What safety benefits does remote operation of the MagTrack provide?

Remote operation of the MagTrack provides a critical safety benefit: it physically removes operators from the blast zone during high-pressure water jetting operations. Instead of standing directly beside active nozzles running at pressures up to 3,000 bar (“43,511 PSI”), technicians control the crawler from a safe distance using a handheld remote controller. The sections below unpack exactly how that separation works, which risks it eliminates, and why it matters across a range of demanding industrial environments.

How does remote operation physically separate operators from high-pressure hazards?

Remote operation works by placing an electrically driven robotic crawler between the high-pressure water jets and the human operator. The MagTrack is controlled via a handheld remote controller, meaning the person directing the cleaning task never needs to stand within reach of the active blast zone. At operating pressures between 500 and 3,000 bar (“7,252 and 43,511 PSI”), this physical separation is not a convenience; it is a fundamental risk control measure.

In conventional manual water jetting, the operator holds a lance or gun directly connected to a high-pressure hose. Any sudden hose whip, nozzle blockage, or equipment failure puts that person in immediate danger. With the MagTrack, the crawler absorbs that proximity risk entirely. The operator maintains full control of direction, speed, and cleaning path from a position that keeps them clear of water jets, rebounding debris, and pressurized hose connections.

This separation also reduces fatigue-related risk. Manual jetting requires sustained physical effort against significant reaction forces. Over a long shift, operator fatigue increases the likelihood of losing control of a lance, a serious hazard at any pressure above 500 bar (“7,252 PSI”). Remote robotic operation removes that physical burden from the equation entirely.

What injury risks does the MagTrack eliminate compared to manual jetting?

The MagTrack eliminates several of the most serious injury categories associated with manual high-pressure water jetting. These include injection injuries from direct jet contact, lance whip from hose failures, slip and fall incidents caused by wet surfaces underfoot, and musculoskeletal strain from sustained lance operation. Each of these risks is either removed entirely or significantly reduced when a robotic crawler takes over the active jetting role.

Injection injuries are among the most severe outcomes in manual jetting. A jet operating above 500 bar (“7,252 PSI”) can penetrate skin and cause deep tissue damage that is not immediately visible. Because the MagTrack positions its rotating manifold and jet inserts inside a blast can or at the end of a swing arm, not in a human hand, the operator is never in a position where accidental jet contact is possible during normal operation.

Hose whip is another eliminated risk. When a high-pressure hose fails or a connection lets go, the energy released can cause the hose to move violently. In manual jetting, this directly endangers the operator and any nearby personnel. With the MagTrack, hose connections are fixed to the crawler body, and the operator is positioned well away from the point of failure.

Slipping on wet surfaces is a consistent hazard during manual cleaning operations. Operators working on ship decks, storage tank floors, or offshore platforms are exposed to standing water throughout the task. The MagTrack’s closed waterblasting system, where the blast can connects to a vacuum unit to collect water and debris without leakage, keeps the surrounding surface dry. This directly reduces the slip risk for any personnel working in the vicinity.

How does the MagTrack maintain stability on vertical and curved surfaces?

The MagTrack maintains stability on vertical and curved steel surfaces through a system of height-adjustable magnets and omni-wheel supports that keep the crawler firmly attached to the substrate regardless of orientation. This magnetic adhesion is essential for safe remote operation; without reliable grip, a crawler working on a vertical tank wall or curved ship hull could detach and fall, creating a serious dropped-object hazard.

The crawler’s magnet system is adjustable in height, allowing operators to tune the holding force to suit the surface thickness and curvature of the structure being cleaned. Additional height-adjustable magnets on the omni-wheel rear supports provide supplementary grip, distributing the adhesive load across the crawler’s footprint rather than concentrating it at a single point.

For curved surfaces specifically, the Curved Blast Can variant is engineered to conform to radii of up to 3 meters (“approximately 9.8 feet”), making it well-suited for cleaning small storage tanks up to 6 meters (“approximately 19.7 feet”) in diameter and the curved hull sections of vessels. This adaptability means the crawler remains stable and effective even as surface geometry changes, without requiring an operator to reposition themselves in a hazardous location to compensate.

