Safety First on track worksites with SCWS and MRWS
PARTNER – Safety of employees on track worksites is essential. ZÖLLNER Signal, the world’s leading supplier of solutions from Signal Controlled Warning Systems (SCWS) to standalone solutions like the Automatic Track Warning System (ATWS), explains how their products help to create safe work environments across the industry.
SCWS uses existing train position information from the interlocking or RBC. A SCWS fail-safe controller combines the positions of track workers and vehicles and sends out a warning for the track workers in time of approaching trains or hazards, allowing them to clear the track safely. “Failsafe warning information is thus present in the whole network”, Britta Lissinna, head of sales at ZÖLLNER Signal explains, “which leads to an improvement in efficiency, since no planning of the safety measures is necessary, and the warning system can be used immediately.”
On smaller worksites it is usually sufficient to warn people for trains running on adjacent tracks, but additional risks arise on more complex track renewal worksites. These can be reduced by using the function “Blocking of Movement”. This means that train movements can be held back until the personnel on the track have confirmed that the danger zone has been cleared and all employees on the worksite have entered the safe area.
According to ZÖLLNER, SCWS is highly recommended on new project developments such as Rail Baltica, as the interface between the signalling system and the SCWS controller can be integrated in the initial specification stage, as Lissinna indicates. “For railway networks with existing interlockings, the ATWS standalone solution is preferable and immediately ready for use.”
ATWS: ready for immediate use
Automatic warning systems (ATWS) are flexible and ensure optimum safety for every type of maintenance or worksite, according to the Kiel-based supplier. The mobile radio warning system MRWS can be used as lockout operated, semi-automatic, fully automatic or even as a permanent solution (combined with axle counters). “Many worksites to be protected have limited worksite length. As these measures are often only of short duration and mobile, the MRWS (Mobile Radio Warning System) is perfectly adapted ensuring a quick installation, low material costs, easy handling and the perfectly adapted acoustic warning.”
The acoustic warning devices use the Autoprowa effect. This means the ambient noise level is measured 20 times per second and the optimum warning level is issued with the exact needed volume: neither too loud nor too soft. According to the head of sales for ZÖLLNER Signal, “this ensures optimum perceptibility of the warning with minimum noise exposure.”
When large construction machines are used on track worksites, they require a machine-specific and permanently installed warning system, to ensure that the warning signal can be safely heard in its proximity on the worksite. “Alternatively, our warning devices can also be temporarily mounted on the machine”, Lissinna explains. “In either case, the machine’s own warning system is controlled via a MRWS on the track side.”
Images 3 (depending on the space you can use one of them or all three; they all show machine warning with our warning device ZPW126-10, one shows the ZPW126-10 in warning on the machine)
Digital at a glance with ZCloud
ZÖLLNER also offers a service called ZCloud, which “revolutionises the way our customers can manage their warning systems”. Components can be assigned into systems digitally and the individual status of each component can be viewed at any time. “Besides providing a continuous overview of all operations”, Lissinna notes, “the ZCloud also serves as an aid for remote diagnostics, immediately allowing us necessary insights, should you need us by your side.”
“To ensure optimum safety for personnel for every type of track work”, Lissina concludes, “ZÖLLNER has developed a wide range of products that can be flexibly combined with one another.”