Designing Practical RTLS for Hazardous Areas: Moving Beyond the Turnkey Myth 

What’s the biggest misconception about RTLS in hazardous areas? 

One of the biggest misconceptions is that RTLS (Real Time Location System) is a simple plug-and-play solution. Install the RTLS system, switch it on, and immediately achieve complete visibility and high location accuracy across an entire site. In hazardous industrial environments, RTLS deployments must be engineered around the realities of the site. Successful systems are not defined by a single technology or “turnkey” product, but by how well the solution is designed around three core variables: 

1. The site’s risk profile 
2. Its infrastructure constraints 
3. Its operational priorities 

If you’re relatively new to RTLS, you may want to start with our introduction to RTLS in hazardous areas guide to understand the fundamentals. 

Why Technology Alone Doesn’t Define Success 

RTLS discussions often focus on technology comparisons, such as Wi-Fi versus LoRaWAN, or BLE versus GNSS, as though selecting the “best” technology is the primary decision. 

No single wireless technology delivers the ideal balance of accuracy, coverage, resilience, and cost across an entire hazardous facility. Technology must serve the site, not the other way around. 

The value of hybrid RTLS architectures is explored further in Hybrid RTLS Technology for Site Wide Tracking: An Interview with John Hartley, which discusses why multi-technology approaches are often required in industrial environments.  

The right architecture depends entirely on the wireless infrastructure, risk exposure, physical constraints, operational objectives, and the type of location information the organisation needs to generate. 

Risk Profile: Where Safety Drives System Design 

A site’s risk profile determines where visibility is safety-critical and where precision truly matters. 

In hazardous environments, RTLS may need to support: 

• Emergency response and Muster point verification 

• Real-time workforce accountability and Contractor management 

• Confined space and lone worker monitoring 

• Restricted access and permit-to-work enforcement 

• Compliance with hazardous area certification requirements. 

For a practical example of RTLS enabling emergency response and accountability, see Case Study: Automatic Mustering with RTLS 

In high-risk zones, system reliability, certified devices, and defined accuracy levels are essential to support safety-critical applications such as emergency response and workforce accountability. In other areas of the site, lower levels location visibility may be sufficient where the objective is operational awareness rather than precise positioning.  

Designing around risk ensures RTLS strengthens existing safety frameworks rather than adding complexity.

Infrastructure Constraints: Designing for Industrial Reality

Industrial sites are complex RF (Radio Frequency) environments. Steel structures, process equipment, hazardous zones, and other legacy networks all influence what is achievable. These factors can affect signal propagation (how wireless signals travel), infrastructure placement, and overall system coverage. 

Key infrastructure considerations include: 

• Existing 4G, 5G, Wi-Fi, LoRaWAN or other wireless network availability 

• Indoor versus outdoor tracking requirements 

• Structural interference and signal propagation challenges 

• Power and backhaul accessibility 

• Installation restrictions in hazardous areas 

• Temporary versus permanent deployment needs. 

An engineered RTLS solution works within these infrastructure constraints. It leverages what is already available, minimises additional infrastructure where possible, and deploys higher-density coverage only where justified within risk critical areas. 

Operational Priorities: Delivering Measurable Outcomes 

Operational priorities determine what success looks like and which RTLS applications deliver the most value for the site. 

RTLS may be deployed to: 

• Improve worker safety through real time visibility and situational awareness 

• Increase asset tracking, visibility, and utilisation across large industrial sites 

• Support shutdown and turnaround coordination 

• Reduce invoice leakage through improved contractor visibility  

• Identify workflow bottlenecks and generate actionable insights into site operations 

• Optimize long-term total cost of ownership. 

Clear priorities prevent over-engineering. They define where accuracy adds value and where it does not. 

A strong example of RTLS delivering measurable operational impact can be seen in our Case Study: Improve Efficiency During Site Turnarounds with RTLS. 

Why Hybrid RTLS Aligns With These Three Variables 

Hybrid RTLS combines multiple location and connectivity technologies within a single system to deliver accurate, reliable positioning across diverse operational environments. Each technology is deployed according to risk level, infrastructure practicality, and operational importance. 

For example: 

• High-risk, safety-critical outdoor areas may justify a combination of GNSS and a trilateration BLE solution utilising a LoRaWAN backhaul. 

• Broader indoor areas may leverage the Wi-Fi network and be supplemented by BLE beacons in areas where high location accuracy is required. 

• Large open outdoor spaces can be efficiently covered using GNSS as the positioning technology with a combination of WiFi and 4G/5G as the backhaul. 

Having the capacity to integrate multiple location and backhaul technologies across a single operational situation is one of the key factors required by an increasing number of users. 

Trying to achieve sub-metre accuracy across an entire site is technically possible. However, it quickly becomes cost-prohibitive due to the positioning infrastructure density required. Hybrid design avoids such density by aligning technology choice with actual site needs. 

The result is: 

• Accuracy where risk demands it 

• A Wider coverage with but with a reduced infrastructure spend 

• Lower total cost of ownership 

• Practical tracking across both indoor and outdoor operations. 

Engineered Solutions, Not Generic Systems 

There is no universal “turnkey RTLS” system for hazardous areas. 

At Extronics, (Center of Excellence for Connectivity & IoT within the BARTEC Group) we take a consultative, engineering-led approach. We begin with: 

• Safety requirement 

• Assessing infrastructure realities 

• Understanding operational objective(s). 

Our outcome is to then configure a system that balances: 

• Accuracy 

• Coverage 

• Compliance 

• Lifecycle cost. 

If you’re evaluating RTLS for a hazardous environment, speak to our team. We’ll help you define the right architecture to safely track assets and personnel within your site.  

About the Author

JM

Jon Miles

Regional Team Leader - APAC

Jon leads business development across Asia Pacific, expanding our presence in explosion-proof engineering and RTLS technologies. With deep experience deploying wireless and tracking solutions across high-risk industries, He works globally to deploy WIRELESS, RTLS/POB, and AUTOID systems.

Last updated on April 21, 2026

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