Garage Safety

NOV / DEC.2016

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Garage Safety

Table of Contents Garage Safety Showcase

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About BayNets

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About Fall Protection Systems

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About Granite Industries

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About Rel-Tek

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Ketler: Many propane users feel one can detect propane by smell. But noses desensitize with exposure. Recent propane explosions and fires indicate that propane has the same risk as CNG and LNG.

BUSRide Maintenance spoke with a group of expert vendors in the bus maintenance field to discuss garage safety – critical safety equipment, underutilized philosophies and the state of shop safety in North American motorcoach and transit facilities.

Our Panelists: Joe Menhart, sales manager, BayNets Safety Nets Danielle Thomas, marketing manager, Fall Protection Systems Jeremy Rupp, marketing manager, Granite Industries Al Ketler, president, Rel-Tek What do you regard as the cardinal rule of bus maintenance shop safety?

Joe Menhart: Safety awareness and safety training cannot be stressed enough as the cardinal rule of shop safety. Shortcuts are always a risk to oneself and to others. Accidents are typically the result of a coincidence of occurrences, none of which can be predicted or completely prevented.

Danielle Thomas: Following OSHA standards and providing adequate fall protection are both extremely important when workers are operating at elevated surfaces 4 feet above the floor level.

Jeremy Rupp: It’s paramount to ensure that when workers are operating at any level of height, they are properly protected from falling.

Al Ketler: Install a gas detection system if alternative fuels are in use. Be sure to respond to alarms. Demand “automatic calibration” to minimize the costly labor of manual calibration.

What area of shop safety typically goes unnoticed by most operators?

Menhart: Other than the everyday procedures that get momentarily yet dangerously interrupted, it would have to be a cluttered walking working surface – or worse, an open pit fall hazard.

Thomas: Roof top safety is often overlooked. There are almost always various pieces of rooftop equipment that are maintained on a regular basis. However, they are typically not visible and many times follow the “out of sight, out of mind scenario.”

Usually a freestanding guardrail system will provide coverage for the majority of hazards on a low sloped roof. Another neglected area is the door opening while maintenance is taking place. This fall hazard is the exact reason why FPS created the Safety Gate.

Rupp: Preventative safety measures. These measures can create a more secure feeling for employees to do their jobs.

Improving the safety of a work environment can increase productivity and decrease potential of injury. This goes unnoticed by most operators because the job may still be getting done, but the employee could be experiencing higher levels of stress and working slower.

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From your perspective, what are the most critical pieces of safety equipment that many shops don’t posses?

Menhart: From the point of view of BayNets, it would have to be fall protection nets over service pits. The shop that covers a pit with temporary boards for walking across, only to remove them later for pit access, has just created an unguarded and frequently unnoticed “floating” hazard.

Thomas: The most critical piece of safety equipment missing in a shop is a portable fall protection system. These systems can be used throughout the shop and in outdoor areas. It is crucial to have designated fall protection bays. Another fall protection vulnerability is door openings during routine maintenance.

Fall protection that is OSHA compliant to cover door openings provide the worker with hazard free security.

Rupp: Secure and stable work platforms and guardrails.

The bus scaffold work platforms designed by Granite provide a semi-stationary structure for bus maintenance. The designs are full of safety conscious features such as toe boards, locking gates, guardrails, stairs with railings, expanded metal floors, and locking casters. The work platforms can be a critical upgrade for any shop that is looking to reduce ladder liability and increase worker safety.

Ketler: The latest NFPA 30A and NFPA-52 standards need to be studied and applied to your CNG/LNG/LPG facilities and operations. Factory training offers can save money and lives.

In your experience, how would you rate overall shop safety in the motorcoach and transit bus industries?

Menhart: From our point of view as a safety system provider, the bus and rail industries are better organized with safer shops and practices than consumer automotive oil and lube shops that are more frequently driven by violation compliance than by forward thinking. That may be hard talk, but bus and rail centers are just that good.

