Brigade - Providing Reversing Safety for Dundee City Council Workers
The company
Dundee City Council has a fleet of vehicles servicing various sectors of the community including education, leisure and waste management. The waste management department alone is responsible for the collection of waste from 72,000 households.
The situation
Many vehicles operated by the council, particularly waste refuse vehicles, start at very early hours of the morning, and can cause complaints of noise disturbance, particularly from reversing alarms. However, reversing alarms are a necessary safety feature to warn pedestrians and workers that the vehicle is moving backwards.
The solution
Brigade’s bbs-tek® (white sound) reversing alarms are endorsed by the Noise Abatement Society and the Dutch authority PIEK for use during quiet night time deliveries. The bbs-tek® alarms create a unique “ssh ssh” sound which is softer on the ear less irritating than tonal alarms. The broad band frequencies emitted dissipate quicker than other reversing alarms so that the warning sound is contained only in the danger area, eliminating noise complaints in residential areas.
The alarms are also directional and therefore locatable making them safer than other standard reversing alarms. This means that the visually impaired can detect which direction a vehicle is moving in, allowing them to move to safety. The wide spectrum of broad band frequencies means that the hearing impaired can usually detect some of the warning sound created, which is not possible with a single tone alarm.
Dundee City Council fit bbs-tek® reversing alarms to all their vehicles for the noise reducing properties and safety aspects.
Feedback
Steward Dodd, Workshop team leader at Dundee City Council said: “We fit bbs-tek to everything, from vans to 32 tonne hook loaders. The alarms are good for vehicles going out early in the morning, especially refuse vehicles, the last thing people want to hear at that time of the day is tonal beeping alarms. The localised sound at the back of the vehicle alerts workers and pedestrians, without waking up residents.
