Guidelines For The Safe Use Of Port Machinery In Rainy Weather
Entering the flood season, severe weather such as heavy rainfall, strong wind, thunder and lightning, hail and other frequent occurrences threatens the safety of people’s lives and property. While strengthening self-protection, workers also need to conduct safety inspections and use of operating port machinery (material handling equipment such as reach stackers, stackers, forklifts, terminal tractors, also called mobile machinery).
The following is a guide for safe use of port machinery in rainy weather summarized by Kalmar technicians for your reference.
1. Carry out a comprehensive inspection of the locomotive electrical system to avoid short circuit faults caused by water ingress due to wear and tear of the line, or loose and damaged plugs;
2. Check the lids of fuel tanks, hydraulic fuel tanks, brake fuel tanks, gearbox refueling ports and engine refueling ports to avoid rainwater entering due to loosening of the refueling ports;
3. Check the wiper function of the front windshield and roof and rear glass of the cab to prevent the glass from being blurred by the wiper and affecting safe driving;
4. When operating port machinery on rainy days, the doors and windows of the cab must be closed to prevent rainwater from entering the cab and causing short circuit damage to the electrical components in the cab;
5. It is recommended that users develop the habit of closing doors and windows easily at ordinary times to avoid sudden rain or other reasons such as washing the vehicle causing water in the cab;
6. In windy weather, it is forbidden to operate the locomotive when the wind speed is greater than 12.2 m/s to prevent the vehicle from overturning or the vehicle from toppling;
7. It is recommended to avoid using locomotives as much as possible in thunder and lightning weather. In the thunder and lightning weather, the locomotive boom/mast should be lowered to the lowest position (as far as possible below the surrounding buildings or other objects, otherwise it will become the first choice for lightning strikes), and the spreader should be retracted to a position of 20 feet. After parking , The main switch to cut off the power. If possible, the locomotive should be parked in a workshop or scaffold that can shelter from wind and rain;
8. It is recommended that the customer’s site be equipped with lightning protection equipment and ensure that it is in good condition to avoid personal injury or property damage during lightning and lightning weather.
The following picture is a case of rainwater entering the cab and causing short-circuit damage to electrical components in the cab due to the operator forgetting to close the door and windows of the cab in the rainy weather. Hopefully, it can arouse the attention of all operators and user equipment management personnel.
This case not only incurred maintenance costs but also resulted in user downtime and affected user production. This reminds the users of port machinery and equipment to close the doors and windows of the cab when operating the locomotive and when the equipment is out of service to avoid damage to electrical components due to rain water entering the cab in rainy weather.