Two Way Radios Impact on Worker Safety

City Care has provided us with an excellent case study on the importance of mobile two-way communications when it comes to worker safety. 

City Care provides construction, maintenance and management services across New Zealand. Since May 2015 City Care workers such as spotters and surface crews have used Vertex Standard VX456 portable radios. 

Spotters and machine operators work in pairs at worksites, so each is issued with a radio. For safety reasons, the spotter watches the hole and digger bucket and is responsible for stopping work if pipes, cables or networks are encountered. 

previously spotters used their voice – difficult in a noisy environment where heavy machinery necessitates earmuffs – or hand signals to communicate. 

“The drawbacks of hand signals is that the spotter can’t always be in a safe place and be seen. You need good eye-to-eye contact which can be difficult on some jobs. And obviously the operator can’t signal back if they are operating machinery” explains Brian Keown, landscapes manager at City Care 

Fundamentally what the Vertex Standard VX456 and other walkie talkie radios offer for teams like City Care is efficient open channels of communication, as well as   

Better Worker Safety: Improved worker safety has been the major purpose and benefit of the rollout. “The addition of the radios is all about improved safety and communication, even across a variety of roles,” says Keown.

Hands-free operation: Clipped to lapels of workers operating machinery, the radios are light and provide hands-free communication. 

Reliable battery life: ‘Some radios are used every day all day and we have no battery life issues”

Working with TL Parker has worked well for City Care “T L Parker have been really good. I like to research and ask lots of questions before committing. They were very patient, helpful, upfront and responsive. They provided good guidance on what we needed and really understood how we tick. And it’s a good product”