WASTE RECYCLING
SiteZone Safety donates unique social distancing devices for NHS Nightingale workers
ON 20 April, SiteZone Safety donated six of their uniquely designed person- nel distancing systems (PDS) to key construction staff on site at NHS Night- ingale, Birmingham. The aim is to use them to train and encourage workers to maintain safe social distancing while they transform the NEC into a vital COVID-19 treatment hospital to service the Midlands.
The PDS consists of a small 2kg pack, and a detection ‘tag’ which can be worn on the safety hat, upper arm or attached to a belt. The system has 100 hours of rechargeable battery life.
The ‘trigger’ point, or “exclusion zone” can be configured to suit the site’s needs, and the unit is easy to charge.
The proximity alarms are triggered if work- ers get too close to each other, whenupon both their wearable tags will vibrate and the PDS alarms will sound.
Gary Escott, co-founder of SiteZone Safety, was approached by Interserve Construc- tion, the principal contractor converting the Birmingham NEC two weeks prior.
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Following discussions with Stuart Palmer, Interserve (Site Manager), and Ross Hunter (Health & Safety Manager from West Mid- lands Building), it was then decided that urgent training was needed to enforce the 2m rule on site between workers.
Two on site “Safety Ambassadors” wear the PDS units full time and patrol the site to ensure workers are observing the 2m rule. If not, they are reminded, with accompa- nying demonstrations using the PDS. The four remaining units are being rotated between different key tradespeople on site to reinforce the 2m rule. In this way, it is intended to raise spatial awareness and affect behavioural change on site.
Rapid development and deployment
Following the initial conversation with Interserve, SiteZone Safety made their first prototypes in 24 hours. They were demon- strated to the client within 48 hours and were being tested on site at the NEC 96 hours later.
Stuart Palmer, site manager at NHS Nightingale, said: “It was vital that we kept our construction staff protected from
infection risk and encouraged them to work around each other safely. We knew about SiteZone Safety’s proximity warning expertise, and they have been able to meet the challenge for us in record time. There was an urgent need to get NHS Nightingale, Birmingham, completed, so high standards of health and safety practice were key drivers to the success of this project. SiteZone Safety’s PDS solution helped us achieve both.”
These are the first systems of this type that SiteZone Safety has ever produced; the PDS repurposes the original SiteZone proximity warning system, which prevents collisions between personnel and mobile plant and vehicles. This time, other people are the threat, and the exclusion zone is rigid.
The PDS will be used for the duration of construction at the NEC – approximately four weeks. NHS Nightingale NEC has been provided with their PDS units free of charge as part of SiteZone Safety’s and their hire partner, ESS-Safeforce’s appreciation of the work that Interserve and the NHS are doing in response to the COVID-19 outbreak.
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