Posted By Mr. Scruff Hi all, I'm new to the forum and have a task assigned to me by one of my peers. He has a client who installs the concrete slabs to new structures and their activities involve moving huge concrete slabs around a construction site. The slabs are transported to them on flatbed lorries and employees climb onto the flatbed to attach harnesses from the crane to the load. Forklifts are also used for this. Our issue is to reduce the risk as much as possible of falls from the vehicle. As the vehicles move around the site there is no stationery point they could carry out the unloading therefore it would be diffciult to have a fixed platform for the employees. Also, the flatbed lorries are usually different vehicles. We've got to the point where we want to give them ideas on safety while carrying this out. My main idea is a safety net that is adjustable and flexible to move around a site with time taken into consideration. Can anyone else offer any more tips/guidance? Your help is much appreciated. Mr Scruff

Posted By Steven McCallum Thanks Bob, They are there for more than a few minutes and due to the environment (harsh terrain and weather impacts) the risk increases. Training has been carried out and access ladders provided plus the lorry when it arrives will be full and the load emptied over the course of the day. A possible scenario we looked at are these inflatable mats that can go round the lorry but then again again how practical is that? As i mentioned, it's difficult for them to have a stationery position for unloading. I've thought about pressure on the haulage company to supply the same lorry for each delivery so that they can find a more long term solution that suits all aspects. Even with proper training & equipment falls form the lorries are regular and something has to be done. Steven

Posted By Steven McCallum Thanks S, I will certainly have a look at that. regards Steven

Posted By Steven McCallum Hi Phil, Thanks for that. I might email accross but I think that may well be an impractical solution as they are not in control of the selection of the vehicle. I've thought about pressure on the haulage company but I'd rather our client had a control measure that satisfied all aspects. Cheers Steven

Posted By Steven McCallum Hi all...again! I'm looking at this as a possible solutions. Does anyone have any thoughts on this? http://www.easi-edge.co....roducts/trail_arrest.asp The only issue I can see is interference with the lifting equipment but I suppose we can get round that with competent persons in control.

Posted By john thos 147 the trailers that we have approx 2.5 inch square cutouts around the perimeter of the bed it would be quite easy to fit rails to them (i am pretty sure they are standard on most lorries. If they were made out of alluminium they could be fitted quite easily. We used steel uprights with slots cut into them we then dropped wooden boards into the slots to create a barrier. similar to the method used on curtain siders. make sure they are about 1400mm high can't remeber the figures for barriers. The other point to look at is to stop drivers helpers CLIMBINg on or off the wagon . get some steps/ladders made that can be phsically attached to the trailer. these could be incorporated into the barrier systen described above.

Posted By David Horner for ling read link

Posted By Pete Brown Try contacting the following company: Airtek Safety Ltd T: 01252 360550. They do a product call truck mat

Posted By chrisogmccann Hi, with my knowledge and experience of the different types of concrete slabs, it is a matter of the banks man to climb onto the lorry and hook the chains from the crane on to the pre designed lifting attachments. I have seen it done loads of times and requires little or no time to climb and hook on the chains. Personally I dont find it R.P to be sticking on side nets etc unless the concrete slabs are off varied sizes or types of beams. But again the lifting attachments on these beams and slabs have been designed so they can be lifted safetly. Thus reducing the period of time in which a banksman needs to be on the back of a lorry. One way would to be to ask the slab company to install lines horizontial onto the lifting attachements on the slab (Standard rectangle slabs). The banksman can harness on to it as well. Again the positioning and length of the harness and line might not be in control, and beyond R.P. Realistical the onus should be put onto the tranport company to engineer a handrail. a simple hinged arm, with adjustable straps, something that takes 2 minutes. Not 20 minutes with two men as the catch net clearly states on its web site. If the transport company refuses to take this action in mind, then when you are installing the protection for them, ensure that you do not pay for the wait time that the in-convenance has caused. :)

Posted By SN This wont be practical for all your haulage operators but for best practice check out what Bison use. At one time they used bags but last time I had a look on their website before Laings bought them (so may have changed) they had folding nets. Superb bit of kit though highly tailored for their operations and not practical for general haulage Worth a look none the same

Posted By West Hi, What is the lenght of this project or how often you doing this task?