Fire Department Over Head Power Line Protection

We believe when those who serve and protect the public are unnecessarily put into harm’s way.  Yes, they go rushing into fires or towards them to keep people & property safe that much we know and sometimes understand, but ask any firefighter and they will tell you why they do what they do.

However, when things go wrong (and they do go wrong) unintentional things place them in situations where they were doing something for a good cause like this picture below:

Fire Truck Contacts Powerline

However this video captures much more graphically what happens and how the Sigalarm can prevent this from happening…to anyone. COST should never be the deciding factor on protecting our firefighters, imagine if they used that as their reason to respond to a fire?

 

 

This is very scary –

STOP Touching Overhead Power Lines

So it seems easy to say according to the title of this post, But the action required and the ability to monitor everything that is going on with the operation of any gear near powerlines, well, it’s been proven that the human brain is only capable of focusing on one thing at a time.

This animated video is a brief summary of what happens but we all get that when steel comes close to electricity (high voltage in particular), it is a great conductor of electricity, add the fog, rain, snow in the air and then arcing becomes more prevalent.

Knowing is half the battle to reducing Insurance Costs

Having the Right Training for your employees and staff is the key to reducing accidents, but did you know that there are also vital pieces of equipment that your staff can use to reduce occurrences from happening also.
HIGH-VOLTAGE/POWER LINE WARNING SYSTEMS can Save Lives. They are used to prevent equipment from Contacting Overhead Power Lines. By using this WARNING SYSTEM, it is going to help to reduce occurrences from happening and, in turn, reduce your Insurance Premiums from increasing due to potential personal injury to your employees, damage to third parties property or injury to them as a result of the accident.
TAKE THE STEPS NOW TO PREVENT AN ACCIDENT IN THE FUTURE! NOW THAT YOU KNOW!
For more information on how to reduce your premiums, contact Deb Nicholls today, click HERE

Outrigger Pads – Why Use Them?

HIAB crane outrigger accidentOk, so the headline is a bit off-putting to anyone who operates a crane.  But during our time showing companies how to better use their knuckle boom HIAB crane, we have seen many “interesting” outrigger pads that we will not allow to be used during our training.

In Alberta, this is what OH&S says:
“Despite section 88, an employer must ensure that a mobile crane equipped with outriggers is set up with the outriggers on load-bearing floats or pads that are of adequate size, strength and rigidity.”

What we see:

  • 2×4 lumber with long bolts holding it all together – WRONG (bolts will bend and 2×4’s will deteriorate quickly)
  • 18″ x 18″ x 1″ plastic pads that are now “cupped” – WRONG (plastic is fine but you MUST turn the pad each time)
  • 10″ diameter x 3″ thick pads – WRONG (places too much ground pressure beneath outrigger shoe (float)

So, how do you know how much weight is being placed on your outrigger pad?  This artcile – click HERE, sumarizes how to do the math and you SHOULD do the math.  

On a knuckle picker (HIAB, Palfinger, etc), you typically have a smaller crane lets say a HIAB 144 series crane, mounted on an international chassis with a 16′ flat deck, lets break it down for the owner of this truck who just bought that nice crane and got a set of spanky new black plastic outrigger pads on it this is what you sholud be using:

A reasonable approximation for maximum ground pressure (worst case) applied by the outrigger is:

Pressure (tons per ft2) applied by outrigger =
0.85 x total crane mass + maximum crane capacity
individual outrigger area

So…add your own numbers and then do the math, chances are, your outrigger pad is likely NOT up to the task of holding your crane upright, on smaller pickers that only have one set of outriggers, this can clearly be a game changer.  When a company offers you a stability package that makes the crane truck more expensive, that is something you want, not removed!

Why not give us a call, we can do the math for you for free, then supply you with the correct outrigger pads for your requirements based on a series of questions you need to answer…simple!  To look at our outrigger pads, click HERE.

 

Another Worker Killed By High Voltage Powerline Contact

High Voltage Powerline ContactSaddened, Upset, Dismay, Confusion – this is something I can comprehend, but why should the family of this person have to whenever they think of how this could have happened when there are systems in place to prevent this?

Worker Dies In Contact With Powerline

Everytime I hear this news I often think, “what if I had been able to contact this company BEFORE this accident happened?”  But I also know, many companies do not believe that their employees are in any real danger during the day to day operations, and yet when this happens I shake my head and say it could have been prevented, but the cost of the device was just too high for their purchasing department.

So lower the price you may be saying, I could lower the price to where It’s a zero margin for our company and even then, unless someone is hurt within the company/organization, the people involved in the decision simply don’t see the benefit.

Do I sound like I’m whining?  Maybe, I am for the families who have lost loved ones needlessly.