Image: Esa L
There are considerable safety considerations when heavy equipment meets essential infrastructure like gas, electricity or sewer lines during council works.
Logan City Council in Queensland has greatly reduced the risk of such accidents by providing workers with wireless emergency stop systems that provide external control to safety observers of any machinery including earthmoving equipment used in during council operations.
Emergency stop system has been fitted to Council’s earthmoving and construction equipment to improve public safety.
The wireless STOP-IT system from Eco-Tec allows safety officers to immediately shut down any piece of equipment from up to 70 metres away.
City Image Chairperson, Councillor Laurie Smith, said the wireless system provided an important addition to the safety measures Council applied to its public work sites.
“Many of our projects happen close to homes and businesses so Council needs to ensure it makes those work sites as safe as possible for the general public,” Cr Smith said.
Eco-Tec Director Mike Thompson said the STOP-IT device was fitted directly to each piece of machinery, adding another level of safety to the existing mechanical E-stop’s, which have been a feature of construction machinery for years.
“The problem with mechanical stop switches is they require someone to physically press the stop switch, which is usually located on the outside frame of machinery.
“This in itself can create a dangerous and unsafe practice, with other operators required to approach working equipment inside the normal safety exclusion zone,” Mr Thompson said.
STOP-IT allows safety observers to easily and remotely stop a piece of equipment instantly if they see a problem.
Mr Thompson explained that a large percentage of incidences and fatalities can be avoided or reduced significantly if the supervisor/safety observer or spotter had the power to stop the machine quickly from a safe distance without entering the safety exclusion zone.
STOP-IT is a portable, fob sized transmitter similar to a garage door opener. It requires no recharging at the end of the day and has a minimum battery life of two years under normal operation.
“The system can be programmed to shut down one machine a group of machines or all the machines that are within range.
“STOP-IT can stop machines almost instantly without the need to enter the exclusion zone. It’s compatible with most programmable remotes, and the receiver can be installed to any mobile equipment,” Mr Thompson said.