The MagTrack Mini adds further flexibility for confined or narrow spaces, including offshore oil rigs, where surface geometry is often irregular and access is restricted. Its compact footprint allows it to reach areas that would otherwise require an operator to work in a constrained, high-risk position.

Which industrial environments benefit most from MagTrack remote operation?

The industrial environments that benefit most from MagTrack remote operation are those where manual jetting would place operators in confined, elevated, or chemically hazardous spaces. These include oil and gas storage tanks, ship hulls and cargo holds, offshore platforms, petrochemical processing facilities, and power generation infrastructure, environments where the combination of high-pressure water and a dangerous surrounding environment multiplies risk significantly.

In oil storage tank cleaning, the interior atmosphere can contain flammable vapors. The MagTrack is available as a certified ATEX Zone 2 unit, making it suitable for use in environments where explosive atmospheres may be present. Sending a remote-controlled crawler into an ATEX-rated space rather than a human operator is a straightforward and significant safety improvement.

Ship hull and cargo hold cleaning presents similar challenges. These surfaces are large, often vertical or curved, and may be coated with hazardous materials including old paint containing heavy metals. The MagTrack’s closed blast can system collects debris without releasing it into the surrounding air or water, protecting both operators and the environment while keeping the working area dry.

Offshore oil rigs combine virtually every risk category: elevation, confined spaces, flammable atmospheres, and the need for surface preparation to strict standards. The compact design of the MagTrack Mini makes it particularly practical in these settings, where equipment must be transported through narrow access routes and deployed quickly without compromising safety.

How does remote jetting support compliance with safety regulations?

Remote jetting with the MagTrack supports regulatory compliance by directly addressing the operator exposure requirements set out by leading water jetting safety bodies. Organizations including SIR (Netherlands), EWJI (Europe), WJA (UK), WJTA (USA), and DIRV (Germany) all publish standards and guidelines that prioritize minimizing human exposure to high-pressure water jets. Robotic remote operation is one of the most effective engineering controls available for meeting those requirements.

Regulatory frameworks in high-pressure water jetting consistently apply a hierarchy of controls: elimination, substitution, engineering controls, administrative controls, and personal protective equipment, in that order of preference. Remote robotic operation sits at the engineering control level, which regulators and auditors regard as significantly more reliable than administrative measures or PPE alone. Replacing manual lance operation with a remote crawler therefore strengthens a company’s overall safety case in a way that is documentable and auditable.

The ATEX Zone 2 certification available for the MagTrack is directly relevant to compliance in the petrochemical and offshore sectors, where national and EU regulations require equipment used in potentially explosive atmospheres to meet specific ignition risk standards. Operating a certified unit rather than a human operator with hand tools in the same environment reduces both the regulatory risk and the practical hazard simultaneously.

Closed-circuit operation through the blast can system also supports environmental compliance. By collecting water and debris at the point of generation rather than allowing runoff, the MagTrack helps facilities meet discharge and contamination regulations that apply to cleaning operations involving coatings, hydrocarbons, or other regulated substances.

How MagTrack helps with safe remote water jetting

We developed the MagTrack robotic crawler specifically to address the safety, efficiency, and compliance challenges that manual high-pressure jetting creates in demanding industrial environments. Here is what it delivers in practice:

• Physical operator separation from blast zones operating between 500 and 3,000 bar (“7,252 and 43,511 PSI”)
• Elimination of injection, whip, slip, and strain injuries associated with manual lance operation
• Magnetic stability on vertical, flat, and curved steel surfaces without requiring personnel to work at height or in confined positions
• ATEX Zone 2 certification for deployment in potentially explosive atmospheres
• Closed-circuit waterblasting that keeps surrounding surfaces dry and contains debris at the source
• Modular tooling adaptable to surface preparation, tank cleaning, cargo hold cleaning, hull cleaning, and more
• Support for compliance with SIR, EWJI, WJA, WJTA, and DIRV safety standards

If you are evaluating remote jetting solutions for your facility or want to discuss which MagTrack configuration suits your specific application, contact our team and we will help you find the right fit.