Known as the “ZoneSafe Proximity Warning System”, heavy equipment operators will receive automatic alerts if pedestrians or other personnel are close to the machinery and at risk.
“We are striving to be the best operating multipurpose terminal in the Americas, and it starts with being the safest” stated APM Terminals Callao Managing Director Henrik Kristensen, adding “We started our R&D last year to learn if this technology could be applicable in a port environment, and after our comprehensive testing program, we are currently installing the ZoneSafe System in all of our Reach Stackers and heavy-lift forklifts”.
The RFID technology was developed by UK-based Avonwood Developments Ltd. which provides innovative electronic solutions for a wide range of industrial environments. This is the first adaptation of RFID tags and transponders for use at a port facility. With the ZoneSafe System, all yard personnel will wear a small RFID tag which constantly transmits location signals that are picked up by antennae installed in the reach stackers, the large wheeled vehicles which lift and transport empty and loaded containers in the container yard. These terminal workhorse vehicles are known to have certain “blind spots” in which the operators cannot easily see nearby activity. If tag-equipped personnel approach a reach stacker (or similarly equipped forklift) within the designated “safe zone” perimeter an alarm will be activated in the operator’s cab alerting to potential danger.
The innovative technology has been installed on APM Terminals Callao’s reach stackers and forklifts at a cost of $300,000 USD. This investment is part of a $749 million USD overall planned investment for upgrading and modernizing the facility over the course of the 30-year concession period, which began in July 2011. Other recent developments include the ordering of four super-post Panamax cranes and 12 E-RTGs scheduled for delivery in October. Expansion of the quay to 560 meters (1,837 feet) by October 2014, and the dredging of the alongside depth to 16 meters (52 feet) will enable APM Terminals Callao to become an important new hub for the Far East/South American trade with the ability to accommodate vessels of up to 18,000 TEU capacity, and an overall annual container throughput capacity of 2.9 million TEUs when completed.
“Our first priority is always the safety of our personnel, and one effective way to achieve this is to minimize injury risk by separating “man” and “machine” and we believe that the ZoneSafe system a very sound practical solution toward that end” noted APM Terminals Safety Activist and Vice President Martin Poulsen.