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Safety comes first at Queensland Rail

Working at heights is deemed by many organisations as a high-risk work activity. This is ever so evident at Queensland Rail (QR) maintenance workshops where workers regularly need to access areas at heights while undertaking service and maintenance activities on the fleet of QR track machines.

With a strong internal safety culture where safety comes first. Always, QR is always on the front foot when looking for improved ways to keeping its workforce of over 6000 across multiple sites safe every day.

So when the need arose at one of QR’s larger maintenance workshops for a mobile working at heights solution that can be moved around the busy workshop across multiple tasks, QR turned to Beaver Technology Services (BTS) to provide such a solution.

The Mini Restricted Space Cube (M-RSC) from BTS provides the QR workshop in Banyo, Queensland with a practical overhead fall arrest mobile anchor with a working height of around seven metres that can be moved and positioned around different QR rail locomotives and carriages for everyday working at heights activities.

BTS not only provided the M-RSC solution to the workshop, but in addition also got involved with site commissioning, including user-based training on the proper use of the M-RSC within the Banyo workshop.

Darren Browne, senior safety facilitator who has been with QR for over 34 years, stated that with the implementation of the M-RSC the site has allowed the maintenance workers to access the roofs of different track machines while always being connected safely.

With the use of the M-RSC for overhead work the erection of expensive scaffolding for temporary access works has all but ceased. Productivity has improved greatly for tasks related to working at heights as the workers can easily move the M-RSC around different equipment using the site forklift.

Workers also can still utilise the services of the workshop overhead gantry crane to pick-up and drop-off individual components from the roof of the track machines while being on the roof and still be connected to the M-RSC. A workplace luxury that was not there before, which also has resulted in improved process efficiency for those tasks.

Browne also commented that with the added feature of the rescue and recovery winch within the M-RSC, any worker that do find themselves over the edge of the machine can be quickly rescued and lowered down to the workshop floor for any first aid required.

All in all, the M-RSC has provided QR Banyo site with a practical tool ‘fit for purpose’ for its working at heights activity around different types of track machines, resulting in improved levels of site safety, workshop productivity and workflow efficiency.

M-RSC, a strong safety product solution for the team at QR Banyo for working at heights activities.

BTS also supplies M-RSC to mine operations with rail networks and for access to plant and machinery.

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