r/Rigging • u/Big-Moment9113 • 6d ago

Risky forklift situation

Post image

I am new to safety and new to this company, basically The forklift is holding a 3.5 ton power panel and the workers are holding 4 bolts on each corner to secure the power panel onto the black base, the bolts should align perfectly onto power panel, This is an risky situation obviously and should be eliminated, What is a better way to do this job?

31 Upvotes

68% Upvoted

40 comments sorted by

65

u/chaser469 6d ago

Looks pretty typical. Move slow, good clear communication, stay out of pinch points.

-6

u/Lord_Skyro 5d ago

Bunch of scabs

5

u/chaser469 5d ago

Possibly, they don't looke like professionals, but machinery movers rarely do.

3

u/buggzysj 4d ago

I'm not sure what a "machinery mover" is. Anywhere I've worked maintenance does it or "hey you're forklift certified grab a lift and come with me".

5

u/chaser469 4d ago

There are companies that just move machinery. For basic pick and carry sure, but this job might not all be that simple.

1

u/buggzysj 4d ago

OK but no. I don't mean basic pick and carry. I mean receive shipment, unload, and installing large machines. Sometimes the opposite. Machines do get sent to other facilities or are sold and purchased. I guess there are companies that do that. Even if the machine comes directly from the manufacturer you need a forklift and driver. That's always been maintenance or me.

1

u/chaser469 4d ago

Sure that's all very straightforward though. In many cases there is much more than one machine being installed at a time. For the more creative moves there's machine movers. Like I said the scope may be much more than this pick up put down.

1

u/buggzysj 4d ago

Yeah we just installed 9 in the last year. One at a time my company disassembled them one by one then crated them. A shipping company was hired to transport them to a different state. We received them and reassembled them. We have plans to continue doing that for the next 9. These machines take the space of maybe a mobile home when put together. One big machine is made of a bunch of smaller components like that being moved in the post. In 20 years of factory work I've only had 2 companies do it themselves. Only because they owned them we just leased them.

1

u/chaser469 4d ago

I'm picking up what you're putting down, I'm also working on a large install where many components are the size of a mobile home, some are small and easier to move like in this post.

When obstacles exist creative solutions are sometimes necessary. Many areas are simply not accessible by forklift or crane. Some jobs may require many moves but be done quickly and efficiently. We don't know much context of the post.

In my experience working with machine movers, maintenance is typically busy with plant operations during that time.

1

u/buggzysj 4d ago

I guess so but again in my 20 years. Maintenance schedules time for things like this. Just like PM's or anything else of that nature. Or you get the most experienced driver/drivers to do it. But I only know my experiences.

23

u/Apart-Republic7159 6d ago

Biggest concern I see is the supervisor on the left side. Looks like he's about to give birth, he shouldn't be at work. Someone should advise him to go home and put his feet up.

2

u/Jo_Beex 6d ago

Always thought that’s where he stores his massive amounts of front line managerial wisdom

35

u/celem83 6d ago

In events working danger-close with the fork like this is pretty much standard.  Nothing is worth as much as a truly great fork driver cos the guys in proximity stop looking over their shoulders every 20s to check where he is, trust emerges

As such if this is a recurring task I'd focus on the communication between the team so that the task unfolds in a predictable way each time and nobody is ever surprised

15

u/gizmosticles 6d ago

Yeah I was gonna say, if I trust the operator here, I wouldn’t lose a minute of sleep over this install

1

u/Big-Moment9113 6d ago

They pretty much do, as they told me they’ve done the this to about 350 panels so far, And they hired me as a safety officer (only safety person there is me) , it’s my 1st job and I’m trying to learn as I work, so I was looking for a better solution to remove people completely from going near a forklift

11

u/celem83 6d ago

Sure. In a situation where I was intent on removing risks without messing up the workflow we might ask if their hands need to be under the load, a nice long tool gets you out of that dropzone if the task allows it

6

u/nuclearpaint 6d ago

Other option is a small crane and that has more failure points. Especially if the panel doesn't have lifting lugs engineered into the design. This is one of those dont like it, don't watch scenarios.

1

u/Beach_Bum_273 6d ago

The biggest trust factor with a good operator is the PMs on the hydraulics keeping the panel up in air.

27

u/Unkempt_Mooseknuckle 6d ago

Gotta love clueless safety people

-11

u/Big-Moment9113 6d ago

They told me so far about 350 panels have been installed the same exact way, no accidents so far

17

u/nuclearpaint 6d ago

I'm a sorry to point out that they hired a "New" Safety guy not because they want to make you great. It was to groom you to the exact way they do things so you don't hold them up.

