The Height of Safety
Goldenfields Water is responsible for water supply functions within NSW’s south west slopes and the Riverina. To ensure 46,000 households have a continuous supply of quality drinking water, Goldenfields have rigorous inspection and cleaning processes. Without safe access into the reservoirs the cleaning and inspections can become extremely dangerous and time consuming. Anchor Safe worked closely with Goldenfields in the design process through to installation for a complete upgrade to the external & internal access systems in one of the reservoirs.
Their systems were ageing and no longer compliant to the Australian standards which meant maintenance personnel could no longer service the water reservoirs safely. Some issues our client faced were:
- Reservoir internal ladder was rusted off preventing egress in case of emergency.
- Entry hatch was narrow for a confined space rescue situation. Bigger entry hatch was required to improve diver’s safety
- External vertical ladder did not meet Australian Standards AS1657.
Our client expected us to ensure the ongoing maintenance of their water tanks could be carried out safely and efficiently.
Delivering results from top to bottom
The design team reviewed these issues by visiting site and conducting a full system audit taking down measurements and making note of the working area for our installers. Our team had many past confined space projects to draw from, allowing our team to put together a comprehensive design very quickly.
Our solution we presented was to replace the external vertical ladder with an angled cage ladder with a midway resting platform on the outside and a vertical ladder on the inside of the tank to replace the rusted internal ladder. We designed this system using lightweight materials to reduce the load on the reservoirs roof and to accommodate for easy access while carrying tools and diving equipment to the reservoirs tank entrance.
Our ladder system allowed for simple and quick access to the top of the tank with enough room for all maintenance personnel’s equipment. Our platform landing at the top of the tank allows divers to organise their equipment before descending into the tank. Once inside the tank, our ladder ensured entering the tank was as safe as possible with a harness davit system on the side of the ladder.
With the supply and install of our angled cage ladder system our client was able to ensure ongoing maintenance was carried out safely with ease.
Our client will experience increased efficiency of access & less time spent trying to access the tanks for inspection and maintenance. Maintenance personnel will have the confidence in working at heights and confined space due to the simplicity of our safety systems.
We have significantly improved the confined space access and ladder system, and created a compliant, and cost-effective solution that has considered everyone’s needs once again.
