Loading, unloading bays can be designed for safety
August 4, 2008
BY Ryan C. Christiansen
Web exclusive posted August 26, 2008 at 2:46 p.m. CST
The receiving and shipping areas at an ethanol plant need to be designed to accommodate safety equipment. The bays must provide operators efficient, safe access to trucks and rail cars, as well as fall protection. According to Scott Hite, director of renewable fuels sales at SafeRack Inc., truck and rail car spotting is one of the biggest things to consider when designing loading and unloading areas at a plant so that there is enough room for fall protection racks and arms.
Hite, along with Tom Semiklose and Jim Sweatt who are also with SafeRack, presented a Safety Tips for Loading Biofuels into Trucks, Railcars and Transloading webinar on Aug. 21. Sumter, S.C.-based SafeRack manufactures truck and railcar-loading rack and fall-protection equipment.
To make room for tank trucks that will be serviced and for loading and unloading equipment, Hite said that a company needs to know whether the trucks they'll be dealing with are American Petroleum Institute specification trucks or other commercial trucks. If working with API trucks exclusively, he said, the trucks will have built-in safety features for vapor recovery and overfill protection that might otherwise need to be added for other commercial tank trucks. API trucks always load and unload on the same side and in the same location on the truck, he said, while other trucks might vary in location.
While hoses are the least expensive method for loading and unloading tank trucks, Hite said it's best to have a spring-balanced arm, instead. The arm has swivels to assist with side-to-side movements and the spring will bear the load for the operator. Hoses are heavier and harder to move around, resulting in more back injuries, he said.
Hite said the top rail on a tank car encloses an area dubbed the crash box, which includes a manway that can vary in type and location within the crash box. Because the top rail on a tank car doesn't provide adequate fall protection, a loading rack with 42-inch handrails should be used when working on top of tank cars, he said. The width and length of the crash box area, the height of the tank car, and the access opening in the crash box top rail can all vary, so therefore Hite said a loading rack needs to be designed to accommodate these variations. He added that these variations can be mitigated by using a loading rack with a telescopic gangway and a loading rack platform that can be raised and lowered to meet up with the crash box.
A canopy can be used to provide shade and weather protection for operators, Hite said. However, companies need to be sure the canopy doesn't interfere with operating the spring-balanced arm or the fall protection rack.
For safety while walking on hopper cars for dry products, Hite said a trolley beam with a cable and harness system can be used for fall protection. However, he said companies also need to consider providing access to tops of the cars and also fall protection for operators when they are accessing the cars.
The receiving and shipping areas at an ethanol plant need to be designed to accommodate safety equipment. The bays must provide operators efficient, safe access to trucks and rail cars, as well as fall protection. According to Scott Hite, director of renewable fuels sales at SafeRack Inc., truck and rail car spotting is one of the biggest things to consider when designing loading and unloading areas at a plant so that there is enough room for fall protection racks and arms.
Hite, along with Tom Semiklose and Jim Sweatt who are also with SafeRack, presented a Safety Tips for Loading Biofuels into Trucks, Railcars and Transloading webinar on Aug. 21. Sumter, S.C.-based SafeRack manufactures truck and railcar-loading rack and fall-protection equipment.
To make room for tank trucks that will be serviced and for loading and unloading equipment, Hite said that a company needs to know whether the trucks they'll be dealing with are American Petroleum Institute specification trucks or other commercial trucks. If working with API trucks exclusively, he said, the trucks will have built-in safety features for vapor recovery and overfill protection that might otherwise need to be added for other commercial tank trucks. API trucks always load and unload on the same side and in the same location on the truck, he said, while other trucks might vary in location.
While hoses are the least expensive method for loading and unloading tank trucks, Hite said it's best to have a spring-balanced arm, instead. The arm has swivels to assist with side-to-side movements and the spring will bear the load for the operator. Hoses are heavier and harder to move around, resulting in more back injuries, he said.
Hite said the top rail on a tank car encloses an area dubbed the crash box, which includes a manway that can vary in type and location within the crash box. Because the top rail on a tank car doesn't provide adequate fall protection, a loading rack with 42-inch handrails should be used when working on top of tank cars, he said. The width and length of the crash box area, the height of the tank car, and the access opening in the crash box top rail can all vary, so therefore Hite said a loading rack needs to be designed to accommodate these variations. He added that these variations can be mitigated by using a loading rack with a telescopic gangway and a loading rack platform that can be raised and lowered to meet up with the crash box.
A canopy can be used to provide shade and weather protection for operators, Hite said. However, companies need to be sure the canopy doesn't interfere with operating the spring-balanced arm or the fall protection rack.
For safety while walking on hopper cars for dry products, Hite said a trolley beam with a cable and harness system can be used for fall protection. However, he said companies also need to consider providing access to tops of the cars and also fall protection for operators when they are accessing the cars.
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