Congratulations Craig Gordon, Peter Hughes, David Mooney and David Wright
The Ericsson Wireless Project team are responsible for building the fixed wireless network that connects regional Australians to the nbn. The installation process requires extensive network testing using a mount and mast attached to the back of a technician’s vehicle. When the testing equipment detached from a moving vehicle, a short-term solution was put in place requiring technicians to singlehandedly move 43kgs of equipment back and forth from their vehicle up to 48 times a day.
National SHEQ Manager David Wright and Craig Gordon from the Safety team worked alongside Peter Hughes and David Mooney from the project’s construction team to engineer a bespoke solution which reduced manually handling and secured the equipment.
The group consulted widely with project technicians to determine key requirements, then by pooling their combined experience in engineering, safety and technology, came up with an innovative solution – a mast that is integrated into the back of the fleet vehicle, which is pneumatically raised to the test height position.
This clever solution has removed the need for technicians to hand manoeuvre the mount and mast into position for each signal test. Now only the five kilogram antenna is moved each time a signal test is performed.
In addition to increasing the safety and wellbeing of the workers, the pump-up mast assembly increases public safety because there is no risk of it falling from the vehicle.
The system is now a standard addition to all Ericsson Wireless project vehicles, and has contributed to the project achieving over two million hours lost time injury free.
Pictured (left to right): David Mooney, Peter Hughes, David Wright and Craig Gordon test the pump-up mast assembly at a fixed network tower in rural Victoria, Australia.
