New technology can help prevent workplace injuries, an essential practice that belongs on any worksite. Aptella’s Safety Market Development Manager Nick Corr explains.
The waste management industry can be dangerous, with workers regularly interacting with heavy machinery, waste compactors, forklifts, and vehicles in fast-paced environments.
Safety management in the sector can be reactive, relying on incident reports and manual inspections after accidents have already occurred.
This is where technology provider Aptella, which is distributing and supporting Blindsight across the industry, hopes to change the game.
Nick Corr, Safety Market Development Manager for Aptella says Blindsight, an Artificial Intelligence (AI)-powered safety solution, is designed to detect dangers in real time and provide actionable insights.
“With its AI-driven cameras and sensors, Blindsight identifies potential safety risks, such as unsafe proximity between people and machinery, near-miss situations, and violations of safety protocols,” Nick says.
“The system then sends instant alerts to operators, site managers and safety personnel, enabling immediate corrective action or deep reflection around processes to prevent future accidents and injuries.”
Hazard detection
Nick says landfill operations require heavy machinery such as compactors and trucks, which frequently work in close proximity with facility operators, increasing the likelihood of incidents.
“Blindsight gives operators real-time awareness of their surroundings, alerting them not only to the presence of large machinery but also to pedestrians who might be in the vicinity,” he says.
“This dual layer of awareness helps prevent collisions and ensures that operators can act quickly if someone enters a dangerous area.”
He says the system’s ability to detect pedestrians and vehicles in these environments is especially critical.
“Visibility can be limited due to dust, debris, or weather conditions. Blindsight helps give operators the confidence they need to work safely, knowing they have advanced warning of any potential dangers in their blind spots.
“For example, one customer operating a transfer station reported how Blindsight helps define clear safety zones for vehicles, machinery, and pedestrians, reducing the risk of accidents in high-traffic areas where public interactions are common.
“This is especially important for contractors and workers who may not be as familiar with the site’s layout or the movement of machinery.”
With the machine learning AI engine, the Blindsight system has learned to ignore certain objects over time, providing operators with greater confidence in the reliability and accuracy of the solution.
Avoiding alert fatigue
One of the advantages of Blindsight’s technology is that it minimises unnecessary alerts. Nick says this addresses what is called alert fatigue. If operators are being bombarded with hundreds of alerts a day, they can stop responding effectively.
“A critical challenge in any safety system is alert fatigue, the phenomenon where operators become desensitised to constant, unnecessary notifications,” he says.
“Blindsight addresses this issue by ensuring that the alerts operators receive are relevant, timely, and meaningful. It is designed to only send the most relevant alerts, significantly reducing noise. This helps prevent alert fatigue, ensuring operators remain engaged and responsive when it matters most.”
This finely tuned system of detection, whereby the AI system learns from thousands of on-the-job experiences, ensures that operators are not overwhelmed with false positives or irrelevant alerts, leading to better outcomes and faster response times when true dangers are detected.
Data-driven insights
Blindsight is not only about immediate hazard detection but also enabling long-term improvements in safety practices.
Nick says having the ability to review the data the system collects over time is a game changer.
“The AI continuously learns and improves, providing deeper insights into how to manage risks effectively,” he says. “Our customers, particularly in waste management, are able to use this data to drive continuous improvement in their safety protocols.”
He says one example of the system’s effectiveness is Mort &Co, an agricultural feedlot operator that recorded a 65 per cent reduction in critical detections of people in hazardous zones within three months of using Blindsight.
Mort & Co adjusted its safety practices based on the data provided, leading to improved outcomes for workers and an overall safer site.
For more information, visit:
www.aptella.com
