The Sam Carbis Solutions Group Safety Blog

  How to Ensure Proper Truck Spotting at Loading Racks   Loading Racks are platforms and loading arms designed to provide workers with access to the tops of tank trucks and railcars. Equipped with tracking gangways that follow along the platform and align themselves with any hatch on a truck or railcar, loading racks allow workers to gain entry easily. Safety equipment vendors need to understand your vehicles and procedures in order to recommend appropriate equipment for your facility, more than simply complying with compliance standards; their primary goal should be worker safety. 1. Know Your Racks Effective truck spotting can be one of the most valuable safety solutions your facility can implement, regardless of OSHA and MSHA compliance status. Spotting involves positioning pneumatic hoppers, proppant boxes or Isotainers safely on a loading rack so drivers can access them without risk. Pallet racking systems come in various designs, but all share certain common ...

  4 Factors to Consider about Your Current Loading Rack The ability to safely load and unload materials is a must in truck and railcar environments. Unsafe conditions can lead to costly injuries that negatively impact the bottom line. Medical and workers’ compensation expenditures for fall-related injuries cost U.S. employers approximately $70 billion annually.  An up-to-date loading rack system can help keep workers safer and operations running smoothly. 4 Factors for Updating Your Loading Rack When is the right time to update your loading rack? Loading racks don’t have a “shelf life,” so you have to consider a variety of factors when deciding if it’s time to replace your current system. Factors to consider include: How old is the loading rack? Have your loading patterns, equipment, or access requirements changed? Are employees properly trained on safety procedures? Do they have access to documentation? Are workers aware of what the equipment was originally designed to ...

  Keep Operations Rolling and Employees Safer The key to successfully installing fall protection safety equipment is accurate measurement of the center line. As simple as this may sound, it is where companies often get into trouble and end up with equipment that doesn’t fit the application requirements. Three Steps to Get the Right Measurements 1. Establish the Center Line . Your design standard can be anything it needs to be, but establishing the center line is critical . These measurements are the basis of the drawings we send back to you for sign-off. When you measure, always begin from the center of the vehicle to the face of what you are mounting the access gangway on (see Figure 1). Ideally, you would position a vehicle in the loading area so that the measurement is spot on. If you are unable to position a vehicle in your facility due to the current restrictions, then you should measure where the truck(s) should line up, possibly marked by a stripe on the floor. For ra...

There are 6 Key Questions to Assess Your Current Situation Loading and unloading trucks is a hazardous activity that presents significant safety and efficiency challenges. There are a lot of moving parts, with trucks coming and going, and workers moving quickly to load and unload product to keep throughput flowing. Over time, loading area logistics evolve as new demands, different types of trucks, and changing loading patterns come into play. What may have worked in the past suddenly becomes obsolete, and existing truck loading racks and safety equipment may no longer be effective. 6 Top Considerations When Assessing Truck Loading Rack Systems Because each loading environment is unique—with its own set of challenges—it’s important to routinely assess and evaluate your: Truck loading requirements Safety equipment Fall protection goals As a guideline when doing do, there are many questions to consider. Here are 6 top ones to start with: Are there any special handling requirem...

There’s no getting around it: Your throughput depends on the loading, unloading and cleaning of tank trucks. Without proper safety solutions and equipment, these tasks are incredibly dangerous for your employees and drivers. Even the most seasoned workers could experience serious injuries or even death depending on the tasks they have to accomplish, the training they’ve been through and the protection they’re provided. Do you know the risks your drivers and workers face when accessing the tops and insides of tank trucks? Learn the top three hazards they may encounter and how to protect them with the right mix of equipment and training. Tank Truck Safety Hazard #1: Falling Off The Top Of The Tank In most cases, accessing the tank for loading and unloading means your employee has to climb on top of the tank to open a hatch or compressed air valve. Without the proper prevention or protection, simply standing on the top of the truck puts your workers at risk for serious injuries from ...

According to OSHA, loading and unloading liquids, especially those that are combustible, is one of the most dangerous tasks in any manufacturing or storage facility. Incorporating the proper safety equipment and procedures is key to helping your tank truck workers stay safe. Damaged suspension-type highway trailers that can’t support the weight of tank trucks may cause injuries during loading and unloading. But even if your trucks are in perfect working condition, other safety risks exist. Consider these four tank truck safety risks and how your organization can mitigate them. 1. Falls Your workers may be hospitalized for fractures, head injuries and other serious problems if they fall from a tank truck. Even worse, their injuries may be fatal. In 2014, a tank truck driver backed his truck into the garage bay, exited the vehicle and climbed on top to vent the oil tanker compartments. He fell 10 feet to the concrete floor below  and died the next day. Standard cages and gangways o...

Loading and unloading a cement truck is a dangerous task, and it’s unlike any other truck loading process. How well a driver spots a truck is more important than any safety solution, and plenty of stories prove this . Still, proper truck spotting is one of the hardest practices to instill in your drivers and operators. Learn more about the importance of truck spotting and how to promote truck safety at your cement loading facility. Importance Of Truck Spotting During The Loading Process Unlike other truck loading processes, the cement loading process requires three steps: 1. Opening the hatch(es) 2. Driving under the dry cement loading spout 3. Closing the hatch(es) The three-step loading process presents additional opportunities for an accident to occur. Even with the right safety equipment, your operators are still at risk of an injury if a cement truck is mis-spotted. During the loading process, truck spotting is more important than the safety equipment you have in place. It’s...

