Epiroc establishes live work elimination program

In line with the Paris Agreement and the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, Epiroc has set long-term 2030 sustainability targets within the areas of people and planet.

Under the People – Health and Safety target, Epiroc is aiming to have no work-related injuries and to contribute to this, it has established a live work elimination (LWE) program.

Epiroc live work elimination program manager Lori-Anne Fleming commented on the program.

“The goal of our LWE program is to make sure that when people work on our equipment, they are not exposed to any energy that would put them in harm’s way and cause injury,” she said.

“Our product portfolio is part of this, but it’s also about change management and reinforcing the safety culture in our industry.”

There are three key elements of the LWE program, with the first to increase the product life and reduce the frequency of risk exposure, meaning less chance of encountering hazards.

The second element is remote diagnostic tools that reduce the potential for injury and the third is remote technologies which prevents the exposure of workers to potentially harmful energy.

The new additions to the LWE portfolio include the boom isolation kit and the spool valve guard kit, both of which are retrofit kits that can upgrade the corresponding machines for safer operations.

The boom isolation kit for direct control system rigs isolates feed, boom and rock drill functions without impacting operational cycle time. A machine can continue to run on electrical or diesel engine mode while all boom functions are isolated.

The spool valve guard kit is developed for blast hole drill rigs. It helps to lock out the two, seven, eight and 11 spool valve manual actuation points and reduces risk exposure for personnel working on the machine.