businesses respectively, during these tough times.

Speaking on the launch, Baba Kalyani, Chairman, and Managing Director, Bharat Forge Ltd., said, “At Bharat Forge, safety has always been a priority. Now with this pandemic, safety norms have become more stringent, and correctly so. We have inducted Artificial Intelligence and technological intervention to further safeguard people’s health by creating an environment that is anxiety-free and fosters growth. We have developed HRMS to reduce manual interference and keep an effective check on safety norms. This technological approach has ensured maximum safety for employees”.

 Rajinder Singh Bhatia, President & CEO, Bharat Forge Ltd (Defence & amp Aerospace), said, “HRMS has been born from our investment in AI Incubation Centre which commenced last year. In partnership with Blackstraw, we are creating several real-world applications of AI software both on civilian and military fronts. Health Risk Monitoring System is an example of our investment being utilised in critical times to help the society at large. We intend to make this system available widely across sectors- from educational institutes to enterprises, and help the community to be back on track during re-opening of services.”

Atul Arya, CEO at Blackstraw, said, “The partnership with Bharat Forge has led to development of a range of video analytic products over the last year. HRMS has been a quick and timely assembly of technological components developed over time for an immediate need. We strongly believe that this platform which will not only safeguard companies and their employees but will also help reinstate confidence and normality.”