Turnstar hydraulic bollards ensure heightened physical security at UNHCR
The UNHCR (the UN Refugee Agency) is a global organisation dedicated to saving lives; protecting rights and building a better future for refugees, forcibly displaced communities and stateless people. The leadership of UNHCR and other agencies has demonstrated a heightened concern about security problems and refugee protection and has adopted a policy of ‘safety-first’ to ensure the protection of both the refugees and those working at the UNHCR.
The UNHCR’s Pretoria offices recently received a security boost with the installation of nine Turnstar Guardian hydraulic bollards at five vehicle entrances to the property. The fully retractable powder-coated oil-hydraulic bollards are 800 mm high and 200 mm in diameter, with an LED fitted in the head to ensure full visibility when the bollard is in the raised or lowered position.
A hydraulic power pack drives the hydraulic ram, which is fitted within the bollard casing, allowing for raising and lowering of the bollard on demand. For easy access during maintenance, the hydraulic drive unit and piston is located centrally within the assembly and manual override is achieved with a spanner.
The Fe 360 steel posts can be lowered or raised using command transmitters, tags and biometric readers for reliable and precise control of access. Raising speeds of between 5.1 and 7.7 seconds ensure rapid reaction to perceived or real threats, while bollard lowering speeds of 4.3 to 7 seconds reduce any delays in traffic throughput.
“The Guardian bollards are suited for applications that require uncompromisingly high levels of security and are used extensively in applications such as embassies, consulates, military installations, airports, railway stations, bus stations, ports, oil & gas refineries and mines, making them the perfect physical security measure at the UNHCR,” says Craig Sacks, MD of Turnstar.
“The Guardian bollards are designed and manufactured to resist deliberate or accidental unwanted access by vehicles, with an impact resistance of 30 000 Joules and a crash resistance of 160 000 Joules. This ability has made them a firm favourite with organisations such as the UNHCR who are focused on countering any possible acts of terrorist insurgence or incidences of unrest,” says Sacks.