FEATURE Automated warehousing


As maintaining safe and secure workspaces becomes more challenging, leaders must find ways to proactively detect emerging threats and hazards.


ADDRESSING SAFETY AND SECURITY RISKS


Evocon says facility operators and security personnel must focus their efforts on safeguarding automated warehouses as robotics adoption grows


A “


s automation in the warehousing industry continues to grow, with some experts expecting robotics shipments to rise by as


much as 50% per year through 2030, many facility owners and managers are exploring novel ways to reliably safeguard increasingly automated sites.


Automated systems are projected to account for 25% of capital spending in the industrial sector through 2028, illustrating a change in the way the average warehouse functions. This shift will likely introduce notable efficiency improvements alongside new security challenges. To pursue effective and responsible modernisation, facility operators and security personnel must focus their efforts on safeguarding automated warehouses as robotics adoption grows.


Novel risks in automated warehouses While automation in the warehousing industry is expected to impact staffing levels


AI cameras can capture key insights like stoppage times,


duration and impacted machines, which helps streamline facility management


8 May 2026 | Automation ”


to some extent, with industry data suggesting labour costs may be reduced by as much as 40% in the coming years, few automated warehouses are being designed to function entirely unmanned. Almost 70% of firms are increasing their investments in supply chain and technical training in order to retain skilled workers as robotics adoption grows, demonstrating that the facilities of the future will be reliant on the capabilities of both automated systems and human personnel.


Novel safety challenges in these


environments include: ● Collision risks: Robotics systems and automated vehicles may collide with workers across busy workspaces if protocols are overlooked or safety sensors suffer failures. ● Maintenance hazards: Staff face injury risks when working on automated machines; data suggests that injury rates are 50% higher at sites with robots than those without. ● Operator fatigue: Monitoring automated systems can be mentally fatiguing for staff, introducing new risks associated with missed or misunderstood system malfunctions. In addition to novel safety risks, the high intrinsic value of automated equipment can make robotics-led warehouses vulnerable to internal and external theft, meaning that to safeguard automated warehouses, leaders must find smart ways to identify and address complex risks.


In automated warehouse environments, intelligent, continuous observation is the key to both detecting and actioning security risks.


This can be achieved through the implementation of AI-powered safety and security systems; data suggests such technologies can identify threats 40% faster than human operators while reducing false alarms by as much as 60%, helping to safeguard staff and robotics equipment. By leveraging AI security cameras alone, facility operators can improve: ● Hazard detection: AI cameras can autonomously detect and warn staff of hazards like PPE misuse, machine malfunctions and vehicles moving in the wrong direction. ● Access security: Cameras can leverage behavioural analytics and facial recognition AI to identify unknown and suspicious persons attempting to gain access to facilities. ● Asset protection: Smart cameras can use AI object detection analytics to keep track of high-value assets in storage and in use to help combat internal and external theft.


Pursuing site-wide efficiency improvements Investments in AI-powered security equipment can also provide wider benefits, most notably in terms of efficiency and productivity improvements. AI-driven cameras can track machine usage and performance to help improve productivity and streamline maintenance tasks, with data- rich reports communicated to leaders to offer greater visibility into essential processes. These systems can also be used to enhance downtime tracking and analysis tasks; AI cameras can capture key insights like stoppage times, durations and impacted machines then feed data into downtime tracking software to streamline site-wide facility management. As robotics adoption continues to grow, adopting AI-powered safety and security technologies, means leaders can both proactively combat risks and improve site- wide efficiencies.


Evocon evocon.com automationmagazine.co.uk


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