With the LA40 and LA80 Lift Assist arms, Nivek Industries is taking on-site safety to another level.
When a bulldozer belly plate slipped and narrowly missed landing on Kevin Cant, it inspired him to make a change. He developed TED to save lives and protect the wellbeing of heavy industry workers.
Nivek Industries, a Hunter Valley-based company was launched in 2011. Starting with TED, the world’s first low profile remote-controlled scissor lift, Niveks’ product range has grown to include a variety of complimentary machines including the Lift Assist range of arms.
The primary focus of the lift assist arms is on mitigating the risks associated with awkward, and repetitive lifting. The original LA40 is a spring-assisted gravity arm design to support the weight of heavy tooling, allowing operators to simply point the tool in the required direction. With continued development, this technology reached a new level with the introduction of the power LA80 in 2023, designed to lift and hold heavy components for installation and removal.
“The Lift Assist range has been purpose-built with the mining industry in mind,” Nivek Industries general manager Derrick Cant told Safe to Work. “Beyond their lifting capacity, the arms are highly manoeuvrable, which means they can access tight, awkward, and hard-to-reach spaces commonly encountered during heavy plant maintenance operations.”
The Lift Assist arms are highly adaptable to the tough, tight spaces found in mining. Designed to be robust and reliable, with a simple and low-maintenance design, their strength and low upkeep allow operators to focus on the task at hand instead of on the equipment.
“This combination of strength and low upkeep makes them highly adaptable to confined spaces and challenging work conditions, allowing operators to focus on the task at hand without worrying about equipment failure or frequent servicing,” Derrick said.
Minimising injuries
In mining, the best ability is often availability, and Nivek Industries’ growing range helps to keep valued employees on the job, and free of injury risk.
“Fatigue and musculoskeletal injuries aren’t limited to underground operations. They’re a concern in any workplace where heavy tools and components are handled,” Derrick said.
Engineered to withstand the full weight of a load, the Lift Assist arms enable an operator to focus on guiding the tool instead of physically supporting it. This significantly reduces body strain and fatigue, helping to eliminate overexertion injuries altogether.
“It means operators can work more safely and efficiently, while also maintaining their long-term health and wellbeing,” Derrick said.
By designing equipment that no longer requires high physical strength, Nivek is also breaking down barriers in a traditionally
male-dominated industry.
As a result, fitter positions are becoming more accessible to a diverse workforce, including more women and people of various physical abilities.
Engineered for extremes
While the primary benefit of the Lift Assist arms is removing the physical strain of lifting, their design goes much further to address the complex tasks of heavy maintenance.
The areas where these arms are used are often “crowded with other components, and not always perfectly aligned,” Derrick said.
To counter this, the arms feature multiple articulation points that allow operators to manoeuvre the arm smoothly in and around these challenging spaces. A swivel boss and various attachments provide the precise control needed to align heavy tools and components accurately with the job at hand.
This engineering is designed to withstand harsh conditions. The arms are designed to be robust, durable, and reliable with a simple design that keeps maintenance requirements low.
Perhaps the most significant innovation is the hydraulic torque wrench attachment, which Derrick describes as a feature he is “particularly excited about”. It is designed to securely hold any type of hydraulic torque wrench, removing the need for an operator to physically hold the tool during high-pressure hydraulic functions.
According to Derrick, this single feature eliminates the risk of finger crush injuries and reduces the risk of oil injection injuries, as the operator is positioned safely away from the tool. To ensure these safety features don’t slow down the workflow, a quick-release mechanism allows operators to swap out connected tooling in under 20 seconds.
Beyond compliance
For Nivek Industries, building best-in-class safety equipment means going beyond baseline regulations. “At Nivek, safety is at the core of everything we do,” Derrick said.
To provide customers with an extra layer of confidence, “all our products are independently certified by a third-party engineering firm,” Derrick said. Nivek also provides comprehensive after-sales support, servicing, and custom solutions.
This commitment to leading the industry is driven by real-world application. The company has received extremely positive feedback from operators, which plays a key role in ongoing product development. This collaborative approach extends to custom solutions.
A direct result of this feedback is the upcoming launch of a new powered version of the LA40 arm. Unlike the current spring-based model that allows for some vertical movement, this enhanced version uses linear actuators to lift and hold components, offering a different type of precision for specific tasks.
Derrick said Nivek is “more than happy to work closely with clients to develop bespoke tooling or attachments that suit their specific operational needs”.
This ensures that the Lift Assist arms are tailored to the unique challenges of each workplace, using high-quality parts, local suppliers, and skilled local labour.
This feature appeared in the November-December edition of Safe to Work.