Dairy processing plant safety with AI
Author: Harry Twyford, Head of Customer
Dairy processing plants come with an interesting combination of work parameters that combine into a unique set of risks.
We see some of these across many of our customer sites: loading zones where delivery trucks and forklifts share space with workers; and cold storage facilities with slippery surfaces and fatigue-inducing temperatures. Then there are tankers delivering product to the facility, the ergonomic hazards that come from manual handling and repetitive strain, chemical exposures, and moving machinery.
As a safety lead, tackling a list like this can feel daunting. The most effective controls come first: wherever possible, design the hazard out (i.e. remove dangerous interaction where possible via a good traffic management system), then physical measures like machine guards, barriers and exclusion zones that separate people from moving plant and vehicles. Admin controls come next, making sure your policies cover what they need to and that every team understands its responsibilities on site. PPE sits as a last backstop.
Advising on and coordinating all of it is a mammoth task that can feel like a lonely one. One of our customers recently summed it up by saying, "No one reports to me, but I'm responsible for everyone." This is exactly why getting the whole team engaged in safety matters so much.
The challenge: complacency creep
You can put every one of these controls in place and still be left with the hardest problem of all: complacency creep.
We've talked about this before, complacency is a well-documented, invisible risk factor. Common signs of complacency include:
Skipping pre-task safety checks
Ignoring small hazards like loose cords, icy spots, or cluttered walkways
Failing to communicate hazards to coworkers
Dismissing safety procedures as "too slow" or "not needed"
In a dairy processing plant, there are plenty of opportunities for complacency to creep up. It's a psychological drift that affects even the best, most experienced employees.
So how do we address this?
Automated, objective coaching conversations with inviol
inviol is built to tackle this problem. It connects to your existing CCTV cameras and shows you where all the small signs of complacency are happening. It can track manual handling, forklift and pedestrian interactions, missing PPE, manual handling errors, and more.
The magic is in what happens next. The data is analysed and ranked for risk by inviol's AI. Video clips that are deemed to show higher risk are added to a coaching workflow. This takes a shift manager five minutes to review every morning. They decide which clips need further coaching and bring them to a weekly toolbox session with their team. They can now start their safety talks with objective footage (usually with blurring to ensure privacy is maintained) that helps them lead a constructive safety coaching session. We see that keeping a consistent cadence of coaching like this helps teams drastically reduce the rate of incidents and overall risk.
On top of that, all this data is aggregated and reviewable over time, including as a heatmap, to give true oversight of where the highest points of risk are on each site.
For a busy operation like a dairy processing facility, this overview and easy-to-use system is a game changer.
Interested in seeing how inviol could support your business? Book a demo and we'll look at your camera setup and walk through where it would help.
Author
Harry Twyford
Head of Customer
Frequently Asked Questions
Does inviol work in the cold and wet parts of a dairy plant?
It works on what the cameras can see, so the traffic and people movement through the warehouse, cold-store approaches, dispatch and yard. Cameras in and around chillers are fine, so long as they have a consistent view. inviol can detect wet floors via AI safety walks.
What about milk tanker movements in the yard?
Yes. Tanker bays and yards mean large vehicles reversing, drivers on foot and constant gate traffic, and inviol surfaces those interactions where people and those vehicles get too close.
Do we need to install new cameras?
Usually, no. inviol runs on your existing CCTV, with a small hardware unit on-site that's included in your agreement. Some plants add a few cameras to cover a specific tanker bay or blind corner, but the starting point is what you already have.
Does it replace machine guarding or process safety like silos and refrigeration?
No, and it shouldn't. Machine guarding, confined-space and sily entry, and ammonia refrigeration are all their own controls, and they should stay. inviol is about the people and vehicles moving around the plant.
We get a big seasonal peak and a lot of casual staff. Does that matter?
It actually helps. New and seasonal workers are higher risk, and they arrive when the site is busiest. inviol surfaces the recurring near-misses at your pinch points so you can coach quickly during the surge, rather than finding out where the problems were after the peak has passed.
