In recent years, there has been the increased exploration and adoption of renewable energy from other sources such as solar and wind. Much of this has been the result of advancements in technology that have made these options feasible, but there has also been increased societal interest as well.

Equipment Inspection and Upkeep

All large-scale methods of energy production require the building, and subsequent inspection and maintenance of expansive infrastructure. This can include preventative maintenance which will increase the efficiency, prolong the life of the equipment, and reduce the risk of downtime and a more expensive repair resulting from equipment failure.

Such maintenance can include panel component maintenance, checking system connections, and scheduled cleaning of solar farms. For wind farms this can include inspecting the blades and turbines and lubricating moving parts. Security patrols may also be necessary for some locations.

Challenges of Maintaining Wind and Solar Farms

Unlike traditional coal power that tends to be contained within a small number of plants, renewable energy from solar and wind, is drawn from farms spread over many, often remote locations. The inspection and maintenance of solar and wind farms, therefore, have a different set of challenges compared to traditional energy. 

The more regularly equipment is inspected the more likely that problems are caught before there is a problem. However, sending staff to remote locations can be costly and time consuming. Being able to monitor staff movement and link this with maintenance schedules can help make this process more efficient and effective.

Increased Performance with Staff Tracking

Attendance and tracking software allows managers to know where their staff are and how they are performing their duties. Staff can be assigned duties remotely and report on incidents as they occur. Request call-back buttons are also built into the system for added safety giving staff working in remote locations piece of mind.

Company vehicles and other mobile equipment can also be tracked to ensure safe and appropriate use and minimise the risk of valuable purpose-built equipment being lost or seriously damaged. Along with showing the location of a vehicle, trackers can be set up to show usage such as harsh acceleration, turning and breaking, fuel levels and maintenance schedules.

Data collected over a period of time from tracking systems can then be analysed and used to better assign staff to problem areas. Automatic reports generated from the collected data can then be sent proving definitive proof of service. This is both useful for contract compliance but can also help reduce insurance costs.

To learn more about how the UniGuard staff attendance management system can help your business, contact us today.

The post How Attendance Tracking Can Improve the Renewables Industry appeared first on Staff & Asset Tracking with Workforce Management Software by UniGuard.

The conditions and general layout of a mine usually makes it quite difficult to be able to manage all employees at once. Whether the workers are in a different section of the mine or there is no direct access to them, it is important to keep an open line of communication between all the teams. One of the factors that determines how safe a mine is, is the ability to immediately inform other workers of a potential hazard that may have arisen. This prevents any accidents from occurring and worst of all, someone getting seriously injured.

However, these hazards can be drastically reduced if routine inspections of the mine’s layout and integrity are scheduled. Frequent inspections of the surrounding environment and detailed reporting are the key to identifying any weaknesses within the mine so that any potential dangers can be immediately dealt with and avoided altogether.

This is where the use of a management and tracking system becomes essential. Since there is limited access to some areas and communication can be rather difficult, it would be particularly useful to be able to see all workers in the mine in real time. If an incident should occur, management would know exactly where each employee is and be able to give the appropriate instructions to lead them all to a safer environment.

Scheduled inspections within the mining area would also be able to be remotely assigned, as well as ensuring their completion. Individual reports could be assigned to specific high-risk areas and different sections of the mine, ensuring a regular and detailed log of conditions and potential hazards. These reports would automatically be updated to the server for future review if needed.

Performance monitoring of employees would be made easier as reporting could be done on the go through the application itself. Monitoring performance is crucial in such an industry. Not only will management ensure employee compliance and that all daily tasks are being completed, but by making sure that all workers are doing their job, the safety of other employees would not be jeopardised.

Heavy machinery and equipment are also important to be logged and monitored. Tracking equipment and being able to easily locate it through a simple search on a phone would be especially useful for employees to gain access to it quicker and more efficiently. A GPS tracker on a piece of machinery would result in less time wasted looking for it in harsh conditions and an increased organisational standard within the mine.

The implementation of such a system in these conditions would drastically improve the safety of the environment for the employees while increasing the efficiency of reporting and open communication between different teams, making it easier for operations managers to assign tasks and routine checks. It improves the standard of organisation when it comes to archiving previous reports and handling equipment and machinery.

At UniGuard we pride ourselves in being able to provide customised solutions for such industries, assessing every detail and what is needed to address it. Our goal is to provide the safest possible environment for all workers within an industry, as well as ensuring that the workplace is performing optimally and up to standard.

Interested in finding out more about how UniGuard can work in your workplace? Contact us today.

The post Increasing Mine Safety Through Management and Tracking Software appeared first on Staff & Asset Tracking with Workforce Management Software by UniGuard.

Managing and maintaining solar farms can be quite a tedious task, considering that their profitability depends on panels performing optimally at all times. There are numerous elements which can affect the performance of these panels, so a high level of attentive care is required around the clock to ensure the maximum level of output consistently.

Effective management of all operations on the solar farm to ensure dependable performance is crucial for a company to guarantee consistent profitability and minimise maintenance and repair costs. There are various operations which need to be individually addressed in order to maintain this standard. These include:

• Equipment inspections
• Panel component maintenance
• Scheduled panel cleaning
• Environmental maintenance
• Security rotations

Technology to help manage all of these simultaneous operations is extremely helpful for companies to be able to coordinate their tasks and increase efficiency. Task assignment software is beneficial for large workforces as they could be remotely instructed to perform scheduled tasks and also be assigned new ones as they go directly through the application.

Through the adoption of this system, regular reporting would also be made easier as it could be uploaded and saved immediately after the task is completed. This method of instant reporting allows management to oversee, in real time, which jobs have been completed as well as have a log of all past operations for referral if needed. Such a feature would also come in handy in the case of any insurance claims for the provision of proof as well as potentially lowering yearly premiums.

The tracking of company assets is also something which should be taken into consideration to ensure their safety and appropriate use. Specific pieces of equipment built for the sole purpose of maintaining a solar farm can be quite expensive and their maintenance and protection is not something which should be taken lightly.

In the case of vehicles, a tracking and monitoring device can be attached to the electrical system, through which the location can be viewed in real time as well as monitoring their status (ex. fuel lines, water levels). This would also prove beneficial to monitor how the vehicles are being treated by employees as these devices have inbuilt harsh acceleration, turning and breaking sensors. Monitoring such usage and reducing their abuse drastically cuts yearly maintenance costs on company vehicles and equipment.

“Investing in an appropriate strategy to manage daily operations is crucial in such an industry. The consistent monitoring and maintenance required to keep profits high is extensive, so it is of utmost importance that a system is adopted to be able to effectively coordinate your workforce as well as protect your valuable assets.”

Contact one of our UniGuard specialists on (02) 9671 7777 or email us for a tailored walkthrough of the UniGuard solution based around your challenges and business needs.

The post Solar Farm Maintenance Tracking appeared first on Staff & Asset Tracking with Workforce Management Software by UniGuard.