Increasing throughput is critical to your production facility’s bottom line. Workplace accidents create a substantial financial burden, and accidents that result in serious injuries or death often cause production delays and may take your facility out of commission. Your business can’t afford the consequences of a workplace accident, which is why it’s so important to invest in fall prevention solutions and improve truck safety. Truck safety cages are about more than simply meeting safety standards. They help your business’s bottom line by eliminating the need for complex harness systems, improving efficiency, increasing throughput and maximizing revenue. When a truck is spotted correctly, safety cages help to protect your workers from dangerous falls and injuries. Types Of Accidents Truck Safety Cages Help Prevent Accessing the top of a tank truck is a dangerous task, regardless of whether you’re at your production facility or on the road. In many cases, accidents occur due to a la...

A recent article in Bulk Transporter focused on the risks drivers face when working on top of tank trucks, highlighting the need for fall protection and prevention. The article , which reported on the September meeting of the Cargo Tank Risk Management Committee (CTRMC), included insights on tank truck safety from the perspective of drivers themselves: “Drivers would like to not have to go on top of tanks, but there are many reasons they have to for product quality and securement reasons,” according to the article. “Additional training on safe access to tank tops and better ladders is needed, especially when the need to carry equipment makes ‘three-point climbing’ difficult.” While OSHA and ANSI recommend maintaining three points of contact (such as two hands and a foot) while climbing up the side of a truck or ladder, that’s clearly not enough to prevent falls and accidents on your tank truck loading site. Where Does Your Tank Truck Safety Solution Fit In The Fall Protection Hierar...

A truck loading site presents a number of safety challenges, from truck spotting to securing and tarping loads, from preventing falls to keeping other employees out of harm’s way. Workplace injuries and fatalities are all too frequent during truck loading and unloading, according to a report by The Safety and Health Assessment and Research for Prevention (SHARP) Program at the Washington State Department of Labor and Industries. Fortunately, these incidents “are preventable by following recommended procedures and the use of proper equipment.” Here are seven tips for better truck safety, drawn from the SHARP Program report: Analyze Injury Data Start by evaluating your company’s injury data to determine where and how injuries and “near misses” are taking place. These insights help you target the most serious hazards and maximize the effectiveness of your safety program. Establish Safe Procedures To protect drivers and operators, as well as any workers on foot, make sure you ha...

Loading and unloading goods transported by trucks, while a routine activity for many companies, presents a significant number of safety hazards, including the potential for falling employees, objects and machinery. These accidents often result in serious injuries or even fatalities, and you may be held liable as the employer. That’s why it’s important to identify safety issues early on, especially if you’ve experienced close calls in the past. In order to promote truck safety for your workers, your company should take certain expert-recommended precautions. You must choose the appropriate safety equipment, advocate proper truck spotting and implement employee training. These three best practices help you improve workplace safety at your facility. 1. Use The Appropriate Equipment For Your Specifications Simply telling your vendor you need a loading rack does not provide them with enough information to recommend the appropriate equipment. Before you place an order for your safety so...

There are several instances in which trucks will be used to carry crude oil and other fuels or fluids to a different location. Tanker trucks usually get oil from storage tanks and take it to a loading terminal to transload the fuel into railcars. Depending on the distance to the refinery or pipeline connection, the tank truck may be able to take the shipment the entire way. However, if the drive will be a long one, it is more cost effective to do things the old-fashioned way and transload the product onto railcars. Tanker trucks extract crude oil or other fluids from the storage tanks located fairly near the wellheads. Then the operator drives the truck to the nearest terminal where a rail spur allows railcars to get into the terminal, be filled, and then get back to the main railway. When the railcars arrive at their next stop it will be another terminal where the reverse actions will take place. This terminal is located near the refinery, and will be equipped for transloading from...

  Fall prevention at tanker truck loading facilities is of significant importance due to a variety of reasons. Falls are one of the leading causes of fatal and non-fatal injuries in the workplace, especially in industries involving heavy machinery and transportation such as loading facilities. Preventing such incidents should be a priority for all involved, as they can result in severe human, financial, and operational consequences. 1.      Human safety: The most apparent and critical reason is the preservation of human life and health. Falls from height, even relatively small ones, can result in serious injuries or fatalities. These injuries may involve fractures, concussions, or even long-term disability. Preventing falls is a direct way to safeguard the wellbeing of employees. 2.      Regulatory compliance: Regulations such as the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) standards in the United States require employers to...

Your chemical plant is filled with potential threats to the safety of your employees and to your company’s bottom line. You need to keep materials coming in and products going out, while also protecting your workers. Do you have the equipment and solutions you need to accomplish these mandates? Learn three key benefits of installing an expertly designed and constructed truck loading rack.   Key Benefit #1: Protecting Your Workers From Unnecessary Risk It’s likely that most of the chemicals you move in or out of your facility are transported in tank trucks. While these trucks are the most efficient way to transport chemicals, they also pose some critical risks when it comes to loading and unloading . Getting your chemicals in and out of the trucks means accessing the hatches on the tops of the tank. Without proper fall protection solutions, drivers could easily fall off the tank. Even with a side access ladder, drivers are at risk of slipping and falling. Additionally, workers...