Improve Safety and Efficiency

WORKSAFE

Dept Occupational Health and Safety awarded Smart Sustainable Foundations the Worksafe Award for successfully addressing these concerns:

1. Digging and heavy labour (body stressing is the No.1 cause of injury)
2. Working in dangerous traffic (No.1 cause of serious injury)
3. Damaging underground services (a growing concern that is life-threatening)

ZERO BODY STRESSING

"Body stressing" is the No.1 cause of injury and is costing road authorities millions every year

Ergonomically designed tools enable installation of ground sockets, and effortless replacement of road-side infrastructure from a standing position. 

Winner Dept. Occupational Health and Safety Worksafe Award for successfully addressing the No.1 cause of workplace injury, "Body stressing" from digging and heavy labour, costing road authorities millions every year

ZERO DISTURBANCE TO TRAFFIC

Working in traffic is the No.1 cause of serious injury and is costing lives every year.

"Smart Sustainable Foundations allow quick replacement of posts, reducing risk of injury to employees by reducing time spent on traffic islands exposed to traffic" MAIN ROADS DEPT WA

Road-side items are installed and replaced in seconds using ergonomically designed tools, from a standing position facing on-coming traffic.   

ZERO DISTURBANCE TO UNDERGROUND SERVICES

Underground services pose a serious risk to road-workers and this risk is growing more serious every day.

By installing items on sustainable foundations there is no need to disturb underground services for the entire lifespan of a development.

ZERO DISTURBANCE TO PUBLIC

Using current methods (installing items in concrete) is time consuming creating on-going disturbance to public and traffic flow. As the population grows so does the number of roadworks, the delays and the growing anger from the general public.

Smart infrastructure is replaced in less time than it currently takes to erect traffic management and barriers, greatly reducing disturbance to pedestrians and traffic.

ZERO MAJOR TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT

Australian Standards states no traffic management required if replacements take less than 5 mins. For single items all that is required is a couple of strategically placed traffic cones.

When installing ground sockets or removing multiple items - traffic management may be required.

ZERO LOOSE ITEMS

Items that can be removed by vandals create dangerous litigation risks. Metal devices can be damaged upon impact so items can become loose and be removed by vandals or become projectiles when impacted by vehicles.

Items are secured on Smart Sustainable Foundations using friction, remaining safe and secure year after year and cannot be removed by unauthorized persons.

ZERO VANDALISED POSTS

Rectangular hollow posts are extremely thin walled (especially cheap Asian imported steel posts) and can be bent by vandals, creating dangerous metal protrusions and risk of injury to the public and workers

Circular Hollow Section posts cannot be bent by hand so are far more durable than RHS posts, greatly improving resilience and reliability, reducing damage and maintenance costs, reducing carbon waste and substantially improving safety.

ZERO DANGEROUS METAL OR BRITTLE PLASTIC

Metal devices and brittle plastic cuffs are not malleable, so they distort or crack upon impact leaving posts and other items of vital infrastructure unstable or loose in the footing, creating the risk of injury to pedestrians and drivers.

This creates dangerous litigation risks (such as s traffic or parking sign falling on someone's head/ grab- rail becoming a projectile/ a missing stop sign causing a fatal accident)

ZERO RUST OR CORROSION

Metal devices are vulnerable to rust and corrosion (even a galvanised post or securing device is vulnerable - especially when coming into contact with other metals and concrete) so every device will fail and need replacing or create litigation risks.

Smart Sustainable Foundations are impact resistant and self-healing protecting both the item and the surrounding foundations from rust and corrosion

ZERO TRIP FACTORS 

Unstable paving and trip factors caused by vehicle impact and metal devices create major litigation risks. Posts installed directly in concrete and metal devices allow the post to shear above ground level leave dangerous metal protrusions that create dangerous litigation risks 

Smart Sustainable ground sockets are installed flush with the surface and are capped when an item is removed (no trip factors)

ZERO DANGEROUS DELAYS

Delays to repairing vital traffic signage, traffic lights or bollards can cause serious injury or death. The requirements to improve turn-around times will increase and failure to meet the deadlines will incur heavy penalties.

