MHW Magazine News and stories from the Materials Handling Industry
Following the recent introduction of a new materials handling fleet from Briggs Equipment, Babcock International Group’s Logistics Centre of Excellence Team is delighted to win
a prestigious company award in recognition of its commitment to attaining the highest safety standards.
Each year Babcock International Group, the UK’s leading engineering support services organisation, organises the Safety Excellence Awards to acknowledge achievements across its business.
"Over the last 18 months Briggs Equipment has worked closely with Babcock, to understand its culture and the mind-set of the staff that would be operating the fleet, prior to identifying an MHE solution that would fulfil the company’s technical requirements," says Briggs Equipment’s Account Manager Dan Bovingdon.
"We’re delighted that the understanding we developed with the Logistics Centre of Excellence Team, which was key to us being able to devise a ‘safety first’ MHE solution, has led to it winning a prestigious internal safety award which is recognised throughout Babcock International Group."
In the award submission Logistics Centre of Excellence Manager Mark Jackson cited the value of the sustained open communication he enjoys with Briggs Equipment. He also commended the company for its willingness to go the extra mile to ensure that not only would the new MHE fleet satisfy Babcock’s requirements in Plymouth, but also that the specification would promote driver safety.
Following consultation with Briggs Equipment account managers Steve Fogg and Dan Bovingdon, Mark Jackson and Transport and Operations Manager Dave Westlake specified pneumatic tyres to improve driver comfort by reducing whole body vibration. High visibility seat belts interlocked with the vehicle ignition also help ensure drivers comply with the company’s safety at work policies.
However, the most significant safety improvement was achieved by fitting Briggs Equipment’s intelligent fleet management telemetry tool to all vehicles. The system transmits data via roaming GSM to a PC so fleet managers always have the most up-to-date information at their fingertips, enabling them to attain their desired level of control, efficiency and health and safety compliance.
"Briggs Equipment’s telemetry system provides a common approach across our MHE fleet and gives us control over access, enabling our newly appointed team of forklift controllers to make sure that only trained, competent and authorised staff operate the new vehicles," says Babcock’s Logistics Centre of Excellence Manager Mark Jackson.
"We are very impressed with the system’s ability to enforce pre-shift safety checks, as this reassures us that our drivers are complying with all legal requirements to carry out appropriate checks before starting work. Also, because the tool alerts us to any impact a vehicle sustains, we can take prompt action to arrange repairs and assess any additional driver training requirements," adds Dave Westlake.
The importance of a solid relationship between logistics customer and MHE supplier was reinforced when Briggs Equipment took another customer, Princess Yachts, on a fact-finding visit to Babcock’s site.
"The Logistics Centre of Excellence Team agreed to us using the Devonport Royal Dockyard as a reference site and Princess Yachts was so impressed with what it saw, particularly in relation to how the MHE solution was targeting the highest possible safety standards, that it subsequently placed an order for equipment that incorporates all of the enhanced safety features specified on the Babcock fleet," adds Steve Fogg.
