Among the first essentials of construction, infrastructure, and resources worksites in remote places are ablution facilities that fit the OH&S needs of growing workforces, while safeguarding pristine or fragile environments.
Built-in tank room with 3100-liter septic tank is one of the environmental sustainability features of the Modulate self-contained ablution block. Image Credit: Modulate Group
Meeting these needs in compliance with different State and national statutory requirements is key to achieving increasingly rigorous health and sustainability requirements, says one of Australia’s leading suppliers of container-based relocatable buildings tailored to individual site requirements, Modulate Group.
“Some of the facilities we serve are hundreds of kilometres from the nearest sewage and wastewater systems – in conditions ranging from stifling bare desert and cyclone zones, through to tropical islands and mountainsides,” says Modulate Group General Manager Jack Adams.
“Even in such daunting conditions, infrastructure and resources companies must uphold their commitment to good OH&S practices and environmental imperatives. Sustainability is a worldwide topline corporate priority that all major companies appreciate is key to their ongoing social licence to operate.”
First, such facilities must demonstrate compliance with performance-based national building codes to ensure durability and safety even in harsh, aggressive conditions while attaining high standards required for health, worker amenity, accessibility, and sustainability. Whether operations are primarily employers of local nationals, or also employers of FIFO staff, good amenity is important,” says Jack.
“And a further essential is that they feature efficient waste management functions built into the design, which must feature strong safeguards against leakage into the environment, while being easy to maintain under sustained use over long periods.
“Remote areas where resources projects often operate typically can’t just dial up service engineering if something goes wrong – or if there is a spill, potentially interrupting production. You have to design reliability into the project from the outset,” says Jack Adams, whose company’s products include new generations of more easily and safely portable Australian-made cyclone-rated container-based buildings, including stackable and double-width 4.5 m-wide types designed for a service life of 25 years.
One recent example of a fully self-contained containerised ablution block was custom-fabricated for a resources client operating in Papua New Guinea, which worked with Modulate’s design-and-fabricate team at their 20,000 sq m, modern production facility in Mayfield, Newcastle. This is where Australian and export production and customisation to different needs are handled in-house in one comprehensive facility, to ensure quality, structural integrity and on-time delivery.
Modulate Group designed and built the 40 ft (12.19 m) fully self-contained ablution unit required for the remote location, along with two other 40ft container offices, which were shipped to Papua New Guinea, demonstrating the company’s capability to deliver to diverse destinations its customised modular solutions for industrial needs.
Key features of the modular ablution block include:
- An advanced waste management system: Each of the seven toilet units and hand basins are equipped with macerator pumps, efficiently transporting waste from the lower part of the unit to the upper pipe, which channels waste into a robust 3,100-liter septic tank.
- Tank room that is fully watertight and features a bunding barrier for spill containment. The advanced waste management system ensures hygienic and efficient waste disposal, crucial for the mining site’s operations.
- Functional and accessible design of built-in services: Service areas behind the main wall house all necessary pumps and piping. This service area is accessible via two large roller doors for easy maintenance and inspection.
- Durability and safety: IP56 switches and General Power Outlets (GPOs) throughout the unit ensure safety in harsh mining conditions.
- Enhanced airflow and cooling: Partition walls, open at the top, and an air conditioner in the end cubicle ensure optimal airflow and cooling. Steel louvres provide added privacy between male and female toilets.
- High-quality construction: Insulated panel walls and ceilings, anti-slip coved vinyl flooring, and essential fixtures, such as toilets and basins, selected for durability and long life.
- Robust portability. Just like standard shipping containers, Modulate buildings are easy to transport over long distances and can withstand harsh transport conditions that may buckle and twist flimsier structures. Easy to load and unload, Modulate buildings can be tilted off or lifted off using a suitable crane with spreader bar.
- Twist-lock secure fixing, adapted from standard container lock configurations, anchor buildings in place on trucks during transport, eliminating the need for extensive, expensive and time-consuming ad-hoc securing to guard against damage and accidents during relocation.
Jack Adams says the PNG ablution unit is demonstrating its effectiveness in service. “The worksite involved reports that the ablution block is operating exactly as per the design brief, through the range of conditions for which it was designed.
“It is providing reliable sanitation facilities at the remote site while maintaining functionality and hygienic safety. Crucially for the mining site’s sustainability credentials – and its ability to operate – the advanced waste management system ensures hygienic and efficient waste disposal that is being demonstrated in service every day.”