Nivek Industries has stayed true to its motto of “from concept to completion, our focus is making fitters’ lives safer and easier” with the development of its Lift Assist 40 system. Safe to Work speaks with the company about how its new Hytorc holder attachment further enhances the Lift Assist system’s capabilities.
The Lift Assist 40 already has an excellent record of preventing common injuries for fitters and making their job easier by taking the weight out of various tools weighing up to 40 kilograms.
However, Nivek Industries general manager Derrick Cant hasn’t grown complacent and has been hard at work to further develop the capabilities of the company’s safety range.
While the Lift Assist 40 and Lift Assist Stand allow for the arm to stand at up to three metres high, making it suitable for tyre bays and workshops, working with Hytorc hydraulic tools still presented a risk of hand injuries for fitters.
As Cant explains, Nivek’s new Lift Assist 40 Hytorc attachment will take workers hands away from the danger zone by holding the tool in place.
“Hytorc tools use high hydraulic pressure to get extremely high torque output on these kinds of tools,” Cant tells Safe to Work.
“Workers currently have to hold the tool in place, which means their fingers are potentially in the way and at risk of getting crushed. This attachment for the Lift Assist 40 arm holds the Hytorc tool in place for them, so they can stand up and operate from a distance.”
Part of Nivek’s research and development process is working alongside its customers on site, taking their feedback on board of common hazards within the tyre bay or workshop.
From here, Nivek was able to develop the Hytorc attachment, taking care to ensure that the tool not only kept workers safe, but was also user-friendly and easy to set up and use.
“Basic feedback from customers was that they wanted something to hold these tools so they were not at risk of crushing their fingers,” Cant says.
“Like all tools, the Hytorc attachment needed to be easy to use and assemble, so workers (weren’t) spending half an hour to put a tool on to complete a five-minute job.”
By collaborating with some of Australia’s largest Tier 1 mining companies and a local supplier of Hytorc tools, Nivek was able to make the Hytorc attachment as flexible as possible so it can be used with a variety of Hytorc tool variants, including but not limited to the Ice, Avanti and MXT range.
“The Hytorc attachment has been designed to be as robust and versatile as possible,” Cant says. “Changing out one bracket to accommodate a different tool is very easy. By incorporating a cam lock quick release system, simply undo the locking bolt, release the cam lock, slide out the unwanted tool and slide in the required tool, tighten the cam lock to hold the tool in place and tighten the locking bolt, allowing tool changes to occur in less than one minute.”
In addition to preventing lost time injuries on mine sites, Nivek’s Lift Assist 40, along with the new Hytorc attachment, prevents long-term injuries that are common to fitters over the course of their careers.
“Having to lift and hold heavy tools in place takes its toll on workers’ bodies, and over prolonged periods can result in a variety of muscular skeletal injuries,” Nivek Industries sales and marketing representative Jackson Pennington says.
“By taking the weight out of the task, fitters can dramatically increase their career longevity when compared (with) someone who has to manually lift the equipment.”
This article also appears in the March issue of Safe To Work.