Western Grater Contracting, a subsidiary of Norland Limited, is based on the outskirts of Victoria, British Columbia. For over 30 years they have been meeting the unique demands of excavation and construction projects on Vancouver Island. They offer a diverse range of services including underwater blasting, slope stabilization, drilling, blasting, structural shotcrete, shotcrete shoring, and grouting.
With all those services on offer, it makes sense that Western Grater would require a lot of equipment, and the space to store and maintain that equipment. They have an extensive outdoor work yard which, just like their indoor space, has certain safety requirements including an emergency station.
The problem at hand is to have a reliable, weather-proof emergency station centrally located in their work yard. Temperatures can range from -10 to +35 degrees Celsius, and in the fall and winter it rains a lot given that Victoria’s climate is categorized as temperate rainforest.
Western Grater has a long history of its crews using disposable compressed gas air horns for blast signaling. Given that history, they know their limitations well, so several years ago switched all their crews over to Hornet rechargeable air horns. They are more reliable, safer to use, extremely cost effective, and much better for the environment.
The WoodsCan Hornet Emergency Station Kit similarly contains the very reliable Hornet rechargeable electric air horn that maintains its charge for many months, and works reliably within that mentioned range of temperatures. The kit also includes a waterproof, dust proof case that can be put on a shelf, on a stand, or wall mounted. In this case, not having a wall handy, they built a stand and added a fire extinguisher beneath the Hornet kit.
Fourteen months after installing the kit, they discovered that the Hornet in the emergency station kit had not been recharged since it was installed. The Hornet was tested, it operated fine. The battery charge state was measured and it still had 68% charge left, even after being exposed to the temperature extremes of two summers and one winter.
Whether indoors, outdoors, in the heat or in the cold, the WoodsCan Hornet rechargeable air horn is a reliable choice for emergency signaling needs.
