It’s a well-known fact that LED lights deliver better performance than most other lighting technologies on the market. When it comes to changing out existing industrial walkway lighting to LEDs, the idea is often put aside because of the sheer amount of work and cost involved in providing the required access for refitting the new lights.

This article will introduce Swivelpole, a solution providing easy access to light fixtures without the need for scaffolds, ladders and elevated working platforms (EWPs). Swivelpole makes the changeover to LED lighting easier and safer, and ongoing maintenance significantly more cost-effective.

Benefits of changing to LEDs

LEDs have a wide range of benefits that are ideal for industrial walkway lighting applications. Some key aspects for consideration are:

  • Lifespan - A typical LED light has a lifespan of around 35,000 hours, compared to the 15,000 hours of fluorescent lights
  • Energy efficiency - LED lights consume less power than other industrial walkway lighting systems
  • Instantaneous light - Large, high-power industrial outdoor lights slowly ramp up to their final brightness whereas LEDs are instantaneous
  • Size - LED lights are smaller and lighter than traditional lights, making maintenance and replacement easier for service personnel
  • Improved safety - LEDs are low-power devices and, therefore, use lower voltages and generate far less heat than traditional industrial walkway lights

The problems with replacing outdoor industrial walkway lighting

A typical plant has hundreds, if not thousands, of pole-mounted industrial walkway lights. Changing over to LED lights is definitely a worthwhile exercise. However, not only are the costs of LED lights higher than standard incandescent bulbs, but replacing all the lights is traditionally a labour intensive operation.

Changing over to a new industrial walkway lighting system would typically require multiple safety-related steps such as obtaining the necessary work permits for working at height, hot work permits, electrical lockouts, etc. If a scaffold is being used, it will also need to be inspected and signed off as safe to use. Only once all these time-consuming steps have been completed satisfactorily can work begin.

In a typical situation, ladders, EWPs or scaffolding will be used to execute the work. The exercise usually involves multiple people, i.e. one to work at height on the chosen platform, one to operate the EWP or secure the ladder and, in some situations, for traffic control. If a scaffold is required, often a small team of two or more is needed to build, inspect and then disassemble and move the scaffold to the next lighting fixture.

Despite measures being taken to ensure that the person working at height does so as safely as possible, working at height is one of the activities with the highest risk factors on any industrial site. In addition to safety concerns, the labour and equipment required to perform work at height represent an expensive undertaking over the long term. Fortunately, Swivelpole can eliminate both of these challenges.

Introducing the innovative Swivelpole solution

Swivelpole is a system that makes the upgrading and subsequent maintenance of industrial walkway lighting safer and more efficient. It accomplishes this by using a set of specialised tools to convert rigid poles to lowering poles. This means the fixture can be lowered and inverted to an ergonomic position allowing easy maintenance without the risk of working at height.

Swivelpole makes it significantly easier to change existing lighting to LED lighting as well as reduce the number of persons required to do the job. Another advantage is that the work can be performed at the platform level by making use of the ingenious pole conversion kit. The changeover process is summarised below.

  • Firstly, the pole conversion tool is safely attached to the existing pole
  • The pole is cut using the provided pipe cutter – no hot work permit is required
  • The pole is safely lowered to platform height using the pole conversion tool
  • The existing fixture is disconnected
  • The Maxis™ joint is installed to allow the pole to be lowered for future maintenance
  • The new LED light fixture is installed
  • Finally, the pole is raised into its original position

Save costs in the long run

The Swivelpole conversion system was designed to allow for quick and simple changeover to more efficient lighting, and to make future maintenance easier and more efficient. Once a Maxis™ joint is installed all future maintenance of the industrial walkway lighting can be done at a lower cost as less time is required to prepare for the work and fewer people are required to execute the work. This is especially beneficial for industrial walkway lighting where there are typically hundreds of lights.

The Swivelpole system has a tangible effect on costing, which can be demonstrated by this ROI calculator. The calculator will help you see how much Swivelpole can provide savings for your company in the future. Any initial capital expenditure will be quickly dwarfed by the overall savings in maintenance costs.