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UNE-based invention makes light work of goal shifting

November 13, 2006

GoalLifter.thumb.JPGProving the old adage “Necessity is the mother of invention”, groundsmen from The University of New England have come up with an idea that has won a New South Wales Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) Award and is to appear this week on the ABC television program The New Inventors.

The cost-and-injury-saving “Goal Shifter” is the brainchild of UNE Grounds Assistant Terry Farrell and OHS Officer Graham Bruce who, between them, thought of a solution to a major workplace problem and contracted a local engineer, Greg Johnson, to make their concept a reality. Previously, it took at least three people to handle the heavy steel soccer goals manually; the new invention, using a tractor’s three-point linkage, makes it a one-man job.

The photograph displayed here shows Mr Farrell demonstrating the "UNE Goal Shifter" for the New Inventors team on a UNE soccer field. The “UNE Goal Shifter”, quickly adaptable to suit many situations, will be featured on The New Inventors this Wednesday evening (15 November) at 8 pm.

“Mostly it was born out of necessity – and mainly for OHS reasons,” Mr Farrell said. “Two people used to shift the goals, until one injured his back and then the rules required three people to do the job. It used to take three people three-and-a-half hours to move 12 goals, and now it’s only about one hour’s work for one person, saving more than nine hours each time. That adds up over a season.”

Mr Farrell’s co-worker Brad King agreed that the invention freed up a lot of time between October and March when the job needed to be done twice a week. “It’s really important when you consider it could also save a $60,000 back injury,” he said.

The UNE invention was selected for an award by OHS experts from WorkCover NSW. The Chief Executive Officer of WorkCover, Jon Blackwell, said the OHS awards “reaffirmed a collective commitment to reducing the incidence of death and injury in the workplace”.

Posted by Jim Scanlan at November 13, 2006 04:02 PM