Thomas: The transit industry is more advanced in terms of overall shop safety, but there are still cases of fatal falls every year that can be completely eliminated. Many transit bus facilities still do not have proper fall protection in place. Most of the repair and maintenance work on a bus is performed on the roof of the bus; therefore proper fall protection is necessary. The motorcoach industry, in contrast, does not have as many equipment repairs if any on the roof. However, there are still regular maintenance tasks that require a worker to be atop of the motor coaches, requiring the necessary fall protection.

Rupp: They could use improvement. Most shops do their best to eliminate falls. The major issue is budget constraints. If the money is not available then the fall issue is solved in the most cost effective solution which is not always the best solution for productivity.

Ketler: In transit, the major shops are excellent – clean, organized and visibly safe. Some smaller shops don’t invest enough in needed safety equipment. The motorcoach industry’s shops are generally good, but can use more technically-trained maintenance personnel. busridemaintenance.com

GARAGE SAFETY SHOWCASE

SAFETY CITY TM

Gas Detection Systems for CNG, LNG, LPG — Get your facility into compliance — fast.

Free consulting, specs and quotes.

A Division of InCord

• Intrinsically safe sensors • Easy install and setup; plug and play • Lowest cost of ownership 1-800-783-9228 • 1-412-373-6700 sales@rel-tek.com • www.rel-tek.com

OSHA compliant service pit safety.

860-531-1046 incord.com/baynets busridemaintenance.com | BUSRIDE MAINTENANCE

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About BayNets Safety Systems, a division of InCord, is a producer of sliding net covers for vehicle service and inspection pits.

Since 2000, BayNets has protected workers from injury caused by accidental falls. From small shops to chain lube centers, bus and rail maintenance centers, to government inspection stations, BayNets Safety Systems has been saving lives for over fifteen years.

Service pit safety product BayNets was developed to fill the need for fall protection and not as a replacement to safety training – the first line of defense for any vehicle service center.

As an enhancement to shop safety, BayNets and alternate cover systems have become an OSHA safe walking-working requirement.

The straight forward and time proven sliding net design is easy to operate and easy to integrate as part of service center safety program. An installed system provides the utmost in fall arrest protection to catch and safely cradle a person from falling through an otherwise unprotected floor opening.

BayNets are custom made to the dimensions, cutouts, angles and obstacles of the service pit. This frequently requires designing around sliding drain pans and jacks to produce a workable sliding net system. BayNets are not stock products, only the material and sub-components.

The BayNets brand is manufactured in Colchester, Connecticut by InCord, an ISO9001 quality manufacturer.

One of seven InCord safety net divisions, BayNets benefits from the combined manufacturing, engineering and design capabilities of InCord to produce a high quality and long lasting product.

Visit www.Incord.com for more information!

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About

Fall Protection Systems (FPS) is dedicated to providing the safest working environment in all of the Americas. Our professional commitment towards “user-friendly, regulatory compliant solutions at an affordable price”, makes us the #1 Industry Leader for today’s fall hazard solutions.

Our team of fall protection experts is available to assist you with any questions regarding fall protection, OSHA compliance and regulations. Click here to see our Representative Territory Map. FPS provides sound solutions specific to each customer’s distinct needs. With product perfection through engineering excellence, we afford the SAFEST SOLUTIONS FOR ALL THE WORKING AMERICAS. Fall Protection Systems is a turnkey provider who values integrity and reliability; from the initial contact through system construction and beyond.

The FPS website includes a learning library for our customers, complete with installation and training videos.

We also offer an online webstore that sells personal protective equipment, anchorage points, connectors and other fall protection kits and accessories.

Safety Is Our #1 Goal: We are driven to help others safely realize theirs!

CONTACT US FOR YOUR FREE EVALUATION!

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About

Granite Industries Inc. was founded in 1997 by Steve Wyse. Steve has propelled Granite to the top of the scaffold industry with 43 years of scaffolding experience.

We are headquartered in Ohio and have warehouses around the country. In addition to scaffold, Granite is a leader in staging, bleachers, carts and fencing products.

Granite Industries has two primary brands under its company umbrella; American Cart hand trucks and Overland Carts electric powered wheelbarrows.

