The Sam Carbis Solutions Group Safety Blog

Workplace accidents reduce productivity and can cause injuries that cost more than just missed time. The company's bottom line is impacted by worker's compensation, lawsuits, OSHA violations and fines, and other issues. When appropriate safety procedures aren't implemented, incidents involving flatbed truck loading and unloading hazards continue to occur.  Part of the safety solution might be putting in place a strict set of flatbed tarping practices. Manuals, training, and operating procedures are all excellent resources, but without the right safety gear, a task cannot be completed safely or effectively. If you use flatbeds in your operation, let's quickly review methods to lower the number of accidents that occur on the job site. 1. IDENTIFYING THE ISSUE A truck with an open flatbed without walls or sides on which freight is transported is referred to as a "flatbed truck." These are enormous vehicles with a gross weight of more than 10,000 pounds when fully...

In many cases, flatbed truck drivers and other workers in shipping/receiving must access heights of four feet or more when loading and unloading cargo on flatbed trailer trucks. Without the proper safety equipment and procedures in place, falls from flatbed trucks can be fatal. The good news is that there are effective flatbed truck safety solutions that can be incorporated into your facility’s daily operations to help prevent falling from flatbed trailers and keeping your team safe. The first step in minimizing flatbed safety risks is to remove the need for employees to stand on the trailer itself by implementing an overhead tarping system. These systems allow users to easily tarp large, heavy loads and provide the added bonus of creating a protected working surface. While this helps reduce the risk of falls, it’s still possible for employees to fall off the trailer when climbing to and from the tarp or when walking around the flatbed during a load transfer. Another way to protect...

From broken necks to head trauma, falling off a flatbed truck is almost guaranteed to cause serious injuries – if not death. From broken necks to head trauma, falling off a flatbed truck is almost guaranteed to cause serious injuries – if not death. Unfortunately, most companies fail to provide effective flatbed safety strategies and fall protection equipment until they’ve had a fatal fall on their own site or at a similar facility. Here are three factors that increase the risk of these falls: Slippery Or Unstable Surfaces In the absence of safer alternatives, employees often walk on top of a flatbed truck in order to secure cargo. This practice entails a significant risk that they could trip or slip on wet or uneven surfaces. In fact, tarping a flatbed load is one of the most dangerous activities a driver faces on the job. Walking all over a load while simultaneously trying to position a heavy, cumbersome tarp risks a debilitating fall.   Irregular Load Shapes Flatbeds are fr...

Covering a flatbed load to protect it during transit is a common task for drivers and operators, and one that presents serious truck safety challenges. Avoiding Back Injuries Lifting heavy tarps onto flatbed trucks and pulling them to cover the load puts strain on the lower back and shoulders, and is a major concern in flatbed trucking. Back injuries from lifting and pulling tarps could result in permanent disability for truck drivers as well as workers’ compensation claims of over $500,000, according to KeepTruckingSafe.com , a resource provided by the state of Washington’s Bureau of Labor and Industries. The website includes an interactive tarping simulation as well as case studies that examine these truck safety concerns. One way to prevent these injuries is to use an overhead tarping system that lifts and spreads the tarp over the flatbed. The operator simply connects the tarp to the spreader bar, which is suspended from an overhead track. Using a powered winch system and h...

Whether your facility has recently suffered an accident or you’re taking a proactive approach to flatbed truck safety, here’s some good news: The safety equipment available today offers far more protection than hard hats and lifelines alone. Here are five fall protection strategies to consider for improving flatbed truck safety at your facility or work site: Overhead Tarping Systems The first step in preventing falls from flatbed trucks is to avoid having workers climb onto the trailer in the first place. An overhead tarping system provides a safer way to cover an entire flatbed trailer by eliminating the risks of standing or walking on the trailer itself. The operator simply connects a tarp to the spreader bar, which is suspended from an overhead track. Using a powered winch system and hand-held control, it’s easy for the operator to spread the tarp across the entire flatbed without leaving the ground. Access Equipment Platforms designed for flatbed trucks provide a safer work a...

If you’ve ever shopped online for flatbed trailer safety systems, you know there’s no shortage of solutions. It may seem daunting to narrow your options and find the ideal equipment for your site. Unfortunately, it’s impossible to simply pick your safety solutions from a website. Consider the following types of equipment and ask yourself honestly whether you would be able to choose the precise models suited to your facility: Drive-off protection Warning lights Swing gates Flatbed tarping platforms Overhead tarping systems Canopy systems Complete terminals Perhaps you read an article about swing gates or know that a competitor uses certain flatbed tarping platforms. But how do you know if the equipment meets your specific requirements? Learn how to assess your site’s needs and choose the correct equipment with the help of a safety expert. Factors That Determine Your Ideal Safety Solution Your flatbed trailer safety equipment must suit your site layout, processes and trucks. ...

Many factors make tarping flatbed trailers a dangerous job. Tarps are often heavy, weighing as much as 150 pounds. They are large, unwieldy and difficult to manage, which may lead to ergonomic injuries. In harsh weather conditions like rain, sleet and snow, treading on the plastic tarp may cause your workers to slip and fall from a height. Wind also throws workers off balance when they’re handling a tarp on a flatbed truck. Your workers should be on guard when walking on top of unstable or uneven loads due to the risk of fatal falls. However, this is only a minimum precaution. You need a more comprehensive fall prevention solution to mitigate safety risks. Don’t wait until an injury or death to evaluate your tarping process. Learn how to protect your workers tarping flatbed trailers with the right safety systems for your facility. First, Seek Expert Safety Consulting It’s impossible to simply pick a piece of safety equipment off a list without first assessing your risks. A truck safe...

A well-designed flatbed fall protection solution helps your drivers feel safer on the job – without costing them valuable time. In fact, many of the injuries and fatalities in OSHA’s flatbed truck accident reports  could have been prevented with adequate fall protection. Here’s just one example: A subcontractor for a construction company was doing concrete work at a residential building in California, when two of the employees tried to move a piece of machinery from the back of a flatbed trailer to the front. The machinery was a tamper: a jackhammer with a flat attachment for compacting soil. But the flatbed also held a pile of lumber, and one of the workers stepped onto this unstable surface while trying to move the tamper. The worker slipped on the lumber and fell off the bed of the truck, striking his head on a concrete Jersey barrier and landing on the ground. He sustained a fractured neck vertebra, spinal injury and a laceration on his head, and was hospitalized for six days...

 Having a job as a flatbed driver is dangerous for many reasons. Often more harmful than driving accidents, are falls. Falls can cause head, neck and shoulder injuries and even death. Having a job as a flatbed driver is dangerous for many reasons. Often more harmful than driving accidents, are falls. Falls can cause head, neck and shoulder injuries and even death. Drivers need to remember that falls can happen any time, even walking on a flat surface, but a fall from even a four-foot height can cause serious damage to a driver. Falls can occur from the cab, empty trailer and/or a load. Following are seven factors that can contribute to driver falls. #1 Lack of Current Safety Standards Not having specific requirements or any way to enforce them is a major issue. Many OSHA standards have not changed since they were created in 1970. Some refer to equipment that no longer exists and procedures that are now irrelevant. Even worse OSHA has no specific regulations covering fall protec...