Komatsu Rutherford, in New South Wales, has won a safety award for building equipment that is safer for its workers. The company won the ICare June Aware safety award for mechanising a process that strips parts of machinery on earthmoving equipment, signficantly reducing the process’ risks for human workers.
According to a report by Mining-Technology, employees first raised safety concerns in 2017, as workers would have to stand on a temporary step and spend four hours operating a wrench to strip back machine parts, exposing them to risks of repetitive strain injuries and falls. The division’s management then designed and produced a motor to remove the parts, which has also improved production efficiency by 75%, cutting the time it takes to complete the task from four hours to less than one.
Jason McLaughlin, injury prevention and pricing general manager at icare said: “It’s great to see a Hunter region employer like Komatsu Rutherford encouraging their workers to come up with innovative ways to make their working day safer. Komatsu’s experience is a great example of how manufacturers can make small improvements in safety which lead to big efficiency gains.
“By simply looking at things through a safety lens, not only has Komatsu Rutherford prevented potential injuries, they’ve also saved three hours of time on a task: a valuable efficiency gain that will improve productivity well into the future,” he added.
You can read the full article here: https://www.mining-technology.com/mining-safety/komatsu-rutherford-wins-safety-award-mechanising-stripping-process
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