Dando takes the initiative with drilling rig safety.
New control system opens doors for Dando.
From the design office of the UK’s most innovative rig builder comes the new Dando Geotec 10EH. Developed in conjunction with drilling contractor, Soil Mechanics, this machine addresses some of the safety concerns that both our customers and the wider market have voiced recently.
The rig features hydraulically actuated guard gates are opened and closed via the same Electro Hydraulic control system that also gives the machine unprecedented drilling control and performance. While the gates are opened, the safety interlocks reduce the available rotation speed and, critically, torque. A secondary remote radio control gives control of the head functions while in this disarmed state with full speed and torque being returned only when the gates are closed from the main drilling control panel. The emergency stop triggers on both control panels and on the rig are backed up by trip-wire type emergency stops within the working area. This safety system is so tightly integrated into the controls of the rig as to be practically impossible to override.
Martin Fitch-Roy, Managing Director says:
“Dando have been working on improvements to the safety features for some time. The message that we have been hearing from the marketplace has been fairly consistently one of frustration. Contractors are eager to meet new HSE regulation and minimise the risk to their workforce while still maintaining good rates of production and efficiently run drill sites. Until now, the majority of the drill-area guarding systems fitted to rotary rigs were either retro-fitted or factory added to existing machines which often restricted the drillers ability to maintain reasonable work rates and were liable to circumvention by drill crews to avoid the frustration to their work.
With the development of the new Geotec 10EH Dando are able to offer a machine that has the safety equipment, the guarding and the interlocks, fully integrated into the control system. This safety system works in sympathy to the way the rig operative wants to work while still maintaining the highest levels of crew safety.”
The EH safety system is being rolled out across the entire Dando range of rigs bound for the UK and European markets with immediate effect. Click here for more information.