Smart Sustainable Foundations ensure all work is completed quickly and efficiently with minimal disturbance.

ZERO DELAYS DUE TO RAIN

As concrete will not set in the rain, delays in the winter (when quickly replacing vital road-side items, is even more important) are common and pose a serious litigation risk (and when a jackhammer or cement mixer is required it is even more dangerous as using electrical equipment in the rain is, well, just asking for trouble)

By installing items on Smart Sustainable Foundations, you totally remove the risk of being unable to replace damaged and unsafe items due to bad weather 

ZERO DANGEROUS PROTRUSIONS 

As metal posts and fixing devices inserted directly in concrete are not impact resistant, they can be damaged upon the very first impact and create dangerous protrusions. 

Smart Sustainable Foundations are impact resistant, will not rust or corrode or become unreliable over time.

ITEMS REMAIN SAFE & SECURE

Too often we see posts and grab-rails installed using metal pins. Items can easily become loose or unstable and can be removed by unauthorized persons. 

They also provide dangerous metal protrusions that could cause injury to pedestrians) especially on traffic islands)

Items are secured in Smart Sustainable Foundations using friction which ensures they remain safe and secure year after year.

STABLE TABLES

Tables, seating and street furniture can be made secure remaining stable and cannot be relocated outside designated boundaries.

it becomes easy to install more bins, seating or tables for events.

SAFER BARRIERS 

Barriers are vulnerable to damage and temporary barriers are very unreliable, often providing absolutely no resistance to impact from a vehicle and can easily be relocated or pushed out of alignment by unauthorized persons.

Smart sustainable Foundations ensure barriers remain perfectly aligned, safe and secure year after year.

SMARTER BARRIERS

When secured on Smart Sustainable Foundations bollards and barriers can be easily removed by authorized persons and relocated to block off a road or area, or redirect pedestrian or vehicular traffic, greatly improving the safety and efficiency of event management, set-up and dismantling of infrastructure.

SAFER BOLLARDS 

City of Perth had a major problem with bollards in the city centre. They had tried flexible spring-loaded bollards but they would over-flex providing no protection; spring back creating litigation risks; and wear out over time becoming "floppy".

We developed a means of securing both in-ground and surface mount bollards that incorporates a shock absorbing mechanism, reducing risk of damage to vehicles, preserving the bollard and surrounding foundations.

LOW IMPACT BIKE PATH BOLLARDS

Solid steel bollards have no place on a bike path and create dangerous litigation risks. Even worse are unstable removable bollards that leave dangerous trip factors when removed. Along the coast this is a major problem as rust causes metal sockets to become extremely unreliable.

MRWA came to us for a solution. The Smart Low Impact Bollard (no dangerous springs) remains rigid but absorbs impact reducing risk of injury and is secured on Sustainable Foundations - no risk of rust or corrosion and no trip factors when bollards are removed.

SMART SAFE-STOP FOUNDATIONS

Large shock absorbing foundations (200 mm diameter) are used to secure traffic light columns and high impact bollards.

rather than deflecting and self-recovering they absorb the initial impact force transferring the energy to the inner core, that is further protected by a second shock absorbing mechanism that absorbs more of the energy, which helps to bring a passenger vehicle to a safe stop.

The surrounding asphalt, concrete and paving remain in-tact impact after impact

DISASTERS

The latest problem – clean up after cyclones, events and floods is time consuming and becoming a greater risk. 

Emergency signage can be installed for flood zones or barriers to block entry to an area following an accident, event or disaster, and the infrastructure for an entire development can be installed and replaced up in a single day! Greatly improving the safety of events and efficiency of clean-up following disasters

OVERCOME COMMON PROBLEMS

Overcome many of the common problems that reduce the safety of a development or create dangerous risks for road-workers.

Smart Sustainable Foundations eradicate a multitude of problems, improving efficiency and reducing the risk of cost overruns.