American Cart is the Granite division of hand trucks and specialty carts. These carts provide innovative solutions to common material handling problems. Designed and manufactured in the USA, the carts feature excellent built quality and attention to detail. The carts have grown in popularity with businesses that demand the most out of their carts and haul heavy loads.

Granite products are often exclusive in-house designs that lead the industry in safety and quality. Granite will even help design special items to help customers complete their job, safely and on time. This desire to create custom solutions has led to the formation of our bus maintenance platforms. Using a scaffold type base, the units are designed and manufactured to provide a stable and safe work platform for bus maintenance. This concept has grown and developed as we have introduced to new markets.

Like many of our products, it increases worker safety and productivity with quality and lasting components.

In everything we do at Granite, our goal is to provide excellent, high quality products at a great price with superior customer service, honesty and integrity. It is our hope that we will be considered for your shop’s next investment in safety and productivity.

Visit www.graniteind.com for more information!

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About Rel-Tek is a Pennsylvania firm specializing in the development and application of high performance, industrial hazardous gas detection systems. Since its founding in 1979, our stable of proven gas detection products has grown and matured into a superior resource for stationary alarm systems for mines, tunnels, mass transit, truck fleets and gas/oil operations and all alt-fuel facilities.

Our depth of experience in GDS technology provides singular understanding from the client’s viewpoint, particularly with regard to compliance with safety standards, ease of maintenance and low cost of ownership. We know what you want – before you do – and include proven solutions from the start. Our systems cover CNG, LNG, LPG and hydrogen fuels.

Whether yours is a local single-bay CNG garage needing two sensors, or a 100-bay municipal fleet service building needing 200+ sensors, we have GDS systems to best suit your needs and budgets. A system at Las Vegas Regional Transit is shown at the right being tested by a Rel-Tek engineer.

Rel-Tek is an engineering and manufacturing firm, focusing its talent on product innovation and design, safety approvals and client applications. Production is relegated to a cadre of US manufacturers under Rel-Tek oversight and quality assurance.

Some of our unique technologies and features that make Rel-Tek the obvious best choice include: 1) L onger life sensors with demonstrated 8-10 year average life, eclipsing that of competitors’ sensors.

2) Immunity from ethane interference – all too familiar with competitor’s frequent false alarms.

3) High-speed data acquisition system capable of acquiring, analyzing and processing 120 sensors per second – indeed, real time gas alarm response. No waiting minutes to react to a gas event.

4) Modular system architecture with LAN network options, distributed intelligence, touch-screen remote stations, error free telemetry, and off-site access. Expand your system anytime, with no obsolescence.

5) Intrinsic safety approvals -- rather than explosion proof.

IS provides enhanced safety plus easier installation and maintenance. No need to declassify your site (remove vehicles) for system maintenance.

6) Fully automatic sensor calibration – a huge benefit to owners – paying back saving in labor and supplies every month. Dividends can exceed the total cost of the original installed system in just 5-10 years.

7) Service assistance is just one phone call away. Rel-Tek manufactures all of its system components, including software, and can readily service everything it sells. There is never any third-party supplier to complicated service and warranty.

8) Our affiliates can install a GDS on your site. Rel-Tek engineers provide acceptance testing to your satisfaction and employee training.

Our clients are welcome to visit our Safety Technology Center and receive extra training whenever needed.

We have a long list of satisfied clients nationwide (some for 25 years) including the largest CNG garage facility in North America, using 252 CNG sensors. A few of our larger alt-fuel transit clients you may recognize: ACUA, AMRTA, COLTA, GCATA, GETA, KHSD, LRTA, LVRTC, NJTA, SMTA, SRTA, UNH, WMATA… Send us your sketches, drawings, specs – as available – and we will provide advice and recommendations to most economically meet NFPA standards, at no charge.

Rel-Tek Corp – Safety Technology Center 4185 Old William Penn Highway, Monroeville, PA 15146 USA. 412-373-6700 • 800-783-9228 • FAX: 412-373-6703 sales@rel-tek.com • www.rel-tek.com busridemaintenance.com | BUSRIDE MAINTENANCE

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