Loading and unloading materials from trucks or railcars is an efficient means of handling certain products, but it does pose certain safety risks. To help employers maximize their truck and railcar loading skid safety, we’ll detail some of the most crucial workplace procedures to follow.
Employee Training
Even if you have the right safety systems in place, it’s vital to thoroughly train employees before allowing them to work with trucks, railcars, skid systems, and beyond. When you take on a new hire, don’t rush through the training stage. Detail every step of the unloading and loading process, including proper handling of the skid system, and stress the importance of following specific procedures.
Additionally, monitor employee performance to ensure they’re consistently using the right handling procedures. That way, if a worker is acting reckless, you can put a stop to it before it leads to a deadly accident.
Ergonomic Concerns
In some facilities, employees must connect a skid system to the truck or railcar they’re loading and unloading. Connecting the skid system to your truck or railcar can be dangerous due to the weight of the hoses. The hoses employees connect are typically quite heavy, potentially resulting in muscle injuries if not properly done. Luckily, installing a hose handler allows you to reduce the hefty load that employees would have to otherwise deal with when connecting hoses.
Fall Hazards
Another substantial truck and railcar loading skid safety concern is falling from high places. Slips, trips, and falls are common hazards in industrial workplaces, and they can result in employee injury or death. The best technique for minimizing the risk of falling when employees are on top of railcars or trucks is to install an OSHA-compliant passive or active fall protection system.
Active fall protection requires an employee to actively do something to remain safe. Passive fall protection does not require any action from the employee to provide a means of hazard prevention. Common types of active fall protection include anchor points and rigid rail systems. It might sound odd that an anchor point is “active,” given that it’s a static point keeping employees safe. The reason methods such as anchor points fall under the active fall protection category is they require employees to carry out actions such as putting on a safety harness.
On the other hand, passive systems include netting and guardrails. After the initial installation of these passive systems, they are ready to protect employees without any further actions, such as donning the safety harness.
As you can see, disregarding the proper loading and unloading safety precautions can have dire consequences. In the same way that you must go to an expert who can design and manufacture a rail car unloading system for your facility, you’ll have to seek expert help to find the right safety systems for your business. Teaming up with an expert to build your safety equipment from the ground up allows you to make crucial design choices regarding specific environmental conditions in your workplace.