WOMA is helping stakeholders navigate complex regulatory environments with its range of automated industrial cleaning equipment.
The recently introduced Western Australian Work Health and Safety Act has placed primary duty obligations on the broadly defined ‘Person Conducting a Business or Undertaking’ (PCBU) rather than on ‘employers’. For the most serious offence of industrial manslaughter, PCBUs face a maximum penalty of $10 million, while individuals could face up to 20 years’ imprisonment and a fine of up to $5 million (the new WHS Act also prohibits insurance and indemnities for such fines). In addition, the WHS Act places wider and more explicit proactive obligations on individual company officers to exercise due diligence to ensure that the PCBU complies with its duties.
Recently prosecuted cases highlight the increased focus by regulators Australia-wide on individual liability. While all jurisdictions have had safety legislation in place for decades, since 2018, a number of terms of imprisonment have been handed down by courts, including in Queensland and Victoria and most recently in Western Australia for breaches of safety legislation.
Structural, legislative and regulatory changes impose an interesting and challenging imbalance for PCBUs.
Fourth generation robotics
With automation widely accepted as the 4th Industrial Revolution, WOMA has strongly trended toward the development and inclusion of advanced automation techniques for pump system control, waterjet application and related manufacturing technologies to ensure that they can monopolise upon processes which include cyber-physical systems (CPS), industrial internet of things (IoT), cloud computing, cognitive computing, RFID, and artificial intelligence.
The resultant remote controlled and robotic advancements are often mechano-electrically, pneumatically or hydraulically manipulated in a sustained effort to remove ‘the worker from the workface’ and facilitate patent improvements in workplace safety, and productivity. Simply put, robotics are revolutionising the industrial cleaning sector, boosting efficiency, keeping employees safe, can be used in a variety of applications and offer solutions that can be tailored to client needs and to the dictates of a specific scope of work.
There is no denying that robotics solutions are having a significant impact on safety, methodology and efficiency in the industrial cleaning sector. Increasingly, work is conducted in a manner which negates the need to place equipment operators at risk. Another outstanding example is the Stoneage Sentinel ® Automation Technology which seamlessly integrates with StoneAge’s AutoBox 3L tractor and uses an active sensor system to automatically position the cleaning nozzles and clean exchanger tubes end to end, even in difficult low visibility and noxious conditions. The Sentinel ® Automation Technology is a CE-certified system patently improving safety and efficiency, and delivering consistent peak performance by boosting productivity.
As exampled by the Stoneage Sentinel ® and the WOMAJetty, robotic solutions have the potential to significantly boost efficiency in many operational applications. Robotics solutions keep employees safe and minimise fatigue. Applicators do not have to worry about robotics solutions getting tired or needing a break; they can keep working until the job is completed and will be ready to go again whenever required. This is beneficial to all employees and operational procedures on the job site where safety is the most crucial aspect of industrial cleaning solutions.
Robotic technology is a particularly welcome development in industrial cleaning where traditionally, employees would have to wear a significant amount of personal protective equipment (PPE) as a last line of defence to be able implement cleaning regimes.
In addition to being used in standard industrial cleaning environments, robotic solutions can also be used for hydro-demolition and for automating industrial cleaning activities. For this reason, robotic solutions are now employed in industries such as oil and gas, energy, petrochemical, marine, shipping, construction, infrastructure, municipalities, wastewater, industrial, mining, cement and facility management. Typically, these industries support critical process infrastructure that requires repetitive or campaign cleaning and maintenance.
When it comes to integrating remote control and robotic solutions as part of an operational solution, it is critical that complexity is minimised and safety is maximised. Solutions should be safe, reliable and robust. The experienced team at WOMA are in a position to develop or apply a solution tailored to your specific needs. The automations market promotes a plethora of ‘mechatronic’ systems, but caution must be applied as very few are able to withstand the rigours of an industrial environment where water, abrasive material and corrosive and intrusive chemicals are often the norm. It is therefore important that investment decisions are calculated and researched.
Unquestionably, robotics will increasingly revolutionise the industrial cleaning sector like never before and WOMA continues to demand improved outcomes around its related engineering, production and sales efficiencies. Safety, quality, productivity, profit and social/environmental awareness guide its ongoing direction and decisions. Change is never palatable to all, but in a global industrial climate characterised by skill shortages and draconian work, health and safety regulations, a change toward automation is a necessity.
For more information about WOMA, call + 61 8 94346622 or visit the website.
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