Construction News

18 September 2026

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Select adds Xwatch to new JCBs

3 hours Select Plant Hire is having Xwatch safety technology added to around 30 new JCBs as they enter its fleet.

The £5m investment in new JCBs, announced in August, includes 370X tracked excavators, 245XR and 145XR reduced tailswing excavators, 9-tonne dual-drive site dumpers and Loadall telescopic handlers. 

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, Xwatch says, particularly important.

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.”

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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.

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.

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