Workers use gangways to gain safe passage from a loading rack or platform to rail car or truck hatches. Adding accessories to gangways can augment fall prevention as well as increasing throughput.
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Truck drivers compromise their safety when they mis-spot their trucks and have to reposition them. Having a safety cage allows drivers safe access to the hatch on their truck without having to reposition. A safety cage can be designed with two lift-up panels to allow a mis-spotted truck to open or close its hatch without having to lift the cage. The cage is offset so the gangway won’t interfere with the truck hatch.
Because of the substantial pipes used in construction, a safety cage provides long lasting fall prevention that can take a beating and keep coming back for more. Aluminum construction means it’s lightweight, corrosion-resistant and strong. Safety cages are made to meet or exceed OSHA standards and can be modified to meet your company’s specific needs.
Track Mounted Gangways
Track Mounted Gangways allow operators to access multiple hatches without moving their vehicles. The gangway is attached to rollers so it can move up and down the platform giving operators safe access to multiple hatches.
Operators’ can waste time waiting for a driver to move a vehicle in order to access a different hatch. Installing track-mounted gangways gives your operators the ability to access multiple hatches on the tops of vehicles so no time is wasted during the unloading/loading process. Operators can access all hatches without having to move the vehicle creating safer working conditions while increasing work force productivity and reducing down time due to injury and extra process steps.
Following are a couple instances where tracking gangways have been used successfully:
A company in Sweden noticed that many tank truck drivers were climbing up on top of their tankers without any fall protection, while they were adjacent to loading and unloading spots. Extremely dangerous! What this company needed was a way to provide tanker access so that visiting tankers could pull alongside a new platform facility and open/inspect multiple of hatches on the top of the truck.
A Track Mounted Gangway system was designed to allow all tankers visiting the site to use the access facility. The Project Engineer said, “The Fall Protection System works well and is used for access onto trucks that are not unloading at this station. Drivers go there voluntarily to open ventilation and then drive to their unloading spot rather than attempting to climb their own access ladders.” It says a lot if drivers are willing to use the safety system without being forced to do so.
A UK company had an unloading bay where tankers drove up alongside the connection points to discharge their load. In most cases the driver had to get on top of the tanker to open a vent or check the level in the barrel. Their idea of fall protection was using a cable and harness method to access the tanker from one of two fixed folding stair positions. A second issue was that the supports carrying the beam for the fall prevention were welded to the face of the platform. To correct this situation, a Track Mounted Gangway system was installed that provided for a new platform face and extended the platform to allow the track to extend the length of the whole bay.
The customer said, “By installing the track mounted gangway system we have eliminated the need for drivers to climb up the truck ladders, which as we all know is a dangerous situation with many injuries and casualties in the past. Our operators and the drivers have taken to the new system very well and we've had only positive comments.”
If you want to know more about how safety cages and track-mounted gangways can add safety and create better throughput for your business, contact Carbis today.
