Radio enhances forestry safety

Used in the forest harvesting industry, the Logsafe GPS Monitoring system was developed to help protect forestry workers who often work in very demanding conditions. By combining the Logsafe system with Icom’s NXDN radio technology, ‘breaking out’ and ‘falling’ staff are able to work with more peace of mind knowing that they have another layer of safety support on-site.

Dependable radios are crucial for this system to work efficiently. Icom digital radios were chosen to work with Logsafe because of the radio network’s capabilities. “Initial trials found Icom radios had the best GPS accuracy, fastest data transfer speeds, best battery life and highest flexibility in terms of programming commands with our Logsafe system,” said Joseph Brolly, managing director of Logsafe.

Thanks to accurate GPS, the hauler operator is now able to see the location of each breaker-out on the crew’s harvesting map in relation to the moving ropes. This system gives the hauler operator more peace of mind when going ahead with the drag after receiving the go-ahead, as they can confirm via the monitor screen that no breaker-out is in the no-go zone.

“The Logsafe system locates each breaker-out and displays their position relative to the moving ropes and the safe retreat zone on the crew’s harvesting map on the computer screen,” said Brolly. “This provides a last line of defence for more peace of mind for the hauler operator, particularly when the breakouts are working out of sight, which happens often.”

Existing systems rely on physical markers, tooter signals and verbal radio instructions. Icom radios are programmed to activate a warning alarm inside the hauler cab as well as the breaker-out handsets in the field if a breaker-out enters the no-go zone while the ropes are moving on inhaul or outhaul — ensuring breaker-outs are at least 15 metres from moving ropes at all times.

“This provides a warning system to raise awareness of a failure to retreat to the required position,” said Brolly.

Workers keep safely out of the way during logging operations.

Logsafe also offers fallers more support in the event of an emergency, helping to drastically reduce time taken to locate an injured faller, thanks in part to the Icom radio’s GPS accuracy and radio functionality. Fallers often work away from the rest of the crew on their own, which makes it hard to locate and respond in emergency situations.

Under the Logsafe system, faller location is displayed on-screen inside the hauler and updated every 80 seconds; exact real-time position is available at the touch of a button. The Logsafe system also supports the faller with a man-down system. If the faller’s radio is on angle of more than 45° for more than 120 seconds, a warning alarm will sound for 30 seconds on the radio. If the faller does not move to a vertical position within this time, the Icom radio will activate the emergency process.

Thanks to the radios, rescue teams are able to locate the injured faller faster as the faller’s GPS coordinates are sent to the hauler operator as well as the breaker-outs’ handheld radios. There is also an emergency button on the radios that instantly sends out an emergency alert and location to the crew.

The location of workers can be easily monitored.

Monitoring and managing new data such as safety and production information can also be reported thanks to the Logsafe system. The system is able to produce real-time reports on drag cycles per day, log count, faller check-in, tree drives and also the number of times a breaker-out enters the no-go zone, by tracking the GPS location of the Icom radios. This information can be used by crew management to assist with daily tailgate meetings. The Logsafe GPS system eliminates the use of physical markers as well as the need to cart around extra equipment. A radio is all that is needed by the ground crew for all voice, GPS and digital communication.

Icom’s waterproof GPS radios are programmed on forestry radio channels and have features such as IP67 waterproof/dustproof protection and MIL-STD 810-standard builds. The Logsafe GPS system is compatible with all cable-logging system and installations currently underway in New Zealand’s Northland, Dunedin and Napier regions.