Overview

Indoor flying differs from outdoor flying. The drone is constantly near people and objects when used indoors and the chances of it striking someone or something are much higher than outdoors.

Three areas need to be considered:

Injury to the drone operator

The risk to the operator and assistants is the highest, due to their constant proximity to the drone during take-off, landing, flight trimming and changing batteries.

Injury to the public

The "public" includes private individuals and staff sharing the same space as the drone. This can be the intended audience or observers or oblivious passers-by. Onlookers and passers-by should never be allowed underneath the drone.  A kilogram weight does not need to fall from very high to cause serious injury.

General damage to property

This includes the infrastructure that the drone is flying within, the goods, light, windows and the drone itself. There are also other risks such as fire and the drone becoming stranded in high places.

Operator Protection

Standard Personal Protective Equipment is a requirement in most work environments. The operator must conform to the specifications of the environment they are working in. These can include for example safety shoes (non-slip soles or steel toes) and hearing protection. The safety requirements would need to be assessed on a situation-by-situation basis and they can be checked by the safety officer on site.

Drone operator specific safety equipment

• Head protection in the form of a hard-hat to protect the operator from falling drones.
• Eye protection to protect the operator from shattered propellers.  Propellers spin at thousands of RPM with high energy and can break at any time.
• Visible and clearly labelled reflective clothing to allow the operator to be seen by forklift drivers and to be easily identified as the drone operator.

Public Protection

Clearly demarcated areas

The area that the drone is flying within should be contained and clearly demarcated. Drones should not fly arbitrarily throughout all available space. 

Signage

Clear signs showing that there is a drone flying on the area should be placed on the perimeter of the demarcated zone. The sign should tell onlookers to "Look Up" and to proceed with caution.

Physical restraints

Drone nets might be required in crowded public spaces however the netting must be tightly rigged to prevent the propellers from becoming entangled and possible fires from a stalled motor. Generally though, all that may be required is a chain or barrier tape to demarcate the area where the drone is being operated and to prevent people from entering unintentionally.