To address these hydraulic hazards Australian company, RYCO Hydraulics, has designed RYCO LIFESAVER – a product offering hose burst suppressant, whip check and abrasion resistance.

RYCO developed LIFESAVER to tackle safety and abrasion issues surrounding hydraulic hose assemblies. RYCO LIFESAVER functions as a hose burst suppressor to protect personnel from deadly oil injection and a whip check to protect personnel from violent lethal hose whip. It is also extremely abrasion resistant protecting hydraulic hose assemblies from abrading and failing.

The product fits easily around hoses from dash size –03 to –32 in single or double layer designs. RYCO Hydraulics managing director Leigh Morrison said the double skin product was usually recommended for maximum burst protection where hose assemblies were operating near personnel.

Whilst LIFESAVER was a useful tool in ensuring worker safety, Morrison advised that to achieve the greatest protection for miners it was vital operations ensured the hose assembly used was fit for the specific purpose and passed industry standards tested to SAE J343.