FM Conway choose intelligent safety solutions

Company strengthens Liebherr wheel loader fleet with innovative health and safety technology

INFRASTRUCTURE services company FM Conway have partnered with Liebherr to add three new wheel loaders to their fleet of vehicles, with each offering comprehensive intelligent assistance systems to greatly raise health and safety.

The company has introduced the new vehicles as part of its Big Ten in 10 Strategy, with the aim of eliminating risk for its workforce, with a particular focus on the traffic–pedestrian interface.

Each wheel loader features several intelligent safety solutions that move away from object detection and instead focus on human-recognition systems that can operate even in tight city worksites.

The safety features include, but not limited to, active personnel detection at the rear, adaptive working lighting, a roof camera system for 360° monitoring, and an integral tyre pressure monitoring system.

The active personnel detection system is linked to the vehicle’s braking system and monitors the rear area of the wheel loader to automatically apply the vehicle’s brakes and warn the operator of dangers via both a visual symbol on the display and an audible alarm.

The system’s innovation lies in its ability to differentiate between people and objects without the people needing to be equipped with sensors, leading to earlier warnings, a reduction in false alarms, and safer working practices.

The system can log any intervention on a mapping system so the location of activation can be mapped and analysed for risk hot spots, as well as automatically reporting the high-consequence harm near misses to the business. This allows for a constant monitoring of the working processes so that further adjustments and control measures can be implemented.

Each new vehicle also features a 360° camera system which operates using four cameras that capture images all around the vehicle and create a bird’s-eye view of the machine’s entire working environment on the operator’s cab display.

Through a combination of these and other innovative safety solutions, FM Conway say the new wheel loaders offer a much greater level of efficiency, productivity, and, ultimately, health and safety for their workforce.

Commenting on the acquisition of the new loaders, Andrew Cox, FM Conway’s safety, health, environment, and quality (SHEQ) director, said: ‘As part of our 10-year strategy to eliminate risk, we are actively searching for and delivering new innovations such as these to make not only our business a safer place, but the whole industry, and we are proud to partner with Liebherr to make this happen.’

Michael Atkinson, Liebherr-Great-Britain’s national account manager, commented: ‘Liebherr GB are very pleased that FM Conway have invested in the XPower loading shovels and impressed that the company invested in the operator assistance systems to further prioritize the safety of staff on site. FM Conway were the first UK customer to specify the active rear personnel detection system and others have followed since.’