Many rail products, U.K., European and American machines don’t comply with Australian Standards and without knowing it, some individuals and companies in Australia could be breaking the law, operating an illegal machine and risking prosecution and thousands of dollars in fines by importing or using a road-rail elevated work platform (EWP) that is not correctly design registered and doesn’t comply with Australian Standards.

How can such machines be illegal?

Whilst the vast majority of standard (non-rail) EWPs in Australia are likely to be correctly design registered, many people are unaware of the legal implications of fitting rail guidance or road-rail equipment to such machines.

[pullquote class=”left”]There are over sixty requirements in AS1418 that are directly affected by the installation of the road-rail equipment which, must be evaluated with documented evidence provided as part of the design registration process.[/pullquote]

Legislation in-place around Australia requires altered or modified machines to be Design Registered in their own right, making it a legal requirement for any road-rail EWP to have Design Registration to cover use on-rail.

There are over sixty requirements in AS1418 that are directly affected by the installation of the road-rail equipment which, must be evaluated with documented evidence provided as part of the design registration process.

Failure to disclose information or modifications to the machine also carries a hefty fine for individuals or companies so the implications for cutting corners, not doing things correctly or turning a blind-eye are significant.

Design Registration process must be carried out by a competent design verifier (engineer) who is able to demonstrate that the machine complies with relevant Australian Standards – In the case of a road-rail EWP that would be AS7502 and AS1418.10

 

What about imported machines?

With some individuals and businesses looking overseas for EWP options, it gets more difficult with further complications arising due to the misalignment of Australian, ISO and European standards. For example there are many similarities between AS1418 and the European equivalent but differences remain that mean it is impossible to conclude a European compliant machine is also compliant in Australia. When it comes to the road-rail vehicle Australian Standard, AS7502 it becomes very difficult to directly compare with any European standard as they are written very differently and each contains information and requirements that the other does not. When individual network standards are compared things get very difficult indeed.

[pullquote]…comparing AS7502 with UK standard RIS-1530-PLT there are major sections where the technical requirements are greater in the Australian Standard and nearly seventy individual requirements that are not included in RIS-1530-PLT.[/pullquote]

For example, a rail product from the UK may comply with some or all of the requirements of a European standard and some or all of the requirements of the UK rail operator Network Rail, but does that mean it complies with AS1418, AS7502, individual Australian rail network requirements and design registration legislation? The short answer is no.

The long answer is that when comparing AS7502 with UK standard RIS-1530-PLT there are major sections where the technical requirements are greater in the Australian Standard and nearly seventy individual requirements that are not included in RIS-1530-PLT. Turn it around and there are just a handful of requirements in RIS-1530-PLT that are not in AS7502

When comparing AS1418 with EN280 there are around twenty clauses in the Australian Standard that are not in the European equivalent and others where AS1418 requirements are higher than those in EN280

Are there any compliant machines?

It is likely that there are some machines in Australia that are correctly Design Registered and comply with Australian Standards. However, the unfortunate truth is that the majority of modified machines in service today are likely to be non-compliant or not design registered.

Where can I get a compliant machine?

[pullquote]….closing these gaps took a lot of work in Australia and Europe with over twenty modifications being made to the machine.[/pullquote]

As exclusive sales and support agents for Netoec machinery in Australia and New Zealand, Aries Rail were keen to bring the class leading SkyRailer EWP to Australia and build on its proven track record in the U.K. and Europe. However, this was no easy task.

As explained, there are significant gaps in the technical requirements on each side of the world and closing these gaps took a lot of work in Australia and Europe with over twenty modifications being made to the machine.

The Neotec SkyRailer is now available to order as a fully Australian compliant machine whilst maintaining the class leading performance enjoyed in other countries.