Cyclone, Cyclonic Shelters, Cyclone Goerge, Lowrie Constructions

Worksafe wins Cyclone George appeal

WorkSafe WA Commissioner Nina Lyhne said today that the Supreme Court decision was a welcome one. "This decision sends a strong message to all employers that workplace safety and health should be given high priority, " Ms

Lyhne said.

"It also underlines the fact that the responsibility for providing and maintaining a safe environment may extend to the employees of a contractor. "The events surrounding Cyclone George were tragic, and cases like this should serve as a warning to ensure that this type of tragedy never happens again."

WA Business News: 2-August-10 by edited announcement.

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Cyclonic Shelters

CAT5Lock Down Shelters

The approach of the 2010-2011 cyclone season in northern Australia has coincided with recent landmark court determinations recommending significantly higher standards of safety and shelter for employees on mining sites, during severe adverse weather conditions.

An example of one such court edict for a well publicised WA incident which very sadly included fatalities and injuries, is included in this correspondence to you.

The incident, and the subsequent recommendations, are a timely if sobering reminder of the dangers of working in these remote and extreme conditions, and from our perspective, the need for providers such as Lowrie Constructions to assist meet the expectations of your employees, their families and regulatory authorities, for the mining (and remote living) sectors to achieve continually improved safety and operating environments.

The edict that “every employee has the right to return home from work uninjured” holds as much relevance today as it has historically – but more so in our cyclone prone areas from Cairns to the Top End and through to the Pilbara and far north of WA. These regions are home to an intensifying number of mining and exploration operations and therefore the number of personnel that have to be located and housed for longer periods “on the ground”.

The location of your personnel on a mining site is increasingly, a 24/7, 12-month a year necessity – regardless of the extremes of Mother Nature.

To that end, Lowrie Constructions - as one of Australia's most innovative suppliers of Specialist Transportable Buildings – has continued to evolve the safety and performance specifications of our Cyclone Shelters – a range we refer to as the CAT5 Lock Down Unit.

The “CAT5” nomenclature is not a fancy play on words – it refers to the ability of the Lowrie shelter to protect those within from cyclones rated up to Category 5 – the worst case scenarios for such storms on Australia’s meteorological barometer.

Although these rooms are more expensive than a standard room, as they need to protect life for up to 36 hours potentially through extreme conditions. It is however, possible to integrate these rooms in to the site with double usage with other distinct benefits and savings as follows.

Your employees are safe

Site safety is not compromised

Employees do not have to be evacuated for days on end, hundreds or thousands of kilometres south, with resultant transport costs and loss in productivityOnground operations can resume almost immediately the weather danger has passed, and Your company can avoid years of costly potential litigation through the courts.

The CAT5 Lock Down Unit - it’s not just a product – it’s a service.

Lowrie Constructions would welcome a chance to explore with you ahead of the 2011 cyclone period, any such need by your company, and if useful, tailor a unit to your specific site and personnel requirements.

Purpose:

To design/engineer a Super Structure that could be applied to a range of multi-purpose transportable buildings specifically for the mining/resource/civil sector to deal with the most severe cyclonic conditions offering adequate personnel protection whilst remaining on site, negating the need to evacuate large numbers from site and recommencing production quicker. The team decided to take a practical approach to this problem and agreed that these buildings should be in day to day use as part of the existing camp infrastructure.

In the event of a cyclone warning these buildings can be effectively locked down until danger has passed. You can link to our standard range of building that will house 25 to 400 personnel. Typically the following buildings are ideal for these shelters.

Kitchen/Lunch Rooms

Dining/Recreation Rooms

Class Rooms/Training Centers

Smaller shelters are ideal for smaller numbers of personnel involved in exploration and or drilling working in remote areas. These shelters can be mounted on a truck/tilt tray and moved regularly from site to site. Given, that these teams will take transportable facilities with them in the normal course of events the new CAT5 Shelters are ideal.

Equipping the Shelter:

The design teams approach was to look at the building from the outside-in ensuring these shelters would pass the required engineering specifications. Once inside the team looked at providing basic facilities and levels of comfort. Typically a standard shelter specification will include:-

Temporary Power Pack

Basic Medical Room/Office

Kitchen Area

Main Seating Area

Reception Area

Communications Hub

Toilet Facilities

Entertainment Area/Centre

Supply Store

Water Tank

Air Conditioning

Approach:

Whilst, there are a number of standard buildings available we are happy to look at size/configuration for your particular building/site requirements. We fully understand that due to local ground conditions you may opt to provide us with an outline to work to. This may include an emergency vehicle(s) shelter, the option to add additional modular units etc.

Specification: (Super Structure)

There will be one standard specification applied across the entire range; every Shelter will be rated for Region ‘D’ severe tropical cyclone areas. With the accelerating impact of climate change, as experienced in Queensland, Australia, prolonged periods of drought, the frequency of and severity of severe weather events such as storms, cyclones and storm surges.

Back ground:

The need for shelter building during severe tropical cyclone arises from people who do not have suitable accommodation to resist wind load and wind borne debris or who are evacuated from areas which may be inundated by the sea water due to a tidal surge. Accommodation of people from potential storm tide inundation areas presents the greatest need for shelter.

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