Fall protection system installed at South Australia’s railcar depot

South Australia’s recently completed Dry Creek Railcar Depot has a capacity to stable up to 70 railcars. The facility houses railcar workshops, access pits and sophisticated lifting machinery, where more than 50 operators can undertake train servicing and maintenance activities.

Sayfa Systems was selected to provide its Raptor Overhead Rail Fall Arrest system for installation at the depot. The system provides continuous fall protection for multiple users while providing freedom of movement to all operators.

Compared to restrictive static line systems, the overhead rail system provides a high level of safety and rigidity due to minimum rail deflection in a fall-arrest situation, minimising the possibilities of injury to the operator from protruding objects or surfaces.

Additionally, the uninterrupted smooth functionality of the robust wheeled trolley in the heavy-duty rail track profile ensures complete freedom of movement for the operator.

The Dry Creek Railcar Depot’s main facility shed has six rails, each 88 m in length, and is used by 36 maintenance operators. The undercarriage and roof wash shed has two lines, each running 79 m; and the diesel maintenance facility has two lines, each 48 m in length.

The Raptor modular componentry provides simple, quick and trouble-free installation. As a result, installation times at the depot were reduced by ~75% compared to some other systems, achieving a significant cost saving.

Minimal maintenance of the rail system was a prime consideration in the specifications from the client. By virtue of the minimal moving parts of the Raptor trolley and modular components, routine maintenance is limited to 12-month intervals.

The Raptor Overhead Rail Fall Arrest system is particularly suited to applications where an overhead supporting structure or surface exists, to which the rail sections can be securely bolted and then coupled to permit horizontal travel of the fall-arrest trolley. The other components, including the mounting brackets and rail couplers, support stays and end stops, are then assembled to the rail sections by means of specified fasteners.

The system can also be retrofitted to existing structures and easily extended if required, to provide a facility for safe and continuous access under restraint to workers while executing installation and maintenance activities.

The rail system components are manufactured in profiled high-tensile aluminium and the trolley body in austenitic stainless steel, with two main sets of double precision ball bearing roller wheels, threaded shafts and securing components. The centrally located auxiliary set of alignment bearings overcomes any tendency to crabbing or jamming of the trolley in operation.