RBG Named Innovation and Technology Award Winner
RBG has won the accolade for innovation and technology at the annual NOF Energy Awards. The award recognises organisations that encourage innovation and the use of new technology to drive business forward. The achievement also identifies the company that has launched the best new product or service within the last year. RBG was named the winner for PlusGard, an advanced rail system that has revolutionised the use of scaffolding in offshore operations.PlusGard is greatly improving safety whilst simultaneously reducing operating costs and optimising productivity. The first system of its kind to be used in the North Sea, PlusGard is designed specifically for the offshore environment and is able to transform traditional access methods. By providing a dynamic scaffolding enclosure with flexible and easy-to-use telescopic tubes, the system provides a safer working environment for scaffolders operating at height, specifically over a platform’s side or below deck.
As well as improving safety, the judges highlighted RBG’s PlusGard system as a key innovation, significantly reducing the operating costs associated with scaffolding installation and removal. Whilst traditional ‘over the side’ scaffolding work requires a fast rescue craft to stand-by for potential recovery at sea contingency – at a cost of approximately £8,000 per day – the safe enclosure provided by the PlusGard system eliminates this need.
RBG was presented with the award at the NOF Energy Annual Dinner. Fraser Coull, operations support director of RBG, said: “We are continuously looking for ways to successfully harness and develop new technology. I’m very pleased that we have won NOF Energy’s Innovation and Technology Award as it recognises RBG as a cutting-edge and dynamic organisation.”
Mike Ritson, project manager of CTC Marine Projects, sponsor of the Innovation and Technology Award, adds: “RBG has succeeded in utilising technology to improve safety, which is allowing the company to increase its market share.”