Forklifts and pedestrians sharing the same facility floor is an inherent conflict. In a paper manufacturing facility with continuous material movement, forklift operators have limited visibility around heavy loads - and workers moving between zones often don't anticipate an oncoming forklift until it is too late.
An incident occurred. The investigation revealed neither party had adequate warning - the operator didn't know pedestrians were ahead, and pedestrians had no alert of an approaching forklift. Manual supervision could not solve this at scale across all shifts and zone boundaries.
Problem Statement
THE CHALLENGE
Challenges
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Forklifts entered pedestrian zones without warning
No detection at zone boundaries meant operators crossed in with no alert to either party.
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Pedestrians had no advance warning
Workers in pedestrian zones had no visibility of an incoming forklift until physical proximity created the risk.
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Zone boundaries not enforced consistently
Violations occurred most during low-supervision periods across shifts.
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High material movement volume
Continuous forklift operation meant zone boundary crossings were frequent throughout the day.
Solution
THE SOLUTION
We deployed a computer vision system at all zone boundaries detecting the moment a forklift crosses into a pedestrian zone. The system triggers a two-way response - speaker announcements in both zones simultaneously, warning the operator and pedestrians before conflict occurs.
Flow: Forklift detected at zone boundary -> Supervisor alerted -> Speaker triggered in both zones -> Operator and pedestrians warned -> Incident logged
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Zone boundary cameras integrated with forklift detection across all pedestrian entry points.
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Two-way speaker response - announcement in forklift zone and pedestrian zone simultaneously.
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Instant supervisor alert with zone, image, and timestamp on every violation.
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Full violation log maintained for safety audits and investigation.
