Miller and VP Piletec win Health and Safety award
Miller UK and VP Piletec won the Health and Safety award for the VibroSafe quick-hitch adaptor at this year’s Plantworx show.
VibroSafe was developed in response to a recognized industry problem, the existing bracket set up encouraged bad practice and was incorrectly used with quick couplers. Following problems identified by the HSE regarding single-pin connections to quick hitches, Piletec have worked with Miller UK to develop the best possible solution to the problem when working with excavator-mounted vibratory piling hammers.
Piletec were aware that competitors were looking for a quick and easy solution to the problem, but believed that these were not thought through and caused as many issues for health and safety as the original problem. Piletec wanted a recognized manufacturer to work with, to develop and produce a solution.
Bill Gorton, director of Piletec, said: ‘VP rarely get involved in activity unless they can be market leaders and for us it was clear Miller are the market leaders in quick couplers, so it was an obvious match to team up with Miller. Our team worked closely with Gary Miller, technical director, and Howard Reay, head of research and development, to find a solution that industry demanded. This process took two years to develop and is a unique adapter designed specifically to allow the safe attachment of vibratory piling hammers to excavators via quick-hitch couplers.’
Dave O’Brien, national operations manager of Piletec, commented: ‘We are thrilled to have won this award, it’s something we are immensely proud of. We came up with idea of VibroSafe following a number of incidents in which quick-hitch coupler adapters had failed, causing serious injury or significant near-misses. We spent two years of R&D and worked closely with Miller UK who helped us develop the concept, as well as consulting with a number of major contractors to ensure we came up with a product that would set new industry standards.’
Gary Miller added: ‘This is an important industry recognition of a product that has contributed significantly to improving site safety, health and safety and innovation is ingrained in the culture of Miller. It is particularly pleasing to have teamed up with Piletec to work together to provide this market-leading solution, providing further evidence of the innovation of Miller and our partnership approach. We look forward to working with Bill and his colleagues on other such initiatives.’
The benefits of Vibrosafe are that it is pre-assembled and therefore eliminates the need for pins or bolts to be fitted or removed, thus minimizing human intervention and reducing unnecessary health and safety risks to the operator. The time reduction in swap over also makes it efficient in reducing the site costs for excavators.
