Pipeline Plant Hire (PPH) has been proactive in ensuring the safest working conditions for its excavation operators, which was demonstrated four years ago when the company was the first in Australia to provide crane valves on its excavators.
Crane valves
The company elected to bring in this safety feature after visiting Europe in early 2005 before the feature became an occupational health and safety requirement in 2006. PPH Director Gerard O’Brien says this is one example of the company’s dedication to safety in the industry.
All PPH excavators are fitted with crane valves, or burst valve protection systems, which lock the ram in case of any hose failure.
In a high risk work place, technology like this can greatly assist in cutting out a potential risk factor. Mr O’Brien says “Like anything, there is a risk in there for something to happen but if you’ve got something like this in place it minimises it.”
ROPS and FOPS
Now the company is continuing to set the safety standard by ensuring that its fleet is equipped with roll over protection structure (ROPS) and falling object protection structure (FOPS).
PPH has 51 machines that contain ROPS technology. Mr O’Brien says that ROPS equipped machinery features a strengthened cab, which means that if the machine should happen to roll, it would keep the cab from trapping or crushing a driver inside.
As the focus on industry safety continues to intensify, by using equipment with these features PPH is giving itself the best chance to be contracted.
Powerline detectors
Mr O’Brien emphasises providing safety measures specific to the project location, and this is why 25 per cent of the PPH fleet is also equipped with Proxyvolt power line detection equipment. The company uses this in areas where excavators are operating in close proximity to power lines. Contact with overhead high voltage power lines poses a safety issue for personnel and equipment and in some cases causes serious injury or fatalities.
“I’m starting to retrofit all our machines that need to work on power easement lines,” Mr O’Brien says.
Proxyvolt equipment is currently being used on PPH projects such as the Northern Queensland Water Pipeline.
GPS technology
In addition to these onsite technologies, PPH employ the use of GPS technology to manage the services and management of its entire fleet.
PPH can manage their fleet from the office and pick up machines, machine location and service hours so that they can plan service intervals. This system can also help by downloading any maintenance issues that may occur. “With this system our company can minimise down time, contribute to safety goals and increase production for our clients due to the speed of information that we receive from the GPS system, especially when our machines are in the outback,” Mr O’Brien said.
Safety lifting device
In some machines PPH have also installed the Safe Lift 300 excavator monitor, which informs the operator of the distance the load is away from the centre of the machine and the weight they are lifting at all times.
Operators
PPH not only safeguards its machinery, but also reduces human error by providing projects with its own skilled operators.
By having the latest technology and procedures in place from the top down, Mr O’Brien says that “you’re minimising every opportunity of a risk. It may not say that you’re never going to get a problem but the thing about it is if you’ve [taken precautions] to start with, you’re minimising what can happen”.
Mr O’Brien says PPH is dedicated to being the leader in safety standards in the country and is confident that whatever the requirements for a project, the company can set a machine up to satisfy those needs.
Pipeline Plant Hire’s Vacuum Lift completes works on a storm water drain pipeline.
One of the first storm water projects to use a vacuum lifter in Australia, the Beaudesert to Boonah Road Realignment Project Culvert 3B, is located on the outskirts of Beaudesert in South East Queensland.
The project was constructed by Fulton Hogan and PPH’s patented box carrying vacuum lift was used to install 14 lines with 32 pipes in each line. The 1,200 mm diameter pipes weighed over 3 tonne each. The use of the vacuum lift removed the need for additional support crew members, providing a safer working environment.
Before construction on the pipeline could begin, 7,000 cubic metres of marine mud was required to be removed and replaced with rock fill for a solid foundation. By the project’s end, over 2,000 tonnes of crusher dust and 5,000 cubic metres of sandstone had been used as backfill for the project.