Innovation Exchange - Flipbook - Page 9
PREVENTING TARMAC SCAR IMPACT
Morrison Utility Services and Wales
and West Utilities have been working
together to solve the issue of scarring on
roads and pavements caused by digger
and grab buckets. Plastic and rubber
protection blades on mini excavators
and grab wagons, along with a protection
board offer a simple solution that
completely breaks the contact between
plant & equipment and the surface of the
ground.
The trial of new plastic and rubber grab
wagon blades commenced in Gloucester with
a Morrison Utility Services team and a Wales
and West Utilities grab wagon to look at
how effective these blades are at preventing
carriageway scarring.
Wales and West Utilities Innovation Network
assistant Kyle Lewis said: “Our innovation
strategy is simple: we innovate to make
sure we can deliver the highest possible
levels of safety, reliability and service for the
communities we serve today and tomorrow.
Adding protection to clamshell buckets and
digger back blades will reduce damage
inadvertently caused to highway surfaces,
making sure we leave communities as
we found them after we have finished our
essential work.”
For more information please contact:
innovation@morrisonus.com
THE NEXT GENERATION HI VIZ
An LED active Hi Viz harness, worn over existing Hi Viz
clothing, has been trialled by M Group Services Plant &
Fleet Solutions.
The harness increases visibility during out-of-hours working
and the trials were used to assess factors such as comfort,
durability, visibility and battery life.
Trial participants concluded that the harness provided good
visibility in dark and low-light conditions and enhanced
safety by making them more visible to passing traffic and
pedestrians.
The Thames Water Infrastructure Alliance has also piloted
the harness with a Night Traffic Management Operative.
Once again, the feedback was extremely positive, with the
operative confirming that he felt safer. Members of the public
also stopped to ask questions on the harness including a
passing logistics manager!
The ease of recharging the harness and the comfort of
wearing the item has been praised and the Thames Water
Infrastructure Alliance is now looking to order the harnesses
for all of its Traffic Management operatives and logistics
drivers.
Mark Dixon, M Group Services Plant & Fleet Solutions
SHEQ Manager said: “The trial performed well in all areas of
the scope and our only reservation was that the harnesses
come in a standard size and may be slightly big for our staff
with slimmer build. This has now been addressed and a slim
fit harness is now available.
For more information please contact:
innovation@morrisonus.com
TRIALLING A NEW SITE DRAWING
Our Yorkshire Water Capital Delivery contract is trialling
‘Dig Pack Plus’ which combines all utilities into a single
CAD based site drawing.
For more information, please contact:
andy.carter@morrisonus.com
The initial proposal came from Design Manager Andrew
Stephenson via the company-wide i2i platform and was
designed to address the inefficiencies associated with
multiple individual utility drawings covering the same site.
Trials of the new solution are ongoing, but the use of
integrated utility drawings is expected to create significant
time savings, as well as enabling site meetings to take place
using IT systems around a shared drawing.
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