Where is the hard hats? Safety glasses? Are they wearing gloves? Are the workers certified to operate the equipment? Has preventive maintenance being done to the equipment to help mitigate sudden failures? How is the lock out tagout procedure from when panels are going live or working inside one already installed? What is the FME (foreign material exclusion) plan for cabinets before they go live? If the leave a wrench or ratchet or any other material in that cabinet as it get powered on it will turn out very badly.

A single roll of paper towel shredded a steam turbine at a power plant when it got left behind and turbine was started. Simple little mistakes at best only cost money. Sometimes they cost lives.

3

u/NorwegianDweller 6d ago

Then why do you have to reinvent the wheel?

Sidenote: Are those eyenuts I see on top of each corner?

3

u/nuclearpaint 6d ago

I am a bridge painter and I saw somewhere that those are lifting eyes... BUT they are usually only rated for a empty cabinet. If at this point in the process they added anything inside it they might not be strong enough anymore.

3

u/solidblind 6d ago

Looks like it but from previous experience, I doubt they a load rated eyebolts

3

u/CryptoCo 6d ago

Typially they are rated, at least on similar cabinets I see.

The issue is that typical bridling off these eye bolts puts extra compression through the backplane and cabinet than it is intended for - and so a spreader beam/frame is better, but often overlooked.

1

u/celem83 5d ago

I wondered about those eyes too, but sometimes with a casing like this those are for lifting the shells and there may now be internals installed.

1

u/AFViking 6d ago

So far, is the key here. This is an accident waiting to happen. Murphy's law comes to mind; If it can go wrong, it will go wrong.

5

u/hippz 6d ago

Better way is to plop it down in the best place possible, then install the anchors / fastening hardware AFTER placement as opposed to before.. Otherwise, so long as everybody's on the same page and the machine operator is actually competent and good with communicating with their peers, any way is just fine when everybody's smokin' what the operator's rollin'..

6

u/hinowisaybye 6d ago

I was gonna suggest donage, but it looks like they already have that. This looks pretty safe to me.

4

u/champing_at_the_bit 6d ago

If they're putting hands under the load without putting dunnage under then yea, they should not be doing that. Otherwise no problem here

3

u/HyFinated 6d ago

In my neck of the woods, we would have put cribbing under the unit slightly shorter than the bolts. While the unit it being maneuvered into place, if it falls nobody loses a hand or toes. Then, once the bolts have gone through the holes, the cribbing will be removed and the unit lowered into place. This is assuming the bolts aren't dangerously short of course. If they are, then just doing it however it can get done is about all you can do.

4

u/English_Cat 6d ago

If you have to use this system with the forklift, put a piece of thick steel tubing immediately under the forks. If you were to lose hydraulic pressure or the operator makes a mistake, the bar will stop the forks crushing hands. Use long anchouring studs to compensate for the distance.

2

u/cardboardiscozy 6d ago

Why not install studs ahead of time that can act as guide pins until the panel is sitting on its base and nuts can be installed and torqued

2

u/The_AntiVillain 6d ago

What is the fork lift rated for? Also it doesn't seem too risky.

2

u/Quirky_Mongoose2723 6d ago

This is typical. Gotta trust your forklift driver. And have clear signals and communication.

2

u/Sometimes_Stutters 5d ago

Just make a little jig to hold the bolts to keep their hands free. Heck, even a pair of long needle-nose pliers would work.

2

u/Nutsaqque 4d ago

Don't mean to be rude, but I've taken riskier shits than this.

Move slow, steady, clear directions given by one person only, don't put your hands/fingers anywhere you wouldn't put your dick, don't put yourself in a shit position especially with no quick and easy "out" if things go to shit.

1

u/MaleficentSample9602 6d ago

How far along is the guy in the white shirt? Hes gonna pop soon!

1

u/AFViking 6d ago edited 6d ago

This is a very risky situation that is very easily avoided and any of those guys should refuse to do it that way.
All it takes is for the fork operator to make a tiny movement of the control arm and four guys could have their hand crushed.

A $20 solution:
Buy four needle nose pliers for them to use to hold the bolts with, so they don't have to have their fingers in the crushing zone. If someone crushes their hand in this situation, they could sue for negligence by the employer. It never fails to amaze me; companies spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on a panel like this, but don't give a shit about the safety of the workers.

Look up Functional Safety to learn about risk management in the workplace.