Peterson, Workington, UK

Peterson UK Ltd delivers critical logistics solutions to many different industries. From agriculture, coals and minerals to oil, gas, biofuels and biomass, they arrange inspections, coordinate logistics and can transport all goods safely by sea, on land or by air.

Their head office is based at Lillyhall, Workington, Cumbria and they have offices in the UK and Europe. The warehouse facility is client-owned and incorporates a workforce of both client employees and Peterson Staff. The facility is presently undergoing major refurbishment, therefore sub-contractors and visitors are also present within the Peterson facility.

Improved pedestrian and vehicle segregation

Although the facility has a robust Traffic Management Plan, suitable pedestrian walkways and safe areas, senior management identified the need to introduce additional safety controls to keep operatives safe within the area, due to the high-risk activities of loading and unloading vehicles and the need to make improvements to pedestrian and vehicle segregation.

The trial of the ZoneSafe Vehicle To Person Alert system was not as a replacement for control measures that were already applied at Petersons, but to create ‘safe work environments by reducing the risk of accidental collisions between pedestrian workers and industrial vehicles’ (as stated on the ZoneSafe site). The trial of the ZoneSafe system was introduced to support other positive safety-critical features that were already existing.

Peterson’s Lillyhall Site adheres to the standards required across the main nuclear site but looked to mirror and implement similar PPI standards within the facility.

Peterson stated that: ‘Although HSE guidance tells what we must achieve to work within the law, the very nature of sites and an embedded culture of accepted risk with regard to people, plant, interface sometimes makes this difficult to achieve.  The Project Delivery Directorate (PDD) has been working with its main contractors over the last year to develop a new PPD standard for segregation and close proximity working. ‘

The ZoneSafe Vehicle To Person Alert system was successfully trialled at the Peterson UK Ltd Lillyhall site on September 17^th, 2018.

What positive effects has the system had?

The ZoneSafe Vehicle To Person Alert System was found to be a very useful warning device within a facility where forklifts are being used and operators/pedestrians/visitors are sharing the same space, which is the type of activity they have at Lillyhall.

Results from employee consultations and questionnaires identified that the teams agreed that the new ZoneSafe Vehicle To Person Alert system would improve safety within an area where vehicles and pedestrians may at sometimes be in close proximity and prevent interaction. Data produced on a daily basis was visible on the facility notice boards to show the activations decrease dramatically over a period of time.

Although the Lillyhall site already has a positive proactive safety culture embedded within its workforce, the implementation of the alarm system has encouraged employees to be extra vigilant in a facility where pedestrians and vehicles work in close proximity, to reduce and prevent accidents, incidents and property damage.

Peterson stated:

‘Both the suppliers of the Zonesafe system and Avonwood customer service team have given constant support and guidance to improve the use of the equipment and software.’

After the implementation of ZoneSafe’s systems, Peterson was awarded the international standard ISO 45001:2018 accreditation for its occupational health and safety management system across all of its global sites,

Keith Dawson, Director of HSEQ, Peterson, commented:

“Keeping our people safe remains our number one priority and we are absolutely delighted to be one of the first companies to achieve this prestigious standard.  We are proud that our personal responsibility core value enables all our people to feel empowered to challenge unsafe behaviours and stop any jobs they deem to be unsafe.”