GM Health and Safety, Clint Hill; Dean, Mark McNeill; Executive Director People and Safety, Mary Johnston and Lee Baglow, Academic Leader at the New Zealand Workplace Health and Safety Awards
Unitec won the supreme award at this year’s New Zealand Workplace Health and Safety Awards for the implementation of the automated card reader system that controls access to the high-risk machines in Mataaho.
The card reader system ensures that students and staff have been fully trained and have proven that they are competent (by passing a test) before they are able to use the machines.
The project also won the award for the best use of NZ design or technology.
Health And Safety General Manager Clint Hill said: “The development of the card reader system involved staff from across Unitec, including Health and Safety, the Construction & Infrastructure Network, IMS, and Projects and Change. The innovative solution we designed will not only benefit Unitec, but will also help to improve workplace safety across New Zealand.”
The original challenge
The safety risk that the open plan layout poses was considered right from the start of the Mataaho project. Mataaho has more than 150 high risk machines in an open plan layout, and up to 300 students and 70 lecturers and technicians using the shared space at any one time. The project team worked closely with industry to develop and implement a system which would rely on an electronic system to restrict access, rather than leaving it to a more manual, human-based process. This also means that employers can be guaranteed that when our students leave, they have already been trained and deemed competent in the use of machines.
The solution
The ‘Do it Safe – Card Reader System’ provides automated controls to ensure unauthorised use is not possible and permission cannot be granted manually. The new system covers induction, competency testing, compliance, and reporting and runs off the same smart cards that students use to enter the building.
All high-risk machines are connected to a card reader so when a student or staff member places their card in the card reader it recognizes that person. If the user has completed all the appropriate training and passed the tests, the machine will turn on. If the card is removed, then the machine will cease to work and shut down.
Peter Bateman, convenor of the award judging panel and editor of Safeguard, said the way Unitec dealt with the critical risk of having untrained students using up to 150 potentially dangerous machines in its new building was well deserving of its win. He said: “The judges liked the way this approach designed out the risk of uncontrolled access, and felt this method could be adopted by others with trainees who require access to dangerous machinery.”
The New Zealand Workplace Health and Safety Awards, which began in 2005, are organised by Safeguard magazine and supported by WorkSafe New Zealand. The awards are judged by a panel of five representing WorkSafe, ACC, NZ Council of Trade Unions, Safeguard, and an industry health and safety practitioner.
Congratulations to all involved, this is a fantastic award! Shows that we have the people, knowledge and wherewithal within Unitec to create, design & implement.