A WEIGHT OFF CREWS' SHOULDERS...and employer's minds!
Somerset County Council’s network service provider is responsible for emptying 132,399 gullies on a cyclical basis, which requires five full-time gully-emptier machines, crewed two-to-a-vehicle by in-house operatives. This means each crew has to lift and replace 26,000 covers a year and average 100 gullies a day. For some years, Atkins Somerset commission has taken a lead on accident and injury reduction, with particular emphasis on those caused through manual handling. In 2004, following national Health and Safety Executive guidance, it outlawed all manual handling of standard pre-cast concrete kerbs on this Somerset commission – even for short lengths and spot replacements. This can now only be carried out in exceptional circumstances, and after a site-specific risk assessment. Various innovations were introduced in 2004, ranging from ‘hollow’ and short length kerbs, to fitting cranes to the entire lorry fleet and adding mechanical devices. The most successful method was a basic mechanical grab, developed with Penny Hydraulics, a Chesterfield-based firm which also supplied the one-tonne cranes fitted to Atkins fleet of 45 lorries based in Somerset. The next activity targeted was the lifting of gully covers. Nick Ware, assistant works manager for Atkins Somerset says: ‘We had a real concern based on risk assessment and actual injury statistics over the manual lifting and replacing of gully covers. As with the rest of the industry, we were asking our gully crews to lift and replace around 100 covers a day, each weighing anywhere between 10kg and 40kg. ‘In effect, the crew members were lifting around a quarter of a tonne of ironwork each day, five days a week. This was not good for backs, arms, shoulders or indeed, trapped fingers and this was demonstrated in statistics showing 20% of our accidents over the last four years were associated with lifting gully grates.’
The start of the move towards mechanical lifting was very informal, and followed general chats with the workforce out in the field. Initially, the idea was met with an element of scepticism, as the winch lifters already fitted as standard to current gully emptiers were not viewed as being up to the job, were extremely slow to use, and were, therefore, not being used. One of the crews was keen to get involved, however, having experienced strained backs and shoulders in the past. Operators attended meetings with staff from Atkins’ health and safety team and in-house fleet services, Atkins Transport Management (ATM). Operator Eryl Bale recalls: ‘Being an operator of the vehicle, I had a few ideas about what would and wouldn’t work, and sketched these out on paper.’ Discussions centred on some form of hydraulic arm extending out from the gully emptier which would also drop down, attach to the gully, and then lift it upwards, all under hydraulic The firm was keen to get involved, and met with the Somerset working group where Bale outlined his sketches and how he believed the apparatus would work in practice. Following feasibility studies in relation to the hydraulic lifting capacity, a further meeting was then held to review the outline design but, crucially, to look in more detail at how the arm would attach to the gully. Penny Hydraulics’ area sales manager, Rob Thompson, says: ‘The hydraulic arm, while a relatively complex design issue, was more of our bread and butter work. ‘The tricky bit was designing a suitable grapple that would connect to the range of gully covers in the Somerset network. We went out on site with the crews to understand for ourselves what was needed.’ The final apparatus was fitted to one of the new gully emptiers recently purchased by the Somerset commission and has undergone extensive trials out in the field, where it is proving very effective. The machine is capable of lifting up to 300kg and consists of two hydraulic arms, one extending out from the vehicle to reach the gully, with the second reaching down to connect with the cover and lift it out of the frame. The whole arm pivots, allowing the cover to be moved aside during the cleansing process. The operator controls the unit using a remote control keypad. In relation to its performance, Ware says: ‘We are really impressed with the prototype device. It lifts the full range of covers in an effortless and controlled manner. ‘Not only is it virtually bringing an end to the repetitive manual lifting of these covers, it is also unseizing some of the ones which are stuck fast – most often the cause of strained backs in the past. Not only is it much safer, but there has been minimal impact on productivity. ‘We will now be looking to fit these devices to the rest of our gully emptiers as soon as possible.’ This article originally appeared in Surveyor magazine’s 17 January 2008 issue and is reproduced here with permission. |
Gully emptying crews in Somerset are now benefiting from Penny Hydraulics’ new mechanical cover lifter on their vehicles, helping to reduce manual-handling injuries.
Ware continues: ‘In Somerset, we have always taken the line with health and safety that just because there might be an industry standard way of doing things, this doesn’t mean it is always the right way. And it was the same with the gully cover lifting.’