Founded in
1865 in New York City as a manufacturer of burnt sugars for the brewing
industry, D.D. Williamson & Co., Inc, has grown to become the world’s
leading supplier of caramel coloring and natural coloring for use in food
production. Now headquartered in Louisville, KY, D.D. Williamson has nine
operations on five continents that produce food colorings that are used in 1.5
billion servings of food and beverages every day.
Mark
Ballard, Safety Representative at D.D. Williamson’s Louisville plant, thought
it would be pertinent to investigate some better fall-protection measures in
the plant’s tank-truck loading and unloading areas. He initially considered a
catwalk that used a fall-arrest system and harnesses, which proved to be an
expensive option. Then Ballard came across a catalog from SafeRack, LLC, of
Sumter, SC, the world’s leading provider of stronger, safer and easier-to-handle
truck loading-rack and fall-protection equipment. When he saw SafeRack’s Mobile
Access Unit (MAU-I), he knew he had found the solution.
“When I saw
the portable ladder, I thought that it would be a great way to provide fall
protection for the people who work around the tank trucks,” he said.
The MAU-I
has been designed to serve as a truck loading rack or as a general-purpose
rolling ladder that will work for any 
application where a safe, stable,
dependable rolling platform is needed. The ladder is available in two
adjustable sizes, from 10 feet to 14 feet and from 12 feet to 16 feet. Each
unit is tested for a 500-pound capacity and is height-adjustable via a hand
winch. After the height is adjusted, the ladder locks via high-quality stainless-steel
safety pins. While the MAU-I portable loading ramps are easily adjustable and
highly maneuverable, the base of the rolling platform is exceptionally stable
to ensure on-the-job safety. Additionally, solid 16-inch tires mean that they
will not go flat at inopportune times.
D.D.
Williamson took delivery of an MAU-I unit in early September 2009, and the
results have been spectacular.
“We really pushed for the ladder this year and it worked great in our budget,” said Ballard. “It arrived in early September and two of us put it together in no time. Since then, we’ve had numerous tank-truck loads come in and everyone that has gone up there said they feel so much safer and secure. They are really buying into it; that’s something we want. If the associates don’t buy into it, they won’t use it, but it’s so easy to operate and move around, our guys think it’s a great piece of equipment.”
Ballard
foresees the MAU-I getting continuous use since the plant is in operation 24
hours a day. There are two specific areas where it will be used. One is where
shipments come in that will need to be offloaded, while the other is where
trucks are loaded for outward-bound shipments.
“We have a
very large parking lot where the tank trucks come in and we also have an area
where we load the trucks ourselves,” said Ballard. “These two areas are about
60 yards apart, but the MAU-I is pretty easy to move and we don’t have to worry
about the tires going flat. It also fits in our truck-loading carport. The
adjustable height is wonderful; it fits all of the configurations you find on
top of a tank truck—some have boxes built in, others have an exposed manway,
but so far we haven’t found any configuration that this piece of equipment
doesn’t fit with.”
Ballard is
also in the process of adding a rope to the unit so that the transfer hose can
be hooked to it and then pulled up by the operator when he gets to the top of
the truck.
“It’s working out way better than I anticipated,” said Ballard. “I knew
it was a nice piece of equipment and had been trying for six years to get it
here, but it’s exceeded all of our expectations so far.”
For more
information on any of SafeRack’s products or solutions, please contact Tom
Semiklose, Vice President Sales, at (866) 761-7225 or tsemiklose@saferack.com,
or visit www.SafeRack.com.
SafeRack, LLC, is
committed to providing stronger, safer and easier-to-handle truck and railcar
loading-rack and fall-protection equipment. Headquartered in Sumter, SC,
SafeRack has more than 200 years of combined experience in offering the
food/pharmaceutical, specialized chemical, pulp and paper, building products,
plastics, cement, mining, petroleum, biodiesel and ethanol industries
high-quality equipment that has been customized for each customer’s unique
loading applications. For more information, please visit www.saferack.com.