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Fern’s FRX-1 proves a<br />
hit in Romania<br />
C Jennifer Cushion<br />
C 01502 560800<br />
C jennifer@FernCom.com<br />
C www.FernCom.com<br />
A Suffolk company’s pioneering two-way<br />
radio communications system is proving vital<br />
in making life safer for people working deep<br />
underground or in other hazardous areas by<br />
ensuring they can maintain contact.<br />
The latest test for Fern Communications<br />
Ltd saw its FRX-1 Portable Radio Repeater<br />
dramatically enhance communications<br />
for personnel carrying out inspections in<br />
underground sewage and water systems in<br />
Romania.<br />
In trials carried out on behalf of water and<br />
wastewater management company Apa Nova<br />
in central Bucharest, the FRX-1 was placed in<br />
strategic locations where the radio signal is<br />
normally disrupted, causing a breakdown in<br />
communications between personnel inspecting<br />
and surveying tunnels and pipelines. With<br />
the FRX-1 in place, radio 'black spots' were<br />
eliminated.<br />
Normally, Apa Nova personnel working<br />
in the 150ft deep tunnel lose the radio signal<br />
completely not long after entering it. But with<br />
the FRX-1 in operation, they could, for the<br />
first time, maintain radio signal and<br />
“ WITH THE FRX-1 IN PLACE,<br />
RADIO 'BLACK SPOTS'<br />
WERE ELIMINATED. ”<br />
communication with co-workers located<br />
above ground 500m away.<br />
“It was very impressive,” said Raluca<br />
Niculae, economist and project manager for<br />
Centrul pentru Servicii de Radiocomunicatii<br />
(CSR). “For Apa Nova, this trial demonstrated<br />
that maintaining quality communications<br />
with personnel who are carrying out critical<br />
inspection of the sewage network and tunnels<br />
is possible.”<br />
Apa Nova has now purchased the<br />
FRX-1 as a standard component of its radio<br />
communications kit for personnel working<br />
underground, the first time the system has<br />
been adopted for use in Romania.<br />
A major oil and gas operator in Romania is<br />
also in discussions with CSR about field trials<br />
with the FRX-1 in the Carpathian Mountain<br />
tunnels and on oil rigs in the Black Sea.<br />
During recent years, Fern’s radio repeaters<br />
have been successfully trialled by Technip<br />
in the Gulf of Mexico, QServ in Scotland, and<br />
Qatargas, offshore Qatar. Staff at Thetford<br />
Power Station in Norfolk also use Fern's<br />
system during planned shutdowns.<br />
Centre: Going down: The FRX-1<br />
Radio Repeater goes on trial with the<br />
Apa Nova inspectors watched by<br />
(centre) Clive Cushion, Fern technical<br />
director, and Raluca Niculae, of CSR.<br />
Above: Fugro’s offshore survey<br />
training team<br />
Fugro Survey’s success<br />
in RoSPA Awards<br />
C Eric Robertson<br />
C 01224 257500<br />
C e.robertson@fugro.com<br />
C www.fugrosurvey.co.uk<br />
Fugro Survey Limited has been recognised<br />
for its excellent approach to the prevention<br />
of accidents and ill health in the RoSPA<br />
Occupational Health and Safety Awards 2012.<br />
The Order of Distinction is the highest<br />
merit of continuous HSE performance excellence<br />
as it is awarded only after 15 consecutive<br />
gold awards are achieved.<br />
The award scheme recognises commitment<br />
to accident and ill health prevention<br />
and is open to businesses and organisations<br />
of all types and sizes from across the UK<br />
and overseas. It looks not just at accident<br />
records, but also entrants’ overarching health<br />
and safety management systems, including<br />
important practices such as strong leadership<br />
and workforce involvement.<br />
David Rawlins, awards manager at<br />
RoSPA, said: “We congratulate Fugro Survey<br />
on its success and encourage it, and all our<br />
other winners, to remain committed to safety<br />
and health, an approach that is well recognised<br />
to be good for workers and the bottom line.”<br />
Alistair Sutherland, QHSE manager for<br />
Fugro, which has bases in Aberdeen and<br />
Great Yarmouth, said: “The award from RoSPA<br />
is testament to the considerable commitment<br />
and effort made by everyone in our workforce<br />
towards the provision of a safe and healthy<br />
working environment over many years.”<br />
There was more good news from Fugro<br />
Academy which has celebrated delivering<br />
1,000 instructor-led training courses since its<br />
creation in 2006, benefiting more than 7,600<br />
staff and representing about 35,000 days<br />
of training.<br />
Courses are developed to support<br />
the training and development of Fugro’s<br />
surveyors, engineers, geophysicists and data<br />
processors.<br />
They are designed and delivered by<br />
experienced professionals who pass on their<br />
knowledge and experience to colleagues.<br />
As well as classroom training courses,<br />
Fugro Academy also provides a wide range<br />
of online courses to staff covering health and<br />
safety, surveying, human resource development,<br />
office software applications, leadership<br />
and management and interpersonal skills.<br />
NOVEMBER 2012 – 07
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