The annual safety awards highlight companies that have gone to great lengths to improve safety in the workplace.
According to award judges, Murphy Pipe and Civil earned the award for not only bringing this new pipeline ploughing technology to the Australia pipeline sector, but also in recognition of the 120+ safety enhancements it had added to the ploughs to further improve safety.
Safety enhancements implemented by the company included a radical redesign of the pipeline loading process to allow pipeline to be loaded at ground level rather than at height, and also designing pipe couplings to safely handle larger pipelines up to 630 mm in diameter.
The addition of GPS equipment to ensure buried services were not disturbed while ploughing, and also delivering increased operator safety through handrails, step ladders and lock out levers, also gained recognition from judges.
Murphy Pipe and Civil Director Tom Dermody said achieving the judges’ recognition from amongst hundreds of high-calibre award submissions was very pleasing, and confirmed that the company’s ongoing focus on continuous industry improvement was worthwhile.
“I am very pleased to see the hard work put in by our R&D and Field teams to improve safety in the workplace by using ploughs has been recognised,” said Mr Dermody.
“A lot of work has gone into developing the ploughs to not only suit the coal seam gas industry’s requirements but also to ensure our crews are very safe when installing HDPE pipes.
“I’ve always maintained that there is no point having a very productive and efficient machine in the field if it puts crews at risk.
“I’m very happy that over the past few years we have worked together as a team to develop the Spiderploughs and our procedures and system, to ensure we can achieve high productivity rates in the safest manner,” he said.