Safe Design
Every business owner has a “duty of care” to themselves, their employees and the greater public. At Vacvator we have built our trucks to ensure we meet the strict safety standards required to work on any work site in the country.
Operation & Maintenance Manuals
All Vacvator trucks are supplied with a safe operation and maintenance handbook. These are a requirement for all plants and our trucks are no exception. There is also a basic safe operation and start up procedure located inside the control panel as a second line of defence. By default, the simplicity of operation and start-up of the truck eliminates steps that can lead to mistakes, this reduces the risk of harm to the operator and others on the surrounding worksite.
CAN Bus
Our integrated CAN Bus system is an important design feature that helps to ensure that we meet these high safety standards. Not only does the system make it very simple for the operator to use the truck, the built-in safety features protect the unit and more importantly ensure that the vacuum truck is safe to operate on and off the road. Our trucks are designed and engineered to guarantee we maintain legal axle weight distribution irrespective of being empty or full. Built in scales are incorporated into the CAN Bus control to shut down the vacuum unit once the maximum axle weight is reached, making it safe to drive on public roads.
The safe working pressure for the high-pressure water pump is also set in the CAN Bus system. Each state and utility authority has different allowable cutting pressures to ensure their assets cannot be damaged by the non-destructive excavation process. This also protects the operator as high-pressure water can be harmful if set too high or used incorrectly. The system is also used to detect failures in the pump or any part of the high-pressure system to limit damage to the truck and further protect the operator.
All data is logged in the CAN Bus system, if the safe operation of any process is over-ridden, this action will be permanently recorded in the system to guarantee accountability.
The Boom
The remotely operated boom on Vacvator trucks are designed so that they do not have to be extended much above the height of the truck to reach any excavation point anywhere around the truck. One of the greatest dangers for plant operators is using mobile equipment in the facility of overhead power lines. Cranes, concrete pumps, excavator’s, tipper’s and vacuum trucks all have the potential to strike power lines or low-level structures around the work site. Vacvator has used the first “hierarchy of control” – elimination, to engineer this risk out with a unique boom design.
The design also means that only a short extension piece is required to vacuum mud close to the truck. The main reason for a remote-control boom on a vacuum truck, is to reduce the incidence of back injuries for the operator. Large 6” or 8” vacuum hoses can be very heavy and even heavier during operation due to the transfer of slurry from the excavation point through to the vacuum tank. Vacvator have ensured their boom design is simple & effective to operate and in doing so reduced as much as possible the need for manual handling.
Reduced Noise
Vacvator have worked hard over the years to design and manufacture a truck that is safe for the operator to use. Although personal protective equipment (PPE) is necessary for all construction sites, reducing the inherent risk to the operator from high noise levels, using good engineering principals and superior design, is what we strive for at Vacvator. At a maximum of 82 dBA an operator can safely carry out a conversation to others nearby or on other forms of mobile or two-way communication. Communication on job sites is key to safety and we are doing our bit to make sure it’s a design priority of our trucks.
Remote Control
All our standard trucks are fitted with a handheld remote control. This allows the operator to stand away from the truck and operate the boom, open the back door, and tip the load in a safe location. It also has the added benefit of allowing the operator to observe their surroundings to ensure other workers or the public are not in danger of being struck by the unit during its operation. The remote can also start and stop the unit operation and shut the truck down, it has a safety E-stop built into the remote.
Standard Safety Features
All trucks are fitted standard with:
- Reversing camera
- Reversing beepers
- Fold down safety handrails for safe access to the top of the trucks for maintenance
- E-stops in easy access locations around the truck
- Earthing lead – reduce static electricity
- Fire extinguishers
- Hand washing station – personal hygiene, this is particularly important to ensure regular hand washing during COVID-19
- Safety props – for the back door and tank prop to allow safe access for maintenance of the unit
- Flashing beacon
- Two-way radio
Safety Options
We can option the trucks to provide other safety additions, including;
- Extra clearance lights
- Additional flashing beacons
- Front and side cameras
- Under-run bars
- Driving lights
- Variable message signs
We can help you select the right model!
At Vacvator we have Non-Destructive Digging (NDD), Jetting/NDD combo, Dry Vac/NDD combo trucks available for our customers to select from. Our industry experts are here to help you select the right model and truck for your application.