Pit & Quarry, January 2018
factor when the operator was injured due to stepping on or in something when stepping from the ladder onto the ground While environmental factors personal factors and individual climbing styles may influence fall risks the design and condition of the ingress egress system also play significant roles in preventing falls Most front end loaders have ladders steps platforms or some combination of these for ingress and egress Previous research has found that vertical ladders increase the potential for a foot or hand slip as compared to inclined ladders In our study more than 78 percent of the front end loader operators were injured on loaders with vertical ladders Bottom rungs that are high off the ground at heights greater than 14 to 16 in will also make ingress and egress more strenuous because more effort is needed to ingress and the impact on the ground when egressing can be higher A unique feature of ladders on mobile mining equipment including front end loaders is the use of bottom rungs with flexible side rails made of wound wire cables chains or rubber that extend below the frame of the equipment These ladder rungs are designed to deflect when encountering rough or uneven terrain while remaining securely attached to the ladder system This is an important practical feature because ladder rungs with fixed side rails that extend below the frame of the truck would be at high risk for damage or removal when driving around a mine site The photo above shows an example of a ladder rung with flexible side rails commonly used as part of the ingress and egress system on mobile mining equipment While this is just one example showing a way to reduce the height of the first rung such a design concept may also create additional risks if it causes excessive or unexpected motion of the rung during ingress or egress Our study found that more than 62 percent of the identified front end loaders associated with STF injuries had ladders with at least one rung with a flexible rail Most injuries occurred while egressing the equipment 68 PIT QUARRY January 2018 pitandquarry com PHOTO COURTESY OF NIOSH The combination stairway and ladder with two rubber sided bottom rungs is an example of a ladder rung with flexible rails commonly used as part of the ingress egress system on frontend loaders SAFETY OFFERING SUPERIOR PERFORMANCE FOR THE WORLDS MOST DIFFICULT DRILLING ENVIRONMENTS C 550 DII MAX DEPTH 210 ft 64m 99 Troy Hawk Run Philipsburg PA 16866 P 814 342 5500 F 814 342 1135 www reichdrill com
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