Improving safety with technology

Employees at our Worsley Alumina operation in Western Australia are utilising technology to enhance safety measures and improve performance.

A new robot, the BIKE platform, is now being used to carry out inspections on tanks, vessels and pipes as part of our focus to ensure that our people go home safe and well at the end of every shift.

One of the main advantages of these mobile robots is that they can reach locations inaccessible by humans because of size constraints, temperature, immersion in liquids or other safety reasons.

Operated remotely, the robots are fitted with wide view cameras and an ultrasonic probe to test for wear and corrosion of steel while its magnetic wheels enable it to climb walls, roofs and take on obstacles such as stairs and 90-degree corners.

This reduces the need for our employees to be working at heights or in confined spaces for testing purposes.

The use of this technology also builds on the Remote Visual Inspection (RVI) technology already used at Worsley Alumina to improve safety and reduce inspection costs.

To date, a total 67 confined space entries and 86 working at height activities have been eliminated by the introduction of the RVI technology.

Technology and innovation is radically shifting our performance.