5 Truck Loading Rack Essentials For Your Chemical Company

Safety should be top of mind for any manufacturing company, but especially if you’re a chemical company. The materials that your employees handle each and every day in combination with the goals of a company to increase production and efficiencies, can result in dangerous situations if you don’t take the proper safety precautions. And in addition to that, the proper truck loading racks increases safety benefits significantly, allowing your workers to be protected.

Knowing proper protocol and how to handle potentially dangerous situations is vital to a company’s success.

1. Safety – Mitigating Risk Protects Both Your Workers and Your Bottom Line

Risk will always be present in any chemical plant, especially in inclement weather and with the daily rush of increasing throughput. Having the right equipment will help mitigate those risks significantly, increasing workplace safety and improving production. Accessing trucks, which are how chemicals are transported can also be dangerous.

The loading and unloading process requires the proper equipment to avoid worker falls or injuries.

Using truck loading racks and platforms it’s essential that the equipment fits securely over the truck and closes gaps. Smooth loading rack operation, when extending and retracting, is important not only for the worker but to prevent damaging the equipment and the vehicle. A sturdy and secure loading rack eliminates wobbles and unwanted movements when workers are transferring chemicals and regressing from the hatch, oftentimes with chemical samples in-hand. Chemical loading comes with workplace risks, but if you have quality truck loading platforms in place and installed properly in your plant, you can ensure a safe environment. 

2. Increase Throughput

Throughput is key to any company and when workers get injured on the job, throughput takes a big hit. Highlighting again, the extreme importance of having proper safety equipment in your facility. If loading truck platforms and racks are not properly closing gaps, are inconvenient or cumbersome, are slippery or not designed to meet the needs of your specific facility, workers will likely find themselves taking risks and not following proper safety protocol in order to increase efficiencies. This ultimately puts both your company and your employees at risk.

3. Chemical Contamination.

Not only is protecting employees a top priority, but it’s also essential to keep the chemicals pure and untainted when loading or unloading. Your product could be contaminated by even the smallest mix of outside liquid so making sure you have a solid safety equipment provider who can install the proper liquid transfer equipment to meet the specific requirements of your facility, EPA, and OSHA requirement is vital. For example, if your loading and unloading area is uncovered and the weather takes a turn for the worse, you want to be able to make sure you have the proper equipment, such as a rain canopy, to protect both your workers and your product.

4. Proper Grounding

When trucks load and unload liquids, the friction can build up in the transfer of those liquids creating static electricity. Therefore, grounding is required to prevent static buildup that can trigger a fire or explosion. Proper loading procedure during transfers involves the driver connecting the truck to the Earth (grounding) before any other operations. The truck grounding system should have a permissive that prevent the transfer of the liquids if a positive ground connection has not been made. Typically, the loading rack has a grounding system that connects to the truck.

Learn more about Truck and Railcar Grounding

5. Spill Prevention and Containment

When you run an industrial facility, spills are a lot more than just inconvenient. They can cause costly damage to expensive equipment as well as to the facility itself. Toxic spills can also mean serious safety hazards when it comes to your work, the health of your workers or even the environment.

That said, adequate spill protection plans and spill containment equipment aren’t just good ideas; they’re absolute musts for any industrial facility. They’re also required under regulations set by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) for many establishments and the EPA.

In addition to spill containment, eye wash and safety showers are essential pieces of equipment on any plant floor. Should an accident occur this safety equipment can immediately serve as a remedy for an employee who has been exposed to hazardous material.

As the ANSI guidelines state, “Eye Wash/Drench Showers need to be located 10 seconds or 55’ from contaminates or hazardous materials. And they should be on the same horizontal plane, with no obstructions. And if bottom loading/unloading an additional shower should be located at grade as well.”

ANSI/ISEA Z358.1 – 2014 Standard

Read our two-part series on a Spill Containment Plan

Making sure you have the proper safety equipment in your plant in addition to educating your employees on proper safety protocols is vital to the success of any company, especially one where employees handle hazardous materials.  

When work injuries go down, associated costs follow.

It’s a beneficial way to ensure the safety of both your employees and your product and to do so in a way that maximizes company production and profit. Learn about SafeRack’s Truck Loading Racks

Let SafeRack be your Loading Facility Design and Construction Experts

Whether you are looking for turnkey installation, on-site supervision or a maintenance program, SafeRack is the world leading manufacturer and integrator of railcar and truck loading facilities.

We can do as little or as much as you need. Our project management and supervision team is the best in the business at supporting your company’s needs.

• Collaborative Design – Our loading platform specialists will work with you one-on-one to design the best loading solution for your specific needs
• Contract review – Drawings and associated documents relating to the contract prior to site arrival
• Risk Assessment – Undertaking a site risk assessment
• Shipment Inspection – Detection of any shipping damage or abnormalities
• Material Receiving – Supervised off-loading and transport at site
• Installation Management – Supervised Installations and Coordination
• Startup & Commissioning – On-site training for both users and maintenance personnel

For more information about our products, contact our customer service team at 1-866-761-7225 and ask for Tony Dublino!