Safety |
It has been acknowledged by the Committee that producing an effective safety management system (SMS) was a necessity. To that end I developed and had approved by the Committee a SMS which will protect and ensure the safety of our members and visitors. The system includes the assessment of risks with implemented actions to either remove the risk altogether or, if not possible or reasonably practical, to ameliorate the risk to an acceptable level. In addition the SMS records accidents, incidents, and so called “near misses” so that actual or potential threats are recognised and dealt with including corrective actions. This year alone we recorded several incidents and two accidents which have been dealt with appropriately including the installation of effective corrective actions.
Probably the most significant safety improvement has been the installation of earth leakage devices in the Fettlers Shed Gallery to avoid electric shock. In addition, all electrical devices have been tested for safe operation and suitably tagged. This procedure will be an annual event. The SMS is mounted in a suitable folder and mounted on the wall for easy visibility in the Gallery. A copy of the SMS is also held in the station building office. The SMS is scheduled for review in February 2017. |
Maintenance |
General
The maintenance roll has been quite busy. Essentially there are two types of maintenance, namely, routine repairs to the station’s structures, grounds and equipment and preventative maintenance to assist with keeping all those things in good working condition. By way of examples this year we have had to make repairs to the Rover rotary mower where the steel tubing of the handle fractured and more importantly to replace the cutting disc which fractured and flew off the crankshaft. This was also recorded as an incident under the SMS. Fortunately there was no injury when this occurred. Whilst this was attended to we also had the mower serviced including the fitting of new blades. In terms of preventative maintenance the ride-on mower was given a service, all pad locks were inspected and lubricated, electrical items tested and tagged, as explained earlier, as well as some other minor repairs and maintenance. Concrete-Cancer Project The single most important maintenance item is the repair of various concrete sections of the station building, the signal box, station destination sign and “Lamp Shed”. These have significant “concrete-cancer” problems whereby sections are spalling and falling away which is not only an eye-sore but, if not attended to soon, will only worsen and limit the lifespan of these valuable and historic structures. This concrete-cancer problem had been an issue for some time. We applied and received $10,000 from the Transport Heritage NSW 2015 grant process, which is administered by the Royal Australian Historical Society acting on behalf of THNSW. Given that this grant would not adequately cover all repairs I approached ARTC who agreed to provide another $10,670, which was the balance required to complete the job according to the quote we had previously received. A contractor from the Southern Highlands was engaged to make repairs. This included site inspections and a discussion about the process to not only make repairs but to ensure that the repairs maintain the structures in good condition for many years to come. Once we were satisfied that this contracting firm could effectively make repairs it was decided that work could begin in early February 2016. However, work didn’t actually start until May when the first step in the process, namely the wet abrasive blasting, was carried out by a sub-contractor. The next steps were to take place within about 2 weeks of the abrasive blasting. In fact this has not yet happened despite several emails and phone calls. Apparently tradesmen in the Southern Highlands, and many other places, are dealing with a large amount of work so delays are to be expected. To make things worse a very unfortunate accident occurred whereby the owner of the contracting business died in an industrial accident at his worksite in Moss Vale. These tragic circumstances have delayed the continuation of the project but discussions and a site meeting have taken place with the deceased’s son who will take over the work of his late father. I feel confident that the work will be finalised and to our satisfaction but I must report that this project has been a great source of frustration for me. Future Maintenance
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I would like to take this opportunity to thank President Ian Wallace and the committee generally for their encouragement and support in the last year.
Neil Harvey
September 2016
Neil Harvey
September 2016