Disclosed is a tangible article of manufacture having instructions stored thereon that, when executed, cause a machine to perform operations for tracking an operator and operator status using a safety device. The operations include programming a plurality of NFC tags with assignment information, wherein the assignment information is at least one of a location assignment for NFC tags being placed at particular locations and an instrument operator assignment for NFC tags distributed to multi-gas detection instrument operators. The instructions further include receiving temporary assignment information at the safety device when an NFC radio of the safety device is brought in proximity to at least one of the plurality of NFC tags; and tagging safety device data with the temporary assignment information.