> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://help.breakpointcrm.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.
# Configure Locations and Safety Zones in BreakPoint
> Set up your facility map in BreakPoint by creating locations, drawing zones, and defining proximity thresholds that trigger PulseGuard safety alerts.
BreakPoint's zone system is the foundation of both your live workforce map and your PulseGuard safety alerts. Before your wearables can trigger proximity warnings or before TimeKeeper can automatically detect break periods, your physical environment needs to be mapped in the Console. You do this in two layers: first you create a **Location** representing your physical site, then you draw **Zones** within that location to designate specific areas — where work happens, where hazards exist, and where workers take breaks. Getting this configuration right directly determines the accuracy and usefulness of everything BreakPoint shows you.
## Locations vs. Zones
Understanding the distinction between the two layers keeps your setup clean and your alerts meaningful.
**A Location** is a discrete physical site — a single building, a warehouse campus, a job site, or any facility where workers carry wearables. Locations have a real-world address and a time zone that anchors all shift and attendance calculations for workers assigned there. Most organizations with a single facility create one Location. Organizations running multiple sites create one Location per site.
**A Zone** is a defined area *within* a Location — a specific section of your floor plan that has operational meaning. Zones can represent where assembly work happens, where a forklift lane runs, where the loading dock sits, or where your break room is located. Zones are what PulseGuard monitors. When a worker's wearable enters a zone boundary, the Console checks whether that zone has safety rules attached and fires an alert if thresholds are met.
## Creating a Location
1. Navigate to **Zones** in the left-hand sidebar.
2. Click **+ Add Location** in the top-right corner.
3. Enter a **Location Name** (e.g., "Main Warehouse" or "Site B — North Campus").
4. Enter the physical **Address** — this is used for display and record-keeping only and does not affect zone coordinates.
5. Select the correct **Time Zone** for the site. All shift windows, clock-in timestamps, and report exports for workers at this location will use this time zone.
6. Optionally, upload a **Floor Plan Image** (PNG or SVG, max 20 MB). The floor plan becomes the background layer of your facility map in the dashboard.
7. Click **Create Location**.
The new location appears in your Zones list and is immediately available for zone creation and worker assignment.
## Adding Zones Within a Location
Once your location exists, you can start drawing zones on its map. Each zone represents one distinct operational area.
In the Zones section, click the location name to open its detail page. Click **Edit Map** to enter the zone editor. Your floor plan (if uploaded) displays as the background.
Click **+ Add Zone** in the editor toolbar. Select either **Rectangle** or **Polygon** draw mode. Click on the map to define the zone boundary — for rectangles, click and drag; for polygons, click each corner point and double-click to close the shape. Try to trace the real-world boundary of the area as closely as your floor plan allows.
In the zone properties panel that opens, enter a **Zone Name** (e.g., "Forklift Lane A", "Break Room East", "Press Station 3"). Then select a **Zone Type**:
* **Work Area** — general production or task space; no automatic alerts, but worker presence is tracked
* **Hazard Area** — triggers PulseGuard proximity alerts when workers enter within the configured threshold
* **Break Area** — when a worker enters during a scheduled break window, TimeKeeper can log an automatic break start
* **Entry / Exit** — marks the boundary of the facility or a section; used to validate clock-in and clock-out events
If you selected **Hazard Area**, the **Proximity Threshold** field appears. Enter the distance in meters at which a wearable should trigger an alert when approaching the zone boundary. Common values:
* **3 m** — tight clearance areas like press stations or robotic arms
* **5 m** — standard forklift lanes and loading dock edges
* **10 m** — wide-clearance zones like heavy vehicle staging areas
The threshold extends outward from the drawn zone boundary, so a 5 m threshold on a zone means alerts fire when a worker is within 5 meters of the zone's edge.
For Hazard Areas, click **+ Add Equipment Tag** to associate the zone with specific equipment types. Tags like **Forklift Lane**, **Loading Dock**, **Press Area**, or **Electrical Panel** appear in alert notifications, making it immediately clear to supervisors what hazard a worker is near.
