Australasian Mining Review
Issue link: http://ebook.aprs.com.au/i/37922
267 Wheel Chocks A simple necessity for mining vehicles About a decade ago, Aidan Gorlick was working as a private contractor at the Stanwell power station outside of Rockhampton. His work vehicle, with a generator set in the back, had lacked a working handbrake and to start the genset he had to have the car running and simply got sick of leaving his work boots under the tyres to stop it running away. “I knew it wasn’t a safe use of my boots, so I got a couple of bits of angle iron from the workshop and made these chocks up for myself.” C ut of this single invention of a simple wheel chock design that enables people to safely chock their light vehicles, was born ARG Industries, using the sales from just one mine site and now the patented ARG Wheel Chocks are being used throughout Dysart’s coal operations and spreading to other mines in the Bowen Basin, Queensland and nationally. Mine sites require workers to chock vehicle wheels when not parked in a designated parking zone, but after hearing of a colleague hurting his back while taking a conventional chock out from under his tyre, Gorlick approached his safety offi cer and described his design. He was asked to make up a sample, and was surprised when the offi cer then asked if he could fi ll an order for 100 chocks and so ARG Industries commenced. The Wheel Chock device consists of two long triangles joined by a backing plate with a folding handle, eliminating the need for people to bend down when inserting or removing wheel chocks. “It’s a lot easier than the other chocks and if it saves one bloke’s back from being hurt we have achieved something.” One of the seven “Life Saving Rules” requires employees and contractors to park equipment securely so that it could not move in an uncontrolled way. “Aidan’s invention was not only very practical, but easy to implement. It greatly assists to make a safe practice even safer and ensures correct ergonomic posture while chocking vehicles,” quoted one of the local mine site managers. Less than two months after the chocks were designed, they were already widely embraced by the mines’ entire workforce. As demand grew we knew that we had to look at other options but we were determined to ensure the chocks remained an Australian manufactured product. We then found a company in Brisbane, SDI Plastics, that helped the ARG wheel chock transform into what it is today. The Chocks were fi rstly engineered for structural ability and strength and then trials were run on all types of surfaces so that the Chocks were “Engineered for Safety”, having been engineer certifi ed and checked for structural capacity. They have been tested in a variety of situations and the Chocks were found to have the following:- • single tyre load capacity of 2700kg. • stability using four wheel drive vehicles with a tyre diameter of 790mm and a max of 890mm. [Wheel Chocks] _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ issue 2.2 Each Chock assembly is to be used to restrain a single, stationary vehicle and the Wheel Chocks are currently produced using injection moulding and have a complexity of webbing to ensure strength. This webbing also allows the Chock to be light weight — the entire Chock weighs only 1.6 kg. As you will fi nd when you use the chocks they substantially reduce the risk of back and shoulder injuries resulting from bending down to pick up conventional Chocks. Demand has been ever increasing, and ARG Industries can supply the Wheel Chocks to anywhere in Australia. “We can see potential for our Wheel Chocks to be a great solution to reduce the incidence of back injuries and to be an important safety product, necessary for the safe use of mining vehicles throughout the country.” People seeking further information can contact ARG Industries at: Phone:- 0400 779 236 or 0439782818 Email:- argindustries@bigpond.com Web:- www.argindustries.com.au or “See us at Tent No:os9 at Surat Basin Mining Expo in Toowoomba.”