Industrial Facilities Common Denominator: Safety Equipment

In today’s industrial facility, it’s not uncommon to have multiple processes taking place in the same building, often on the same elevated work platform. These processes each have their own unique requirements for equipment and personnel, but one common denominator should be proper safety equipment to ensure a safe environment.

We worked with a chemical plant that needed to provide safety for its employees in a number of applications performed in its facility. To secure each unique area, our team did a walk through of the facility with the safety managers to view each area and provide the best solution for each application. After review, our engineers designed solutions for each area. Once fabricated, our installers were able to install the solutions and secure these areas.

The company’s facility had a few areas in which overhead hoists were loading super sacks to elevated areas so employees could mix the ingredients into the hoppers; a few featured pallet drop areas right next to the hopper. Tight quarters on elevated platforms coupled with processes that require repetitive lifting of heavy material in a dusty, hot environment can provide a recipe for unsafe situations for employees; risk of falling from unguarded ledges during loading and unloading operations is great without proper protection. Because each area had its own unique process and space limitations, specific fall protection solutions were designed for each area.

The fall protection solution we provided for the areas with the overhead hoists was our Open Top safety gate model, which uses an interconnected dual-gate system without any overhead mechanics that ensures one gate is always protecting the employees from the ledge at all times. This allowed the hoist to access the area from above while keeping the employee a safe distance from the ledge.

Some of these areas required side access to the material, so we designed the Open Top model in a ninety-degree configuration. A couple of these areas were wash-down environments so we supplied the safety gates in a stainless steel construction.

Other areas where loaded by a lift truck but had limited depth due to the location of the hoppers, so we provided our Tri-Side model safety gate, which uses a cantilevered rear-side gate that lifts up and out of the way to allow access around the pallet in tight environments while always keeping the ledge secured.

This facility also had an area in a doorway on the upper level. Because remote control to the gate was required, we provided our original dual-gate safety system, the Roly model, with power operation and a radio frequency remote for the lift truck.

Another area had limited height but was used for loading tall pallet loads. We supplied a custom designed version of our Pivot Model, adjusting the pivot point locations to fit the space constraints while accommodating the pallet sizes.

There were also two areas that were unique in every stage of the process, involving an overhead hoist, limited depth, limited height and required side access to the area. Because we did not have a standard design that could fit this environment, we designed one that did. This unnamed solution, designed specifically for this area, was able to secure the area then rotate up and out of the way to allow secure egress to the area.

So just like there are no two applications alike, there is not really one safety gate that is perfect for every application in an industrial facility. Reach out to discuss your specific application. You can also learn more about how to pick the right safety gate model here.