Click **Save Zone**. The zone appears as a shaded overlay on the map in the zone editor and on the live workforce map in the dashboard.
## Setting Proximity Thresholds for Hazard Zones
Proximity thresholds are the distance (in meters) from a hazard zone boundary at which PulseGuard fires an alert. Setting them correctly is one of the most impactful configuration decisions you'll make.
| Hazard Type | Suggested Threshold | Reasoning |
| --------------------- | ------------------- | ------------------------------------- |
| Robotic arm or press | 3 m | Tight, predictable danger radius |
| Forklift lane | 5 m | Allows for vehicle stopping distance |
| Loading dock | 5 m | Foot traffic and reversing vehicles |
| Heavy vehicle staging | 10 m | Wide swing radius and poor sightlines |
| Electrical panel | 3 m | Regulatory clearance requirements |
You can update a threshold at any time without redrawing the zone. Open the zone's properties panel, change the threshold value, and click **Save Zone**.
## Assigning Equipment Tags to Hazard Zones
Equipment tags make alert notifications actionable. When a supervisor sees a proximity alert, the notification reads "Worker near **Forklift Lane**" rather than just "Worker entered Hazard Zone." Tags are free-form text but work best when kept consistent across your organization — standardize on names you'll recognize in an alert at a glance.
To add or update tags, open any Hazard Area zone, click **Edit Zone**, and use the **Equipment Tags** field to add, remove, or rename tags. Changes take effect on the next alert triggered from that zone.
## Best Practices for Zone Sizing
Drawing zones at the right scale prevents the two main failure modes: false negatives (a real hazard isn't caught because the zone is too small) and false positives (alerts fire constantly because the zone covers too much space).
**Avoid drawing zones too small.** A zone that only covers the physical footprint of a machine with no margin will miss workers who approach from the side or who are adjacent but technically outside the boundary. Add a natural margin around the actual hazard — typically 1–2 meters inside the proximity threshold you've set.
**Avoid drawing zones too large.** A forklift lane zone that extends into break areas or main walkways will produce constant proximity alerts for workers who are nowhere near actual danger. Review your zone boundaries against peak-traffic paths in your facility.
**Use distinct, non-overlapping zones where possible.** Each operational area should have its own zone. If two functions share space at different times, consider using scheduled zone activation (available under **Advanced Settings** on any zone) rather than keeping one large merged zone active at all hours.
Overlapping hazard zones can cause duplicate alerts for the same proximity event. If two hazard zone boundaries cover the same area or are drawn very close together, a single worker entry may trigger two separate PulseGuard alerts — one for each zone. Review your map for overlap using the **Zone Overlap Check** tool under **Zones → Map Editor → Tools**, and resolve conflicts by adjusting boundaries or merging zones before going live.
## How Zones Feed PulseGuard Proximity Alerts
Every time a wearable reports its position, the Console checks whether the device is within the proximity threshold of any active Hazard Area zone. If it is, and the worker hasn't already triggered an open alert for that zone within the cooldown window, PulseGuard fires a proximity alert. The alert includes:
* The worker's name and employee ID
* The zone name and any equipment tags
* The distance from the zone boundary at the moment of detection
* A timestamp and a map snapshot showing the worker's position
The alert routes to supervisors based on the zone's department and location assignments. You configure those routing rules in the **Alerts** section.
Use **Break Area** zones around your designated break rooms and rest areas. When TimeKeeper detects a worker entering a Break Area during a scheduled break window, it can automatically log the break start without requiring the worker to manually trigger it from their wearable. Enable this under **Settings → TimeKeeper → Automatic Break Detection**.
## Related topics
- [BreakPoint: Real-Time Safety and Workforce Visibility](/introduction.md)
- [BreakPoint FAQ: Wearables, Console, and Safety Monitoring](/best-practices/faq.md)
- [Set Up Your BreakPoint Account, Team, and Locations](/getting-started/setup-your-account.md)