CPA Bulletin

40 CPA Bulletin > November 2020 www.cpa.uk.net rail plant association RAIL PLANT ASSOCIATION: 1 Here at the Rail Plant Association (RPA), we supported our members with an initial risk assessment, ‘Working safely in Covid-19 conditions’. The collective minds defined and implemented some sensible control measures to help keep the workforce safe when operating on-track plant on the infrastructure. That risk assessment also aided the Principal Contractor community plan their ‘safe systems of work’ where OTP was required, knowing steps had been taken to protect plant personnel from the virus. We now also see ‘Covid-19 Marshalls’ on site. An interesting concept to help site management monitor social distancing risks. We are proud to see that some of our RPA members have been providing this service with success for several months now as part of their Plant Operating Scheme (POS) Services. The on-track plant suppliers should take great pride in their responses to the pandemic. Some have used innovative and imaginative engineering solutions to help keep their plant in use and people protected. For example, something as simple as a lightweight Perspex frame fitted into MEWP baskets (allowing 2 or 3 workers to work safely in a MEWP basket, where 2m social distancing is not possible), and likewise, similar use of Perspex screens are used in vans/buses to allow gangs of workers to travel safely to and from worksites. Simple, yet effective ideas like these show a willingness in the railway to adapt to challenges. Operational challenges It is known that the on-track plant community has its own challenges. Here are just a few we are endeavouring to overcome on a weekly basis: • Delivery point management - meet and greet has improved significantly in the past 3-5 years, but there are still regions/ customers who do not engage in meeting plant deliveries and collections planned for their sites. As a result, we face lone working, unsupervised lifting operations, any line open risks, and ‘Chapter 8’ highways risks. • Protection from ballast dust and now, thermic welding fumes - both substances are classed as carcinogenic (as per the HSE publication EH40), and if controls are not adequate, managed or supervised, they can lead to long term chronic health effects of our workers. • Workforce competence - a large and complex Sentinel competence database to adhere to (especially for on-track plant operators and machine/crane controllers where there are around 40 individual competences to manage). • Low loader transporting - our members are fully aware of the highways regulations that must be adhered to. Understandably, not all their customers are aware though. Take for instance, the delivery or collection of a heavy item of on-track plant (where the low loader and plant combined are greater than 44 tons in weight). Vehicle movements over 44 tons requires the plant supplier or haulier to apply for a ‘Movement Order’, which must be applied for at least 48hrs before the movement is planned. In a world where late or last-minute requests for plant hire are not uncommon, this poses a significant problem to the plant owner. Future RPA articles will elaborate in more detail on each of the points above in the coming months. For this publication, we opted to discuss the risk of Overhead Live Equipment (OLE) strikes. OLE Strikes Design challenges The primary issue is using the excavator type machines under OLE. We know the shape, size and speed these machines work at, bring the likelihood of an OLE strike higher than we desire. Unlike On-track Machines (OTM), which are designed and built to run only on railways, usually without moving parts that can come out of W6A Gauge and therefore come in contact with any infrastructure furniture; OTP is used because of its versatility to access and work on and off track. Moreover, OTP is primarily an off-track excavator designed to work on construction sites as an earthmover. Existing engineering solutions In the case of OTP with a capability to slew the upper section (superstructure) around in a 360-degree circle, most are fitted with a Rated Capacity Indicator (RCI). These come in two performance levels, normal and high (high being designed to offer guarantee that it will stop the OTP movements at a set point in either slew movements (left and right) or lift movements (up and down). The operational challenges OLE is not only very low and close to the arm of an excavator/crane when the arm is low and outstretched or stowed for travel, it varies in height over a worksite. Times remain difficult and frequently changing under the Covid-19 pandemic, but fortunately the railways still run passengers, and infrastructure maintenance still gets carried out. This is with thanks to the workers in our industry striving to think outside the box and implement solutions allowing them to work safely with new and unprecedented risks.