The following is an Extract from an News Article appearing in the Australian Mining Review
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Beyond its recent contract wins, Thiess was also advancing automation across its projects.
Technology was a primary focus for the business, which was highlighted in CIMIC’s recently released 2018 annual report.
One such initiative was its aim of making scissor lift elevating work platforms safer to use for operators.
Thiess – alongside EIC Activities, CPB Contractors, and UGL – had taken up the challenge and were currently trialling a new technology to protect users.
“Scissor lifts are mechanical devices that provide temporary access to work areas at height,” CIMIC stated.
“To make scissor lifts safer, the Group has partnered with a technology company to design and test a new type of safety device that provides a hard engineering control when using these platforms in complex construction and mining environments.”
CIMIC said with LiDAR (light detection) sensors, the solution could detect and prevent the machine from impacting obstacles, or entrapping the operator, therefore improving the safety of the operator and other workers on the platform.
“The Group has acquired 10 LiDAR sensor units and trialled these on CPB Contractors and Thiess sites during the year,” it stated.
“Trials have been staggered so as to incorporate improvements and lessons learned from each site as they progress.
“Our goal is to develop the solution to the point where it could be successfully manufactured and improve safety for our sites and the wider industry.”
