| Leyburn hot store skip rope change |
The skip ropes on the hot storage systems at this plant needed to be changed regularly. This had traditionally been a time-consuming process taking up to four hours. Added to this was the manual handling dangers associated with pulling the new rope up through the system, particularly as the ropes did not come spool wound as standard.
It was recognised that if the new rope was wound onto a spool by the supplier then it would be far easier to pull through, as it would unwind itself as it was pulled into place.
The solution to this was a spool holder which was manufactured to fit onto the forks of the onsite telescopic loader. The loader could then lift the rope spool to approximately half way up the incline which would reduce some of the weight of the new rope and decrease the chances of it falling back.
By having the rope spool on the loader, employees don’t need to stand underneath the rope pull and so the risk of injury by a falling rope is eliminated.
The machine operator is in the machine cab which has reinforcing on the cab roof window which ensures they are in a safe area during the pull. The change has halved the number of employees needed to pull through the rope. |