During the transport of food and more specifically during the loading and unloading of tanks, there is a risk of falling. The enterprise Andres Pintaluba has strengthened the safety measures in order to reduce this risk.

The task

Food products are transported by means of tank trucks, which have to be filled and emptied. During the filling and the emptying of the tank, the driver or the person in charge of the filling and emptying have to climb onto the top of the tank to open the covers. The tanks are fitted with a protective rail. Pintaluba, nevertheless, decided to install an additional lifeline because this rail is not high enough to protect the worker who is on the top of the tank and, moreover, is located only on one side.

The risk

The risk is considered moderate in relation to the gravity of the accident if the worker falls from the top of the tank. This means that, even if there were relatively little chance that the worker would fall, the severity of the accident that would result would be too high to not take an additional safety measure.

The solution and the method

Pintaluba called upon an external accident-prevention service to find out if this protective measure would be sufficient to avoid falls from the top of the tanks. The beneficiaries of this safety measure are mainly the drivers, who have to climb onto the tanks or those in charge of the filling and emptying of the tanks.

To evaluate the severity of the accident, one calculated the distance between the ground and the height of the tanks. Given that it was a height of about 3.70 m, the severity is considered major. The probability of a fall is less under optimum conditions (good weather, tanks with anti-slip pads, protection rail, etc.). Nevertheless, if one of these conditions deteriorates or if the protective devices are not present, the probability would then be medium, and the risk would be moderate to serious.

The effectiveness of the results

The enterprise is presently in the stage of implementing the accident-prevention measure and has not yet been able to evaluate the results. The personnel of the company are aware of the positive results achieved in other companies in the same sector.

The participation of the workers

The technicians in charge of accident-prevention in the company, the drivers, as well as those in charge of the filling and the emptying supported this project, which they consider excellent in view of their experience.

The costs and benefits

The investment is estimated at 1,868.97 euros.

Statement of the manager "At Andres Pintaluba, accident prevention is dealt with on the same level as productivity, quality, and profitability. This means that each person takes responsibility of being attentive to his safety and his health as well as that of his colleagues. Our company is committed to assuring the health and safety of each employee, customer, visitor, and partner on the premises. These efforts are made in the interest of the company and the totality of the community in which we work. "