Best solution to an identified workplace health and safety issue
WINNER - State Transit Authority
In maintaining its fleet, State Transit employees must change the air spring bags on the pistons of each bus suspension system - a task which comes up around 3000 times a year and requires significant manual force. Employees are exposed to manual handling risk in the process.
After considering a number of options, State Transit and Indertek Industrial Technologies developed a solution. This is the bus suspension airbag assembler, a pneumatic airbag press designed to fit rubber airbags on the piston for installation to buses. Pressing occurs as the plate attached to the pneumatic arm moves upwards, compressing the top of the airbag against the piston. When the pressing cycle has finished the airbag is ready to be installed.
HIGHLY COMMENDED - Endeavour Energy
Endeavour Energy is one of the largest state-owned energy corporations in NSW. Their work health and safety issue was unique - preventing helicopter wire strike accidents on pre-summer bushfire inspections of service lines.
The solution lay in the use of high definition digital cameras that are infrared capable and have 360 degree line of site, the introduction of 'moving map' technology to plot a flight which can be overlayed with company assets, and ground support systems to store and analyse data, and cockpit hardware allowing an operator to log the flight and altitude in real time. With this system in place helicopters can fly well above the level where wire strike is a hazard.
