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As Director of Safety and Asset Protection at Unique Industries, Kevin McDaniel oversees operations at a 1-million-square-foot distribution facility in Virginia. Unique Industries is America's largest manufacturer and distributor of party supplies, providing products to major retailers across the country. When shoppers browse party supplies at their local stores, chances are they're looking at items that passed through Kevin's facility.
With a workforce of over 450 people across three shifts, managing the safety of people, protection of property, and security of assets is no small task. But Kevin's path to becoming a safety professional was shaped by a profound realization during his time as an EMT.
"I knew I was here on this planet to help people," Kevin reflects. "I was on the back of the ambulance for about three years, and some of the stuff I was seeing around our community kind of messes with you. That's when I realized - maybe I wasn't put on this earth to help people in the back of the ambulance. Maybe I was put on this earth to keep people from getting in the back of that ambulance."
The Challenge: Eyes Everywhere in a Massive Facility
With only three safety team members overseeing a facility that spans a million square feet—plus an additional 400,000-square-foot building—maintaining comprehensive oversight of safety, security, and asset protection presented significant challenges. The facility handles everything from party supplies, decorations, and licensed character merchandise to candy production and packaging, with constant forklift traffic and pedestrian movement creating numerous safety concerns.
"There's only three of us in a million square feet between the two facilities," Kevin explains. "We can't be everywhere at once. That's where technology becomes crucial - it's not about replacing people, it's about augmenting our capabilities to keep everyone safe."
The facility's previous camera system was frustrating to use, requiring hours of manual video review and offering poor image quality. "With our old system, if I needed to investigate an incident, you would hear every curse word in the book," Kevin says with a laugh. "I had to watch footage hour by hour. What kind of proactive safety can you run when you're stuck behind a screen all day?"
Embracing AI for Safety: A Quick Implementation
When Spot AI released their Video AI Agents, Kevin was among the first to embrace the technology. "Some people run away from AI, but I believe in running toward it," he explains. "It's like the buffalo and the storm - while other animals run away from the storm, buffaloes run toward it to get through it faster. Everyone's going to have to deal with AI eventually, so why not embrace it now? I knew it could help us protect our people better."
"AI does scare me a bit," Kevin admits candidly, "but you have to look at the bigger picture. AI in safety isn't about replacing people - it's about giving us tools to be more effective at protecting people."
The results were immediate. "Within minutes of setting up the AI Agents, we were detecting real near-misses in our receiving area," Kevin recalls. "We caught a situation where a forklift operator was backing up with a load while someone was standing dangerously close. In the past, that near-miss might have gone unnoticed until it became an actual incident."
The Solution: AI-Powered Safety Management
Since implementing Spot AI, Kevin's team has transformed how they monitor and respond to safety and security concerns:
1. Near-Miss Detection: "The system is doing exactly what it's supposed to do," Kevin notes. "When we get an alert about a near-miss between a forklift and pedestrian, it's always legitimate. This helps us identify hazardous areas and behaviors before anyone gets hurt."
2. Efficient Investigation: What used to take hours of video review can now be accomplished in minutes using Spot AI's intelligent search features. "If I'm spending less time looking up video, that's more time for me to be on the floor keeping people safe," Kevin emphasizes.
3. Fall Detection: The AI system monitors for potential falls and prolonged time spent on the ground, ensuring rapid response to potential injuries.
4. Traffic Monitoring: The team uses Spot AI to monitor vehicle and pedestrian traffic patterns, helping identify unsafe behaviors like failing to stop at stop signs.
5. Asset Protection: The system helps monitor break room honor systems, secure areas, and parking lots, ensuring both employee safety and asset security.
Results and Impact
The implementation has delivered several key benefits across safety, security, and asset protection:
- Proactive Safety Management: Instead of reacting to incidents after they occur, Kevin's team can identify and address safety concerns early. "Today's near-miss is tomorrow's OSHA recordable," Kevin explains. "If you don't address the near-misses, it's just going to turn out worse."
- Augmented Safety Team: "Video AI Agents are my second and third shift safety personnel on-site," Kevin explains. "They're my extra eyes and hands when I can't be there - like weekend shifts and overnight operations. They're my employees that I don't have to do employee reviews on," he adds with a laugh. "But they're consistently there, watching and helping us maintain safety standards 24/7."
- Time Savings: "Spot AI has saved us hours and hours of work," Kevin says. "The intelligent search features mean we can focus on actually fixing safety issues instead of hunting through footage."
- Better Documentation: The system provides clear evidence for safety investigations and training purposes. "When I show managers the video evidence of unsafe practices, they get it immediately. It's not just me telling them there's a problem - they can see it for themselves."
Looking Forward
Kevin sees technology as an essential partner in safety management. "Tech goes with safety. It's a help, not a hindrance," he explains. His team is now planning to expand Spot AI implementation to additional facilities in Louisville, Kentucky, and Montoursville, Pennsylvania.
Kevin's favorite saying encapsulates his approach to safety: "The absence of accidents doesn't mean the presence of safety." With Spot AI as his team's extra set of eyes, they're working to create not just the absence of accidents, but the presence of true safety culture.
"My goal is to take care of the people," Kevin summarizes. "When you take care of your people, they take care of you. Spot AI helps us do exactly that."
