Situation: Inefficient safety monitoring led to random enforcement

The Port of Virginia, one of the nation's largest and busiest cargo ports, operates 24/7 with over 2,000 onsite personnel across a mixed composition workforce, processing 4.2M TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units). Committed to being the safest and most efficient port, The Port of Virginia prioritizes avoiding negligent behaviors like speeding in trucks and improper use of PPE.  

To minimize risk, they introduced a dual in-person and virtual Terminal Safety of Excellence Programs (TSEP). The in-person TSEP recognized and rewarded safe behaviors, and issued citations for safety violations. The virtual TSEP focused on encouraging compliance by reviewing security footage and sending communications via email. But with one safety manager monitoring endless security footage, identifying risks and encouraging safety protocols were difficult. The Port of Virginia needed to find a more efficient way to keep management employees, state employees, longshoreman and contractors all moving swiftly and safely.

Solution: Efficiently identify safety improvements with Voxel

The Port of Virginia integrated Voxel's site intelligence platform at their Virginia International Gateway to help with their virtual TSEP. We customized our forklift detection algorithm to monitor trucks speeding and ‘no stops’ at high-risk intersections. Now, Voxel monitors 2,000+ trucks daily, allowing the safety team to quickly address these risks and promote safer practices.

While tracking these trucks and safe pedestrian zones, Voxel uncovered a risky trend where drivers frequently exited their trucks too close to vehicle lanes to use nearby dumpsters. After seeing this on the Voxel platform, port leadership removed the dumpsters which resulted in a significant drop in pedestrian presence in the hazardous area.

The port also wanted Voxel to evaluate whether their workforce was consistently wearing the proper PPE, which are crucial in an environment filled with heavy machinery, massive cargo containers, and active cranes. By monitoring for safety vests and hard hats when entering and exiting buildings and terminal turnstiles, the safety team was able to see when, where and how often PPE violations were occurring.

Success: Safer practices and time efficiency

The Port of Virginia enhanced its safety protocols by leveraging Voxel to quickly pinpoint and prevent risks such as high-speed collisions and employee injuries. 

Within 6 months, they saw:

• 50% reduction in truck speeding 
• 15% reduction of 'no-stops' at high-risk intersections 
• 15% reduction in PPE violations 
• Increased employee and visitor safety in high traffic areas
• Saved 125 minutes/day looking through security footage – an 85% efficiency gain