Semi-automatic quick hitch alarm system offers low-cost solution to a burning issue.

Every once in a while, a product comes along that you just think is RIGHT; an iPod moment, if you will. Well here’s the latest.

It doesn’t look like much but the semi-automatic quick hitch alarm is clearly the result of a considerable amount of homework by inventor Tony Bianchi. The result is a product that simply does what a thousand health and safety inspectors and a million toolbox talks have summarily failed to achieve – Ensuring that the retaining pin is in place on a semi-automatic hitch.

The video is pretty self-explanatory – An electronic system sounds an exceptionally irritating alarm if the retaining pin is not inserted. It’s worth noting that the tried and tested method of replacing the pin with a lump of rebar will not fool the system.

As we have discussed previously here at www.demolitionnews.com, European manufacturers have agreed to cease production of semi-automatic couplers. But this agreement is NOT retrospective, leaving a good many demolition contractors operating semi-automatic hitches whose safety can be compromised by a lazy or forgetful operator. In these instances, the Quick Switch appears to provide the answer.

Joint -Venture ramps up fight against demolition equipment theft.

At SED 2009, Enigma Vehicle Systems PLC and Meck Lock UK will announce a new collaboration in security and tracking products for the UK demolition and construction equipment industry. The companies have jointly developed a new system that provides the benefits of the Skyline advanced GPS satellite tracking and telematics system from Enigma and the hydraulic anti-theft system from Meck Lock simultaneously. The new system will be demonstrated for the first time on the Meck Lock Stand No 140P in the Blue Pavilion at SED.

Mike Ford, Managing Director of Meck Lock UK, said: “We have been examining the satellite tracking market for some time now and found that the Enigma system and service was top of the tree. Unlike many of the tracking companies out there, Enigma has a strong focus and an excellent track record in the construction equipment market and could provide the intricacy we needed. Through our new collaboration, customers now have a system that combines the best of two very good products to provide a truly formidable barrier against equipment theft.”

Ian Keam-George, Chief Executive of Enigma Vehicle Systems, said: “A number of our customers specify the Meck Lock system, which is one of the leading anti-theft products of its type on the market. Our new collaboration is in response to requests to combine the systems, but we have taken this a stage further so that Skyline not only provides tracking and telematics information, it also allows customers to communicate with and operate the Meck Lock system remotely. We believe the combination of the systems adds a new element to the protection of remote assets in the construction equipment industry.”

In an exclusive podcast, www.demolitionnews.com discusses the subject of quick couplers.

The issue of semi-authomatic quick couplers is a problem that simply refuses to go away. In this exclusive podcast, www.demolitionnews.com’s Mark Anthony discusses this thorny topic with David Jones of CDM2007.org.

Please note that the podcast has been split into three parts of less than 10 minutes each to make viewing (and uploading) more manageable). We look forward to receiving your comments and feedback.

Quick Couplers Part I

Quick Couplers Part II

Quick Couplers Part III

Caterpillar cuts working hours at Desford backhoe/mini plant still further.

UK Trade magazine Contract Journal is reporting that Caterpillar has agreed even shorter working hours for staff at its Desford plant in Leicestershire which assembles mini excavators and backhoe loaders. From 1 June, the working week for the staff of around 500 is being reduced to 25.5 hours over three days from the current 34 hours over four days. However, the workers will still be paid for 30 hours.

Click here for the full story.

New series of The Detonators available to preview now.

Our good friends (and sponsors) C&D Consultancy have advised us that a new series of the Discovery Channel series “The Detonators” is about to start and that some preview footage is now available online.

Although C&D’s work on the blowdown of Sighthill Flats, Glasgow is not yet released, the preview footage is well-worth a viewing.

Thank you for all the site visits and comments yesterday.

The recession is in meltdown, the G20 are in town and there were rioters on the streets of London. But here at www.demolitionnews.com, we were enjoying our most successful day since we launched last year.

Thanks to a ridiculously stupid April Fool’s prank, this site achieved its highest ever number of visits in a single day. Interestingly, our sister site (www.demolition-job.so.uk just experienced a 1,038% increase in site visits, although such a level of interst does not bode well for the industry).

So for all of you that took the time out of your busy schedules, we thank you.

The Health and Safety Executive has announced radical steps to reduce site accidents.

With on site accidents static or rising, the Health and Safety Executive is recommending radical steps to prevent injuries from slips, trips, cuts, scrapes and broadsword attack.

Effective 1 April 2009, the HSE is recommending that all workers be supplied with a highly polished suit of armour that is impervious to all forms of likely damage. “We are recommending highly polished as, aside from the glare, it offers exceptionally high levels of visibility; far higher than those cheap and nasty high vis’ vests which, let’s face it, are very difficult to accessorise,” the HSE says. “Furthermore, there will no longer be an excuse for workers not having the correct PPE equipment with them at all times as they will be welded into these suits at the start of each working week and have no form of escape other than, perhaps, a sturdy can opener.”

The HSE says the new suits are being introduced in advance of the instigation of the Falling Over/Object Law (FOOL) later this year.

Although this latest move is designed specifically to reduce site accidents, the HSE believes that the new suits will have additional, day-to-day benefits. “Many demolition jobs take place in potentially rough inner city locations where there is a constant threat of physical violence,” the Executive explains. “Wearing these new suits, demolition workers can walk the streets of the UK safely and without fear of anything other than public ridicule and rust.”

Union representatives and other trade bodies report that they are currently preparing a response to the introduction of the new suits although www.demolitionnews.com understands that there has been a sudden, inexplicable and significant increase in sales of WD40 and Brasso.

“Our Medieval forebears knew a thing or two about safety,” concludes the HSE spokesperson. “So long as demolition workers remain constantly aware of potential arrow-induced eye injuries, these suits will reduce site accidents significantly.”

French Caterpillar executives detained by employees amidst redundancy pay dispute.

UK trade magazine Contract Journal has picked up on a report in The Times newspaper about the apparent “bossnapping” of some senior French Caterpillar executives.

Four of the equipment giant’s executives were apparently detained by their employees in a protest over redundancy pay.

Further details here.

An excavator operator has been airlifted to hospital after being struck by a 10 metre pipe.

Fire crews have been called to rescue an excavator operator after a 10 metre steel pipe fell three storeys and punched through the roof of his cab, pinning him in his machine.

Full details can be found here.

Attachment and quick coupler manufacturer Miller unveils new-style quick coupler.

If you cast your mind back to 18 December 2008 – you know, just before the office party – you might recall Miller International’s Keith Miller speaking here about the subject of semi automatic quick hitches and changes to regulations and the like.

Unbeknown to us at that time, Keith and his team of highly trained Geordie engineers were beavering away to develop the latest word in quick coupler technology: the Twinlock II. The new unit features an exclusive Automatic Blocking System (ABS) mechanical back-up to automatically secure both the front and rear attachment pins in the event that engagement forces are lost.

Demonstrated on a cold and wet site in the shadow of the new Wembley Stadium, the result is an impressive yet remarkably simple piece of engineering: