Maintenance to mixer doors on the asphalt plant at Foster Yeoman’s depot near Southampton presented a number of potential hazards that have now been overcome through a unique innovation with wide potential. Each weighing half a tonne and situated four metres off the ground, the mixer doors are particularly inaccessible. Traditionally, maintenance on the pin-and-bush hinges necessitated personnel using harnesses to enter the mixer box and attach hoists so the doors could be lowered. Similarly, two additional operatives needed harnesses in order to work on the door pin bolts beneath the mixer box. It was a process that took four people around 10 hours and exposed them to hazards such as working at height, manual handling and confined spaces.
The solution lay in extending the brass door bushes from 100 mm to 150 mm so that an insert can be used to draw them out with the door body in-situ. This
removes the need for lifting gear or for staff to enter the mixer. Confined space and lifting hazards have been eliminated and heavy manual handling reduced.
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