Tanker Safety Cages help in fall prevention aiding safe tanker access

Client: Allied Mills
Industry: Food, Bakery
Site: Manchester, UK

Overview

A Tanker Safety Cage was required for a manufacturer in the UK. Allied Mills is part of Associated British Foods Plc and forms part of the milling and baking division. Flour mills situated in Tilbury in Essex,  Manchester and Northern Ireland’s capital Belfast supply group bakeries throughout the country, supporting household bread brands such as Kingsmill, Sunblest, Burgen and Allinson.

With a focus on “Safety First” Allied Mills identified the potential risk of operators falling from the tops of the road tanker trucks during loading operations at their 6 under silo loading bays.

IFC’s Solution

Allied Mills approached IFC Inflow for an engineered solution to the risks they had identified with operators working on top of trucks to gain access to load the tankers with foodstuffs safely. 

Tanker Safety Cages help in fall prevention aiding safe tanker access while working at height. The challenge was to design a system that would fit the existing fixed silos and accommodate the various vehicle heights Allied Mills use.

AIR POWERED SAFETY CAGES – IFC Inflow’s solution was to design an air-powered safety cage that encompassed the whole of the tanker top-loading area thus ensuring the operators remained safe throughout the loading process. Each cage was fitted with a pneumatic control system to allow the operator to easily lower and raise the cage into the correct position before loading.

The 6 air-powered aluminium cages were designed with a unique self – levelling stair arrangement and were fitted with robust roller bearings to ensure the cages worked smoothly.

INSTALLATION – IFC Inflow was also tasked with installing the system. Ensuring all the works were carried out safely and efficiently whilst allowing the site to carry on working.

Outcome

The installation was successfully completed over 2 separate plant shutdowns, thus allowing Allied Mills to continue with operations. The cages are now providing full operator protection from tanker top falls.