In April, Logan City Council announced its 2006 Employee Innovation Awards. Major prizes went to staff involved in developing and constructing two new pieces of equipment: a mobile sewage pumping facility and specially designed truck steps.
Located between Brisbane and the Gold Coast in Queensland, Logan has a population of approximately 170,000 people and employs 830 full time equivalent staff.
Now in their third year, the annual awards recognise individuals and teams that go above and beyond their normal duties in serving Council and their community by taking an innovative approach to problem solving. Outstanding projects are recognised in two major categories: Customer Service – for projects directly benefiting external customers, and Corporate Innovation – for projects that improve internal processes.
Logan Mayor, Councillor Graham Able, said he is very proud of the quality of work produced by Logan City Council employees.
“We have a terrific bunch of people here,” he said. “You only have to look at the winners and the quality of the
27 nominations to see just how much effort they put in to serving our community.”
Logan Water’s Lester Bridgham and Peter Watt took out Council’s 2006 Customer Service Innovation Award. They designed and constructed a mobile pumping facility known as The Beetle. The Beetle can be fitted to a sewer pump station at short notice to prevent sewage overflows.
Runners up included Janet Poole from Council’s Libraries and Cultural Services department, and the Plant Fleet Services Team.
Janet Poole developed a partnership with Vision Australia and Queensland Narrating Service, enabling Logan to become the first organisation in Queensland to use DAISY (Digital Audio Information System) technology. DAISY enables the blind and vision impaired to more easily use library audio materials. Logan received 100 machines as part of the pilot project.
The Plant Fleet Services Team designed and manufactured a hydraulic unit to drive sewer cleaning rods down pipes. The Hydraulic ‘Eel’ Drain Cleaner replaces a more expensive mechanical drive unit and improves worker safety.
The Plant Fleet Services Team also took out the 2006 Corporate Innovation Award. The team designed and manufactured two new types of steps that improve safety for staff climbing in and out of truck bodies.
Runners up in this category included Steve Young of Logan Water, for the development of a ferrule nut. This lasts longer than previous products available, providing long term economic and labour savings. The new nut has increased dimensions to accommodate corrosion losses.
Dr Rodney Adam of Council’s Planning and Environment Policy Branch was also recognised as a runner up for his Conservation Actions Priority Mapping. The map ranks all land in Logan according to five levels of biodiversity value and provides a high degree of certainty for development assessment and wildlife protection. The index map was developed from 13 environmental criteria, which were combined into a formula and weighted by Councillor and staff opinion.
For further information contact Paula Weston at Logan City Council on (07) 3412 5204.
