Work platform speeds and simplifies routine maintenance

Customized LPI work platform is a newsworthy improvement for faster, safer fleet maintenance.

The equipment is delicate. And the work associated with servicing expensive microwave telecommunications systems requires exacting precision. Add to this the paramount importance of worker safety and you have the three realities facing WMAQ-TV – Chicago’s NBC affiliate and one of the nation’s premiere television news organizations.

Installed atop WMAQ’s fleet of nine specially equipped Ford Econoline vans are antennas, cameras and microwave transmitters. The equipment array is necessary because the vans are the station’s eyes and ears in the Chicago metropolitan area. During the course of the year, WMAQ-TV will send the trucks to thousands of locations to cover breaking news, sporting events and other feature stories. Each van is equipped to help mobile news crews send video signals from remote locations throughout the region to microwave receivers positioned throughout the Chicago metropolitan area. 

News crews use the vans to pursue stories wherever and whenever the news occurs. So in addition to enduring the hardships of Chicago’s steamy summers, severe winters and legendary winds, the vans and transmitter equipment are also subject to the wear and tear of an ambitious round-the-clock schedule – as well as unintended collisions with the occasional low-hanging tree branch.

It’s a relentless schedule that means frequent servicing and repairs to keep trucks available on a moment’s notice. Until recently, that meant maintenance technicians had to service equipment by using a ladder to climb on top of the mobile news vans.

The vans’ roofs are equipped with a flat, specially treated rooftop surface to accommodate service access. However, the extensive equipment array takes up a lot of roof space, crowding out maintenance technicians and providing them with a precarious perch, at best, to perform the maintenance.

This potentially risky situation led WMAQ-TV station engineers to design and collaborate with LPI Systems in the development of a special mobile and adjustable work platform for routine maintenance. Headquartered in Eau Claire, Wis., LPI is a metal fabricator and assembly operation specializing in unique or customized applications. 

Sturdy solution
The platform, fabricated by LPI to meet the needs of WMAQ-TV service crews, not only makes repairs and adjustments easier and safer for workers, it also helps them complete repairs more rapidly. The LPI work platform is a sturdy, portable maintenance solution. A truck can simply park directly underneath the platform. Or the platform can be easily maneuvered by hand directly over the van. Using built-in stairs with handrails, maintenance technicians can simply walk up the stairs and step onto a spacious work platform for easier, safer access to the entire microwave dish assembly.

"The vans were already equipped with a small work platform," said WMAQ-TV minicam supervisor Bruce Gold. "But because the platform was so narrow, it didn’t provide an adequate or comfortable working environment. So once on top of the truck, technicians had to be pretty careful. One false move and they could find themselves on the ground. Technicians had to watch their footing, and it really wasn’t that easy to haul up all of the tools or equipment they needed for repairs.”

Ken Jackson, WMAQ’s manager of technical operations agree.

“One of the tasks we routinely handle is a complete change out of the microwave antenna assembly," he said. "The antennas weigh 150 pounds, and the task requires at least two people. There’s hardly enough room on top of the truck for one person, let alone two people and their tools. Then you have to figure out where you’re going to put the antenna once it’s removed. The working space on top of these trucks was simply inadequate.”

Jackson added that inadequate space was only part of the problem.

“Imagine a technician working on something as complex as a microwave dish assembly," said Jackson. "All of their attention is focused on the task at hand. So it might be easy for them to forget that they’re working on top of a seven-foot truck. For us the chance of a fall and a resulting injury in a situation like that was simply unacceptable.”

The LPI-fabricated platform also helped WMAQ-TV maintenance personnel complete microwave dish maintenance in a fraction of the time previously required.

“The LPI adjustable work platform provides workers with a bigger, more secure work area,” said Gold. “In fact, access and maneuverability are so easy that jobs which once took two hours to complete can now be accomplished in just half an hour.”

The platform’s working surface gives maintenance technicians exceptional access to the rooftop equipment array. The U-shaped working surface is approximately 10 feet wide and 10.5 feet long, and the outside perimeter is surrounded by sturdy handrails. The platform has a 750-pound weight capacity, and provides ample space and capacity for several technicians and all of their tools. Platform height is easily adjustable from 7 feet to 7 feet 8 inches. And height to the top of the platform’s handrails is only 1.5 feet, so the entire assembly can fit easily into typical garage bays. 

“Applications for work platforms like this are not limited to fleets for the broadcast industry. They apply equally well to any vehicle or elevated equipment requiring repair or maintenance, and can be modified by LPI’s engineering group to meet the special requirements of particular applications,” said LPI marketing manager James Schroyer.

He added the company’s approach calls for the design of customized systems to meet job and customer requirements.

The adjustable height of the LPI work platform means it will handle WMAQ’s current service needs as well as its future needs.

“As trucks change, we need to be able to easily adjust the height of the platform,” said Jackson. “So the platform is a solution that’s basically ‘future proof.’ We’ll be able to use the platform for years to come.”

In addition to meeting standards specified by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration and the American National Standards Institute, the platform also meets a demanding set of safety standards specified by General Electric, parent company of NBC.

“There’s no doubt about it,” said Jackson. "Safety is the top reason we developed the platform. But there’s just no comparison between the difficulty of how we once serviced these trucks and the simplicity of how we do it now. We use the platform every single day, and it makes routine service faster and easier than ever before.”

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