Backed by over 30 years of experience, DomeShelter Australia provides fabric shelters tailor-made for the mining industry.
Fabric shelters have been a critical component of mine sites for decades.
Acting as a protector to ensure a safe working environment by shielding personnel and equipment from tough conditions, fabric shelters are known for benefits such as fast installation, portability and movability.
Leading the charge in fabric shelter development and manufacturing is DomeShelter Australia, which has delivered thousands of shelters to some of the most remote parts of the country, and to over 50 other countries around the world.
“Our ability to meet the requirements of the mining industry is where DomeShelter Australia stands out to the major miners,” DomeShelter director of global sales Roy Fawkes told Australian Mining. “Designing solutions that meet their standards and requirements in an effective way is the key.
“There’s more to fabric structures than providing a fabric tarp over a steel structure.”
DomeShelter follows its unique six-element design methodology – dubbed DomeShelter Logic – to govern the thinking, processes and outputs that aid in delivering tailored and optimal solutions to the mining industry.
“We have in-house designers, engineers and fabric specialists that go through a process where they ensure the shelter can not only be manufactured, but that it meets Australian standards and the client’s requirements, and it will be buildable in a remote location,” Fawkes said.
“There’s no point in designing and engineering something that can’t be easily installed on-site. By maintaining the DomeShelter Logic, it ensures the shelter does what it’s designed to do.”
Image: DomeShelter
DomeShelter ensures that all material used to build its fabric structures is the highest-grade material and sourced in Australia, helping to support the nation’s economy.
“We’re supporting local people, in local communities throughout WA and Victoria to build our products,” Fawkes said. “We also have a creative ‘don’t say no’ attitude where we think outside of the box to create solutions. We’re not afraid to have a go and stretch our design, engineering and manufacturing team’s capacity to ensure a client gets the ultimate solution.
“The idea of protecting people and assets from the harmful effects of the elements quickly, simply and effectively is the heart of why we do this.”
Ideal for sand, mineral and chemical storage, DomeShelter’s bulk storage fabric shelters comprise fully enclosed structures with lockable doors that create a durable and fit-for-purpose facility that can withstand rigorous environmental conditions such as extreme wind, heat, rain and snow.
“Instead of having that bulk material out in the open, several ports and councils require it to be covered,” he said. “So that’s where a bulk storage facility comes in, which is where heavy trucks can stay so they are under cover.
“That way, when tipping or moving around the material, the dust is collected and kept within the facility.”
Every DomeShelter fabric structure is constructed with safety and quality at the forefront.
With a 10-year warranty, DomeShelter is internationally accredited with quality assurance certifications such as ISO 9001, AS 4801 and OHSAS 18001, certifying that each shelter is built to the highest standard.
DomeShelter also conducts safety audits, which involve a DomeShelter representative visiting sites with fabric structures to identify risks and make recommendations for preventing unexpected failure, damage and risks to the safety of personnel. This information is collated into a risk matrix and ensures customers have peace of mind that the structures on their sites are conforming and engineered to withstand the conditions.
“We complete many safety audits each year and unfortunately see cheaper structures that are not fit for purpose or engineered to Australian standards,” Fawkes said. “They are at risk of failure that may lead to damage or downtime, and more importantly, risk the safety of personnel who rely on them.”
DomeShelter Australia is committed to reducing its environmental footprint by repurposing older shelters, providing replacements parts so shelters can be resold and reused, running in-house recycling programs to reduce waste, and by reducing the need for transport of structures due to their light-weight and relocatable design.
When it comes to fabric shelters, DomeShelter has all bases covered, which is a boon for Australian mining operations and the industry at large.
This feature appeared in the October 2024 issue of Australian Mining.
