Plastic Fantastic
May 12th 2010 03:41
Awarded the Best Design for Workplace Safety Worksafe Award in 2009, it has not taken very long for the Mawsafe plastic rail to emphasise the wise decision of the judging panel. Last weekend at Flemington - an early adopter of the system - we saw the benefits of a plastic running rail and uprights with a serious fall that might once have resulted in death. Not often would a safety improvement in racing be considered as a best safety initiative across all workplaces. But this initiative and invention is a worthy winner - most likely saving apprentice Brent Evans from having his leg sliced off last Saturday.
(photo: Leonard Marlborough)
View the fall on Youtube and see how life and limbs were saved last Saturday:
The Mawsafe plastic running rails are now in operation at five Victorian racetracks: Flemington; Caulfield; Sandown; Cranbourne, and Warrnambool.
This invention first came to notice on the national television program on ABC The New Inventors. Rather than paraphrase the genesis of this product I will reproduce below the background and information as first published on the ABC New Inventors website.
Overview:
Maw Safe Rail:
The Mawsafe Rail is a light-weight plastic post and rail system that will offer almost no resistance if it is hit by a falling jockey.
The horizontal rail is flexible enough to move slightly if a horse bumps up against it and if a jockey comes off and hits one of the vertical posts that support the rail, the impact will swing the post out of the way so the jockey rolls straight through.
The horizontal rail will remain intact and continue to be supported by the other upright posts.
About the Inventor:
Dan Mawby is from Mordialloc, a south eastern suburb of Melbourne. He’s is a plumber by trade. His move into the world of racing happened almost by accident when he took a job at a race track and started thinking about how the rails could be improved.
He still works as a plumber, but a lot his spare time is now taken up working on his new rail system. In his occasional moments of relaxation Dan is also a keen swimmer, cyclist and free diver.
Inspiration:
About ten years ago Dan got a plumbing job working on the Cranbourne racecourse and as soon as he drove onto the track and saw the steel posts he knew there had to be a better system.
He wasn’t even into horseracing.
As a plumber he’d worked with PVC pipe for years. He knew its strengths and weaknesses. Flexibility, strength and lightness were among them.
There had been a call for new designs for rails in the wake of some serious accidents on Victorian racetracks. Dan had also seen some footage of a leading jockey who had a very close call in a rail incident. So Dan began working on a safer design and after some comparative testing, his system was chosen to be trialled by Racing Victoria.
How It Works:
Horse racing isn’t the safest of professions. Jockeys ride round the track at speeds of 60kmh on a 500kg horse. It’s a similar speed to driving a car, but with much less protection.
So if either the jockey or the horse hits a rail, it can lead to a serious accident.
The design of the Mawsafe rails incorporates a number of separate patents that cover details of how the modular rails are put together and installed, but one of the major safety features revolves around the design of the base plate that holds the upright posts in place but allows them to swing out on impact.
The galvanised steel base plate is in 2 sections, with the bottom one being driven into the ground with a long anchor spike. The top plate, which is connected to the bottom of the post, then clips into the “shoe” of the bottom plate in such a way that an impact from almost any angle will cause it to release so the post will be kicked out of the way. The top of the post will still remain attached to the rail.
Not only is the Mawsafe rail safer, it is also designed to be extremely easily moved and re-installed. This is an important consideration in Australia where rails are moved constantly to maintain the quality of the track.
The rails are made in 12 metre sections, with 4 upright posts in each section. The posts are hinged at the top where they attach to the rail. At the bottom of each post is the 2 part base plate. One of the main safety features of the system is that there are no steel or aluminium elements above ground height, so all areas that may receive an impact are plastic and designed to either give way or be flexible.
And finally, view the segment from the New Inventors.
The aftermath of the fall at Flemington
(photo: Leonard Marlborough)
View the fall on Youtube and see how life and limbs were saved last Saturday:
The Mawsafe plastic running rails are now in operation at five Victorian racetracks: Flemington; Caulfield; Sandown; Cranbourne, and Warrnambool.
This invention first came to notice on the national television program on ABC The New Inventors. Rather than paraphrase the genesis of this product I will reproduce below the background and information as first published on the ABC New Inventors website.
Overview:
Maw Safe Rail:
The Mawsafe Rail is a light-weight plastic post and rail system that will offer almost no resistance if it is hit by a falling jockey.
The horizontal rail is flexible enough to move slightly if a horse bumps up against it and if a jockey comes off and hits one of the vertical posts that support the rail, the impact will swing the post out of the way so the jockey rolls straight through.
The horizontal rail will remain intact and continue to be supported by the other upright posts.
About the Inventor:
Dan Mawby is from Mordialloc, a south eastern suburb of Melbourne. He’s is a plumber by trade. His move into the world of racing happened almost by accident when he took a job at a race track and started thinking about how the rails could be improved.
He still works as a plumber, but a lot his spare time is now taken up working on his new rail system. In his occasional moments of relaxation Dan is also a keen swimmer, cyclist and free diver.
Inspiration:
About ten years ago Dan got a plumbing job working on the Cranbourne racecourse and as soon as he drove onto the track and saw the steel posts he knew there had to be a better system.
He wasn’t even into horseracing.
As a plumber he’d worked with PVC pipe for years. He knew its strengths and weaknesses. Flexibility, strength and lightness were among them.
There had been a call for new designs for rails in the wake of some serious accidents on Victorian racetracks. Dan had also seen some footage of a leading jockey who had a very close call in a rail incident. So Dan began working on a safer design and after some comparative testing, his system was chosen to be trialled by Racing Victoria.
How It Works:
Horse racing isn’t the safest of professions. Jockeys ride round the track at speeds of 60kmh on a 500kg horse. It’s a similar speed to driving a car, but with much less protection.
So if either the jockey or the horse hits a rail, it can lead to a serious accident.
The design of the Mawsafe rails incorporates a number of separate patents that cover details of how the modular rails are put together and installed, but one of the major safety features revolves around the design of the base plate that holds the upright posts in place but allows them to swing out on impact.
The galvanised steel base plate is in 2 sections, with the bottom one being driven into the ground with a long anchor spike. The top plate, which is connected to the bottom of the post, then clips into the “shoe” of the bottom plate in such a way that an impact from almost any angle will cause it to release so the post will be kicked out of the way. The top of the post will still remain attached to the rail.
Not only is the Mawsafe rail safer, it is also designed to be extremely easily moved and re-installed. This is an important consideration in Australia where rails are moved constantly to maintain the quality of the track.
The rails are made in 12 metre sections, with 4 upright posts in each section. The posts are hinged at the top where they attach to the rail. At the bottom of each post is the 2 part base plate. One of the main safety features of the system is that there are no steel or aluminium elements above ground height, so all areas that may receive an impact are plastic and designed to either give way or be flexible.
And finally, view the segment from the New Inventors.
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