APM Terminals will use RFID to prevent yard accidents

   APM Terminals said its operation in Callao, Peru, will use radio frequency identification (RFID) technology to improve safety.
   Operators of heavy equipment, such as reach stackers and forklifts, will receive automatic alerts if pedestrians or other personnel are close to the
machinery and at risk. APM Terminals noted these terminal workhorse vehicles are known to have certain “blind spots” in which the operators cannot easily see nearby activity.
   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,
large-wheeled vehicles which lift and transport empty and loaded containers in the container yard. If tag-equipped personnel approach a reach stacker (or similarly equipped fork lift) within the designated “safe zone” perimeter an alarm will be activated in the operator’s cab alerting to potential
danger.
   Just last week, the insurer TT Club said research with ICHCA International and the Port Equipment Manufacturers Association (PEMA) found lift trucks worldwide were involved in 30 percent of the bodily injury claims it analyzed, mainly the result of trucks reversing into people and estimated installation of anti-collision devices could potentially have saved $30 million and prevented 51 workers from being killed or suffering serious injury over the last six years. – Chris Dupin