Earth Bonded Powered Access Investment for National Grid

The Challenge

National Grid owns the electricity transmission network in England and Wales, helping to connect large or small energy projects. They are responsible for 4,481 miles of overhead line, 1,416 miles of underground cable and 347 substations. They deliver electricity to commercial and residential areas across the UK. It is vital that their infrastructure is maintained safely and with the right equipment.

National Grid required an equipment hire company with national coverage and the ability to respond to any emergency work swiftly. It is vital that they ensure continuous service with no disruption to supply.

Due to the electrical nature of their work they also require additional safety features on the powered access machinery. As their work takes place in sub stations, power stations or near to overhead cables it was vital for this equipment to be earth bonded. This does not come as standard on this equipment.

The Solution

We are the UK's largest plant and equipment rental company; with over 190 service centres we are well placed to logistically and efficiently support any national company. The sheer scale of our business means we can respond quickly, and we have thousands of products available immediately for our customers.

To meet the crucial safety requirements for National Grid our team became only the second company across the UK to invest in a fleet of earth bonded power access machines. We agreed to make a significant financial commitment to meet the needs of National Grid by:

• Investment in the earth cable
• Developing a full training programme with support from Genie and JLG for the safe, operational use and implementation of this cable on the powered access machines
• Delivering the intense training programme to all of our engineers to enable them to safely fit the cable
• Investing in test monitors to fully inspect and test the cable and its insulation capabilities before any machine leaves site for a National Grid location

This investment equated to around £800 per machine and we committed it would make a minimum of 250 Powered Access machines available at any one time.

The second phase of the investment we made was in establishing a brand-new fleet for the National Grid, consisting mainly of 45ft and 60ft machines. These were put in place as we worked through the data and found that at the high peak of National Grid’s work schedule the company could have 100 of these machines on hire at any one time.

The Results

We successfully delivered the provision of specialist equipment for National Grid.

In less than nine months our team put in place over 280 earth bonded machines, more than 60 new powered access machines and trained many of our engineers to deliver the fitting of earth cables and any breakdowns.

To enhance our service we have also produced a video guide on how to fit an earth cable to a powered access machine, which has never been done before.

We have added significant value and gone beyond expectations for the National Grid and will continue to do so, helping keep the UK's lights on.