Invited PapersPolymer optical fiber sensors in human life safety

•The latest research into POF sensors linked to safety in human life is summarized.•This paper is focused on FBGs and intensity variation schemes based sensors.•This paper relates new solutions for aviation, SHM, healthcare and biomedicine fields.•New developments are reported which use the unique properties of POF.•POF based sensors will continue to be a very active research topic.

The current state of research into polymer optical fiber (POF) sensors linked to safety in human life is summarized in this paper. This topic is directly related with new solutions for civil aircraft, structural health monitoring, healthcare and biomedicine fields. In the last years, the properties of polymers have been explored to identify situations offering potential advantages over conventional silica fiber sensing technology, replacing, in some cases, problematic electronic technology used in these mentioned fields, where there are some issues to overcome. POFs could preferably replace their silica counterparts, with improved performance and biocompatibility. Finally, new developments are reported which use the unique properties of POF.