Workers operating alone in forests are exposed to increased risks, particularly in the case of accidents occurring in an area without mobile phone coverage. To improve their safety, the Rhin-Vosges agency of the French National Forestry Office acquired an alert and assistance application called Lea at the beginning of 2025. The Lea application, now installed on the smartphones of around thirty ONF forestry machine operators, offers two ways of triggering an alarm:
- A manual SOS sent by the user.
- An automatic alert activated by an accelerometer in the event of prolonged absence of movement.
The app has a multi-operator SIM card and an innovative feature called ‘lifeline’ to keep people safe even when there’s no mobile coverage. This lets teams prepare for when they lose connectivity by setting an alarm based on how long the job is expected to take.
When an alert is triggered, geolocation is activated and the data is sent to the Présence Verte monitoring centre in Ludres (near Nancy). Nearly 80 operators provide continuous monitoring, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Their role is to assess the severity of the situation, communicate with the agent if possible, and, if necessary, trigger a local or emergency response. Beyond this pilot project, Présence verte aims to offer this solution to other players in the forestry and timber industry, thereby helping to improve prevention and protection measures for workers in isolated and sometimes dangerous environments.