Traka’s secure key cabinet system is bulletproof

Even though manufactures of industrial vehicles are now building significant levels of safety equipment into their machines, they can be rendered ineffective should an untrained or unauthorised operator climb on board. Traka’s solution to restrict or prevent access to potentially dangerous equipment aims to ensure accidents can’t happen.

Established in 1995, Olney, Buckinghamshire-based business Traka was formed as a result of keys going missing at BA. The airline’s ground support vehicles are critical to its efficient operation, but keys were often not where staff expected them to be. A solution was devised, the software behind it developed, and Traka was born.

Today, the two-time Queen’s Award-winning company’s system is used extensively in the UK and in over 25 countries worldwide in industries including distribution and materials handling equipment management, road haulage, the prison service, mining, airports and the emergency services. Traka is a proud UK manufacturer, designing and assembling as much as it can in-house, and sourcing everything else locally. It boasts an extensive network of overseas distributors.

Its system is simple yet brilliant – if someone is not authorised to operate a piece of equipment, they are physically prevented from doing so. This is achieved using two main elements of the Traka solution – an access-controlled key cabinet and an electronic ‘key’ known as the iFob.

The iFob is an intelligent, robust, bullet-shaped device made from nickel-plated brass and is capable of being used in cold stores at -30OC. The iFob contains a chip with a guaranteed unique serial number, giving everyone an individual ID. The special shape of the iFob allows it to automatically lock into the Traka key cabinet.

Removal of an iFob is only possible upon completion of the correct id check, which could be triggered by a PIN number, the customer’s own staff access card, biometrics or even an alcohol tester.

The event of removal or replacement of an i-Fob is recorded, offering management a real-time overview of the fleet.

The iFob can be used in two modes, iFob-per-Truck or iFob-per-Person. In iFob-per-Truck mode, the iFob is dedicated to use on a single piece of equipment or vehicle. In principle, a user selects the iFob at the Traka ‘smart’ cabinet and is only allowed the iFob if his permit for the type of equipment is valid. As soon as he takes the iFob, the system records the event and because the iFob is dedicated to the equipment, supervisors can tell who used the equipment whilst the iFob was out of the cabinet. As no other iFob will activate the equipment (except for the manager’s Service iFob) it is clear to see who was responsible for the equipment at the time.

The iFob-per-Person concept generates an iFob to suit the user profile. This is done as the iFob is selected, when the Traka cabinet writes the user profile to the iFob for a pre-determined period of time. During this period the iFob can be used to activate any amount of equipment but only if the type of equipment is contained with the iFob profile. As the iFob is used, it records the equipment activated as well as the time, which is accumulated until the iFob is returned to the Traka cabinet when the transactions are downloaded.

The system is expandable to incorporate a multitude of additional functionality, including the activation of an alarm should the iFob not be returned to the cabinet after a specified time limit has been passed. It can also detect whether a pre-operational check has been carried out.

An additional element of the system is Traka’s Immobilisor, which has been developed to allow the Traka iFob to be used as an electronic ignition key to control access to forklifts. The Immobilisor consists of a receptor socket, which receives the iFob, and a data logger, a metal box containing the electronics.

Traka’s offering is designed to help eliminate the single biggest cause of forklift-related deaths and injuries, namely inappropriate use of the truck. That the system also offers a whole host of further benefits should make the decision to deploy the system a no-brainer amongst managers of forklift fleets.

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