Case Study:
Ergonomic Assessment of Waste Crane Operator Chairs in Lincolnshire
Installation Date: March 2024 | EFW facility
The Objective:
The objective was to design and manufacture two waste crane operator control chairs for turnkey installation.
A leading waste management facility identified a need to improve the working conditions of their crane operators. The new chairs were specified to include enhanced ergonomics, multi-operator facilities, and reliability, with the aim of benefiting crane operators. In addition, the project included the decommission of the two existing malfunctioning chairs which were still in use (this includes removal from site and disposal).
The Solution
The solution was the FSMMD Ultra which has been designed with ergonomics in mind.
With a memory pin lock function, the FSMMD Ultra is able to remember the individual settings of up 30 different operators changing the position settings within seconds. Previous chairs were having to be altered by every user manually taking time away from the job.
The FSMMD Ultra also offers a variety of adjustable options such as an ergonomic standing working position that successfully aligned with FCC’s requirements.
The Installation
Before reaching the control room, certain components of the FSMMD control units, including the left and right console boxes and the swinging monitor arm, needed to be detached as there was a service lift up to the control room. Once on-site, these parts were reattached to ensure proper fitting.
One of the existing chairs was then disconnected, disassembled and removed from the control room, leaving one chair still in operation to ensure that services could resume as normal.
The base mounting bracket required modifications before the new chair base could be installed. Our contractor then began the electrical wiring of the first FSMMD chair. Once all services back to the chair had been wired in and connected it was then ready for testing. Crane software, previously used by by the client, needed to be updated and verified beforehand. We co-ordinated with the crane manufacturer to be on-site to assist us with the GSD software transition for the Profibus controls on the chairs. The new FSMMD chair was then commissioned into use.
These steps were then repeated the following week for the second FSMMD control chair operator.
Each FSMMD control chair took two and half days to install.
