17 Sep 26
Xwatch Safety Solutions is supporting a major programme of new fleet additions at Select Plant Hire, with its safety technology being installed across new machines entering the company’s hire fleet.
Around 30 new JCB machines are currently passing through the Xwatch installation programme, as Select continues a significant period of investment in new equipment.
Select Plant Hire, part of the Laing O’Rourke Group, announced a £5 million investment in new JCB equipment in August, including 370X tracked excavators, 245XR and 145XR reduced tailswing excavators, 9-tonne dual-drive site dumpers and Loadall telescopic handlers.
The Xwatch installations form part of Select’s continuing approach to specifying safety technology as new machines enter its UK hire fleet.
On excavators, Xwatch systems can provide functions including height and slew limitation and rated capacity indication, giving operators additional protection when machines are working close to overhead hazards, restricted areas or carrying out lifting operations.
For a hire fleet, where the same machine may move between very different projects and working environments, that ability to configure safety systems around the task is particularly important.
The current programme builds on an established relationship between Select and Xwatch. Xwatch has previously installed its XW5 MK2 technology on larger JCB X Series excavators entering the Select fleet, with the latest batches extending that work across further new machines.
Warren Wilkinson, Business Stream Leader, Plant and Power Solutions at Select Plant Hire, said: “As we continue to invest in new equipment, safety technology remains an important consideration for us.
“Our hire fleet covers a broad range of manufacturers, machine types and applications, so we need equipment and technology that can meet the demands of the environments our machines are going into. Xwatch has become a valued part of that process, backed by the service and support we need to keep machines working.”
Alongside machine safety systems, Xwatch is also working with Select on a wider telematics programme.
Xwatch’s XW-Insite platform has been developed to bring machine and safety information together, with the ability to monitor areas including machine location, operating hours, fuel use, productivity, CO2 data, geofencing, fault information and safety system settings.
For large hire fleets, that moves the technology beyond what happens in the cab. Fleet teams can gain greater visibility of how machines are operating once they leave the depot and move between projects.
Jemma Dycer-Hopkins, Sales and Operations Manager at Xwatch Safety Solutions, said: “There is a huge amount happening with Select at the moment. Our engineers are working across a substantial number of new machines, covering different machine types, and it is fantastic to see Xwatch being specified on so many new fleet additions.
“Select operates a large and varied hire fleet, so every installation has to work for the machine and the applications it is likely to encounter. That makes good engineering support and a close working relationship particularly important.
“We also have some exciting telematics activity under way with Select. There is plenty more to talk about, and we’ll be sharing the individual projects in more detail as they are completed.”
The latest work comes as Select continues to invest in equipment to support construction, infrastructure and engineering projects across the UK, while Xwatch, part of Hexagon, continues to expand its work across both machine safety and connected fleet technology.