The Halo Light™ Personal Active Safety System Improved Safety During Nighttime Resurfacing and Repaving Project
Safety is a key concern across many jobs and industries, including construction, mining, and emergency services. Lighting solutions available today can help personnel on site be safer and more visible, but they have their limitations. Most on-site lighting is designed to illuminate a large area of the worksite or task area. Area lighting is not particularly mobile and often depends on diesel fuel generators or some type of semi-permanent electrical utility. This results in electrical cabling running over jobsites, creating additional trip hazards. In addition to trip hazards, large area lighting often washes out the illuminated area making it difficult to distinguish personnel from equipment. Task-specific lighting, such as headlamps and flashlights, is not designed to keep workers safe and visible and often provides an inadequate amount of light, making it difficult for workers to do their jobs effectively. The right solution should help to illuminate the worker and the work area, making it safer and easier to get the job done. Granite Construction discovered this during a recent resurfacing and repaving project.
NIGHTTIME REPAVING
Granite Construction is one of the largest diversified heavy civil contractors and construction materials producers in the United States. The company was awarded the resurfacing and repaving project on Interstate 90, a few miles east of Snoqualmie Pass in Washington State. This stretch of road endures some of the harshest wear conditions of any Washington State roadway due to extreme temperature fluctuations and heavy truck traffic. A unique part of this project was that the east- and west-bound lanes were resurfaced using different paving techniques so that the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) could study the surface conditions over the next few years and determine the better method to use going forward. The project team consisted of WSDOT inspectors, truck drivers, equipment operators, density testers, and laborers.
The project took place during nighttime and early-morning hours. Due to roadway restrictions, it was possible to only shut down one lane at a time. Heavy equipment moved slowly down the single closed lane while dump trucks cycled back and forth from the asphalt plant. Dump trucks entered the lane in between cones directly from the moving lane of traffic. Light stands were used on the main paving machine and there were light towers at the very beginning of the lane closure. Otherwise, the full length of the operation was in darkness.
Since this project was a live roadway jobsite with possible flying objects and overhead debris, there was a high level of concern for the contractors’ safety. This section of the highway has no permanent lighting and there was no ambient lighting, making it an extremely dark and dangerous environment. Workers needed to be able to both see and be seen while they worked around moving equipment, with the motoring public moving past at 60+ mph just a few feet away. The field team and the district safety manager sought to test out a better lighting solution that would improve the working conditions on the jobsite.
BRINGING IN THE HALO LIGHT
Granite Construction first learned about ILLUMAGEAR in 2012 and assisted the company in the development of The ILLUMAGEAR Halo Light, which was brought to market in 2014. The Halo Light is a Personal Active Safety System™ that attaches to any standard hard hat and produces a ring of light around the wearer, enabling him or her to see and be seen in all directions at all times, helping keep him safe so he can focus on his job. The Halo Light is the ideal safety and task light, offering four light modes (Halo, HI-Alert, Task, and Dim) and up to 276 lumens of power in 360-degrees. It is visible over a quarter mile away while illuminating the wearer’s task area out to his or her visual periphery.
Accordingly, the nighttime paving project provided a good opportunity to test out The Halo Light in action. Almost everyone involved with the project, including density testers, material handlers, inspectors, safety manager, project manager, and laborers, wore The Halo Light. Workers reported that they were able to see their task areas better and said they felt safer and were more visible to both the heavy equipment operators and civilian traffic.
Keith, a laborer on the project summarized Granite’s experience: “The Halo Light illuminates better than any light I’ve used. It’s like a guardian angel, man.”
Max Baker, the CEO of ILLUMAGEAR, was on site for the field tests. “The Granite team was pleased with the testing results. The Halo Light not only allowed their team to be seen at all times, but workers were able to see better than with their standard camping lights, enabling them to more effectively perform their jobs,” he says. “We feel that personal active lighting versus just passive safety equipment, such as reflective vests, will contribute to improved overall jobsite safety for companies like Granite across the globe.”
Granite placed an initial order for units based on the results of these field tests and has placed subsequent orders with ILLUMAGEAR since.
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For More Information For more information about The Halo Light, visit www.illumagear.com.
Modern Contractor Solutions, July 2014
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