Norbord to use drones in site maintenance inspections
4 July 2017Norbord’s factory in South Molton is beginning to use drones to help identify and reduce the risk of working at heights.
The idea came from Maria Collett, Norbord’s health and safety manager, after a conversation with her maintenance-savvy husband who used a video drone to inspect his school’s roof.
Instead of setting up scaffolding to access high-level areas and putting the maintenance crews at risk, Norbord is planning to fly a video drone over the area and carry out inspections. Any issues identified will be actioned in planned shutdowns.
Norbord’s project manager Justin Smyth is undertaking Civil Aviation Authority training together with a colleague so he will be authorised to fly the craft safely around the site.
