SAFETY SOLUTIONS Human After All

One of the biggest advancements designed for tackling accidents on site has been launched and is starting to gain traction in the construction and plant sector. Pete Spillard, Managing Director of Spillard Safety Systems, provides his insights to Construction Worx…

According to a recent Government report, nearly 20% of the 123 deaths in the workplace in 2021/22 were caused by moving vehicles.

This was the most common killer and, with construction sites becoming busier with more complex builds and a greater collaboration of heavy plant vehicles and human interaction, it is only going to get worse if the sector does not act and invest in new solutions.

Midlands-based Spillard Safety Systems believe it has one of the answers and the good news is large construction companies and plant hire operators are sitting up and taking notice as the ability to prevent accidents and fatalities becomes ever clearer.

Managing director Pete Spillard says it is a conversation the company is finally winning after being part of an industry-wide group set-up to explore how it can tackle the issue of People Plant Interface (PPI).

“Mindsets are changing and firms - backed by organisations like the Construction Equipment Association (CEA) - are now keen to invest in new technology, including our latest innovation – the AI Human Detection System (HDS)” explained Pete.

“Traditionally, construction sites use 360-degree cameras/or radars that pick up every shape in the designated safety zones, whether they are boulders and other inanimate objects or actual workers.”

He continued: “Our new system, which has undergone more than 15,000 hours of testing, uses special algorithms and our state-of-the-art cameras to only detect human beings, delivering a user-friendly, smart solution for removing blind spots and providing instant audible and visual alerts to the driver.

“This will deliver immediate safety advantages on-site, but there’s a lot more to the technology than that. In addition to alerting the driver, a message is also sent to the external workforce (telling them to move to a safe distance) and, importantly, to safety managers.

“The latter receives the information on a bespoke platform so it can be used for further investigation. Our AI HDS also delivers data from telematics that show other areas of performance, including high idling, fuel burn, shock braking or unnecessary acceleration.

“This real-time information can help them make informed decisions on what needs to change on site to create a safer and more productive workplace.”

“Our AI Human Detection System has the potential to be our most powerful innovation yet and we’re delighted that Flannery Plant Hire is rolling out the technology across multiple sites it sends its fleet to,” added Pete.

“Flannery have been a fantastic supporter of what we are trying to do. We first started trialling the system on test locations in January last year and then moved to real-life environments in June, with our HDS now being deployed on a major infrastructure project in the East of England.”

Niall Hester, Operations Director at Flannery Plant Hire, added his support: “We’ve initially got the Spillard technology on two machines involved in this high-profile project - a Bell B20 Dump Truck and a CAT 320 Excavator.

“The aim is to set benchmarks and then build a trendline using the data that can be interpreted to educate and train operators who face similar scenarios on site - ultimately changing behaviours and keeping everyone safer.”

Spillard Safety Systems’ Human Detection System can be retrofitted or installed at build stage on all plant and construction vehicles, including bulldozers, telehandlers, concrete mixer truck and excavators.

The aim is to have more than 1,000 installs by the end of the year and this will be rolled-out simultaneously with SpillardLive, an intuitive cloud-based platform that captures and streams real time video and analytics simultaneously from multiple cameras fitted to plant equipment.

For further information, please visit www.spillard.com