Rail

SPL Powerlines

How SPL Powerlines used Tended’s technology to lower the risk of critical protection equipment irregularities

Background

Part of the Powerlines Group, SPL Powerlines UK is a leading independent overhead line equipment (OHLE) provider for standard and high-speed mainline railway routes. SPL Powerlines wanted to lower the risk of possession limit board (PLB) irregularities and improve the safety of staff tasked with doing that on site.

Placing critical protection equipment is a key part of the safe system of works and therefore, the accurate placement of boards from the correct access point, on the correct line and at the correct limit is essential. SPL Powerlines approached Tended to help ensure this with the use of geospatial technology and replace their existing phone-based software.

Solution

Key examples of where Tended’s system has been applied

SPL Powerlines used Tended’s geotagging functionality to accurately place worksite marker boards (WSMBs) across various projects with a total of 28 devices covering over 170 miles of track.
Geotagging devices were attached to WSMBs and accurately placed by the COSS who received an alert from the device to let them know they had reached the end of worksite limits.
Teams also used the devices to ensure they had entered at the correct access point, due to a confirmatory alert given out by the devices.
The Engineering Supervisor (ES) also monitored the live movement of the boards on the Dashboard, providing an extra level of confidence that they had been placed accurately.

Results

Tended’s technology has helped enhance safety and efficiency by:

Helping to eliminate marker board irregularities, allowing the ES to monitor actual versus intended position of protection equipment at all times.
Giving teams confidence that they had entered the infrastructure via the correct access points.
Providing a high-precision replacement for SPL Powerlines’ existing phone-based software which, due to the accuracy limitations, was not reliable.
Allowing SPL Powerlines to report compliance of marker board placement accuracy, helping them to make better-informed planning decisions.

Based on the success of this deployment, SPL Powerlines will continue to implement Tended’s geospatial technology to enhance safety and efficiency onsite, and are now expanding use of the system for its projects in the Scotland region. This includes devices for both workers and plant and equipment to improve onsite safety and visibility.

Rob Hall, Operations Manager - PC at SPL Powerlines said:

“We’ve been using Tended’s geotagging system which has helped enhance our safety onsite by increasing the accuracy of placing critical protection equipment. We’ve been able to replace outdated, inaccurate software and streamline our operations onsite whilst making sure our teams can place boards safely and with confidence that they are in the right place.”