| Lifting the casing on a sand pump |
In order to carry out regular checks on the Linatex facility, the sand pump casing needs to be lifted. Whilst the standard swinging lift arm lifts the front casing, a heavy spanner had to be used to lower the pump parts of the back casing to the ground. To reduce the manual handling risk, a lifting beam was installed.
A safe working load (SWL) for the lifting beam was assessed via a series of tests. These showed that the maximum weight to be lifted was 140kg but that the beam was capable of taking up to 500kg.
However, two further issues required to be resolved: Firstly, the beam trolley was too high to attach the pull-lift from ground level and a ladder still had to be used. The remedy - a chain sling added to the pull-lift, which could be attached to the trolley without the need for a ladder. Secondly, before moving the pump casing, the discharge pipe had to be supported. In response, a new support member was fabricated and fitted adjacent to the discharge pipe.
By carrying out these improvements all maintenance work can be carried out from ground level, eliminating the use of ladders. As a consequence, there has also been a very significant risk reduction in manual handling.
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