Low Level Access Solutions

When would you consider yourself to be working at height? Two metres and above perhaps?

If you look at the Work at Height Regulations (WAHR) 2005 then this is “work in any place, including a place at or below ground level”.

So in effect being just a few centimetres above ground level does constitute work at height and in accordance with the WAHR it must be properly planned and where possible performed using the correct access equipment.

When you site this place of work inside a nuclear reactor a raft of working criteria emerge that wouldn’t ordinarily be there.

Access in and out of the reactor is only achieved by passing through small apertures around its circumference. So in order to help this solution needed to be highly modular and effectively flat pack.

Additionally it had to be easily and quickly assembled thus increasing the working time within the reactor and limiting exposure to the environmental conditions.

And finally to stretch the design solution that little bit more the working surface would be concaved with pipework at various locations.

Using Autodesk Inventor and Autodesk Publisher the design and technical teams at Planet saw round each of these obstacles producing a proven working model with supporting literature before any components were made.

The finished platform was just over 600mm from the reactor floor highlighting perfectly that not all work at height is done several metres from the ground.