- Tended and RSS Infrastructure announce a ground-breaking partnership
- The partnership will leverage wearable geofencing technology to enhance safety in the rail sector
- The technology builds on RSS Infrastructure’s commitment to new safety innovations in the rail industry alongside SATWS, ATWS and Remote TCODs
Tended, an innovator in safety solutions, and RSS Infrastructure, a recognised leader in railway safety, are pleased to announce a partnership in providing geofencing technology to the rail sector. This game-changing collaboration will deliver greater flexibility and ease of deployment across projects.
The partnership with Tended allows RSSI to provide a fully comprehensive service under the Trackworker Protection and Warning Systems Standard from W1 to W4. This collaboration underlines RSSI’s commitment to safety, productivity, and maintaining its position as a leading supplier of technical safety services in the rail sector.
Geofencing is quickly becoming the new industry standard for improving track worker situational awareness and visibility over assets on site. However, the implementation of geofencing on short-term projects can be challenging due to the complexities of embedding new technology for a relatively short time period. Emergency repair works carried out over two days could be considered too short of a time period to bring in new safety technology. As a result, more traditional safety processes would be favoured, exposing trackside teams to higher levels of risk, especially working near to lines still open to traffic.
The new partnership between Tended and RSS Infrastructure removes these challenges. Projects can continue as planned with a simplified approach to the implementation of geofencing. This includes the provision of geofencing as a managed service, short-term and dry-hire options as well as longer term rental opportunities. By expanding its offering through this partnership, Tended’s geofencing solution is now easily deployed across a wide range of rail projects of varying duration and complexity.
This service is also beneficial for projects that have geofencing already implemented. If there is a short-term requirement for additional devices on these projects, there is now the option to lease devices via a next day dry hire option to meet this temporary need.
One of the service offerings from this partnership is a ‘COSS and geofencing as a service’. Instead of principal contractors engaging a COSS for a specific project, they can now contract a geofencing-certified COSS to support the project with their normal COSS duties, as well as the creation and management of geofences and their accompanying devices. This gives organisations access to the powerful benefits of geofencing without having to invest any time in its implementation.
Introduced to the rail sector as part of Network Rail’s investment into new innovations to prevent accidents, fatalities and near misses, geofencing is now widely used in the industry. After receiving product acceptance by Network Rail in September 2022, Tended’s geofencing solution has now been rolled out to Network Rail routes and principal contractors alike, with customers including AmcoGiffen, Morgan Sindall, Story Contracting, and Siemens.
The solution provides centimetre-accurate positioning to enhance track worker safety by alerting workers via a small wearable device if they lose situational awareness and are no longer in a position of safety. It improves site safety and efficiency through:
- The creation of safe working zones to ensure track workers maintain a safe distance from adjacent open lines
- Alerts that warn workers if they attempt to access the site before a line has been blocked
- The ability to plan safe access points and routes to ensure workers know where to safely access the site. This is particularly beneficial for those new or unfamiliar with the worksite.
- Improved accuracy in placing protection equipment, ensuring they are placed on the correct line and location
- Full visibility of onsite assets, minimising the risk of runaways and supporting line clear verification
With the growing demand for geofencing for a range of different projects, the partnership between Tended and RSS infrastructure delivers on-demand geofencing to improve site safety and reduce the likelihood of accidents and near misses. Drawing upon RSSI’s recognised leadership in track safety solutions and Tended’s advanced geofencing technology, we can provide an unrivalled service to enhance the safety of track workers across the sector.
