Driver safety in the construction industry

Queensland-based civil construction company Q H & M Birt has more than 30 years’ experience working on a diverse variety of projects, the majority in the resources sector. The company provides its services to customers in the Northern Territory, Queensland and Western Australia. With expertise in the construction of dams, roads, bulk earthworks, overburden stripping and drainage works, Q H & M Birt employs a highly skilled workforce capable of managing and executing large-scale projects safely, on time, within budget and to the satisfaction of its clients.

Given the breadth and scale of work the company undertakes, it is committed to ensuring that on-site health and safety remains a top priority. The company has a strong and consistent commitment to safety, quality work and the environment, which is something its managing director, Quentin Birt, is extremely proud of.

Q H & M Birt was contracted to work on the Queensland Curtis LNG Project (QCLNG). The project involved construction of several major gas facilities and the transportation of large heavy machinery, equipment and materials along major roads to and from the site.

Vehicle safety and driver awareness were key considerations for the client on this job and formed a major part of the contract and the occupation health and safety (OHS) reporting process.

For the client it was essential that wherever possible QCLNG traffic on major roads was kept to an absolute minimum, aiming to avoid schools, identified school bus routes and pedestrian centres.

From a monthly reporting process it was also important that vehicle movement and impact was monitored on designated roads, with the frequency, route, type of journey, driving style, journey time and speed recorded.

To achieve this Q H & M Birt needed to find a solution to help ensure vehicle safety and driver awareness remained high and important information on vehicle movement was captured and distributed.

Q H & M Birt needed a robust solution which would comply with the client’s contractual requirements, stipulating all contractors must fit their vehicles with an in-vehicle monitoring system (IVMS).

Q H & M Birt called on business partner Future Fleet to help it identify a robust telematics solution to meet the contractual and client requirements.

Future Fleet recommended the MiX Telematics IVMS, which resulted in 23 of these systems being installed into Q H & M Birt vehicles operating on the QCLNG Project.

The MiX Telematics IVMS has enabled the company to produce monthly reports for its client, charting vehicle movements in assessment areas such as speed, journey time, route and frequency.

The IVMS also features an innovative emergency beacon warning system, which facilitates a quick response in the event of an accident or medical emergency.

“In addition to making our business compliant with the QCLNG Project, we have also noticed an overall improvement in driver behaviour after the installation of IVMS system,” Ross Allen, the company’s construction manager, said.

“Being able to provide our drivers with regular updates on their driving performance has greatly enhanced the safety on this project and actually helped us reduce some operating costs including fuel consumption. This is simply because our drivers are driving more efficiently.

“Following the success of the IVMS on this project, we are now considering rolling this solution out across more of our fleet. In particular, we would look at extending the event alert system, which is a really important feature for staff working in regional and remote areas.”