Construction World September 2021

CONSTRUCTION SAFETY

Construction companies are embracing PDS to ensure a good safety record.

Booyco Electronics has, since 2006, been specialising in the development and supply of safety products. Its Proximity Detection Systems (PDS) solutions have been used widely in the mining industry, but the Booyco Electronics expertise with PDS systems is increasingly being used in construction. Construction World spoke to Anton Lourens, CEO of Booyco Electronics about these systems and how they can be beneficial to the construction industry. RELIABLE. REPEATABLE. REPUTABLE.

D uring the last 15 years, Booyco Electronics has supplied over 6 500 PDS systems for mining vehicle equipment installations across Southern Africa. “Booyco Electronics has been the biggest PDS supplier in the world and has accumulated two billion machine hours with vehicles fitted with Booyco PDS equipment. The lessons learned from predominantly PDS systems for surface mining can easily be transferred to construction environments,” explain Lourens. Lourens describes a PDS as comprising “a sensing device that detects the presence of another person, vehicle or object and a sophisticated interface that provides an audible and visual alarm. These systems warn both the vehicle operator and the pedestrian of the imminent danger of a potential collision.” The last few years have highlighted the different needs of the construction industry and the mining industry. “Safety in both mining and construction is especially concerned with the movement of people around vehicles. Construction

areas such as large earthworks projects, road and bridge construction or other civil engineering projects are more congested, dynamic and often require infrastructure specific to the phase of the project. There is a constant collision hazard to personnel on foot. The more involved nature of construction makes it vital that customers have a stable and reliable product that will detect people in relation to moving vehicles,” he explains. Booyco’s technology makes it possible to monitor and control the distance between pedestrians and machines. This makes construction sites safer places to work. The flexible design allows for a fit-for-purpose response to customers’ specific conditions. How can the Booyco PDS assist construction? The intent of construction activity is to be safe and have an exemplary safety record. However, in terms of a legal compliance the mining industry is ahead in terms of legislating this. “Mining safety is governed by the Department of Mineral

“Some blue chip construction clients want to do the right thing by embracing PDS to ensure a good safety record. This is not driven by compliance, but by safety.”

Anton Lourens, CEO of Booyco Electronics.

34 CONSTRUCTION WORLD SEPTEMBER 2021