Trailer manufacturer Freighter has won an award for safety initiative at the annual Steel Transport Safety Network Awards.
The “Safety Improvement Initiative Award” was presented to Freighter for modifications it made to the standard design of its extendable semi-trailer. Instead of the usual bare main rails between deck sections when the trailer is extended, Freighter engineered a walkway which folds out around the main rails as the trailer extends. This provides drivers and staff with a safe walkway between the front and rear sections of the extended trailer, thus eliminating the risk of falling between the gaps in the main rails.
“We engineered this trailer based on a request from our customer OneSteel, who wanted to improve their driver safety when working in and around extendable trailers, which is commendable in itself,” said Technical Manager Greg Brown. “At OneSteel’s request, we have designed an extendable trailer with a walkway which folds out to be 1.7m wide between the two main decks of the trailer. This means that workers can safely walk between decks without risk of falling.”
OneSteel National Transport Safety Manager, Paul Driver, said “the innovation came about due to OneSteel’s commitment to safety. The organization has rigid safety codes of practice within the business that are the foundation for the way we work. The codes of practice relate to eliminating risk. The special Freighter extendable came about after the identification of a fall risk from extendable trailers. We took that risk to Freighter and worked with their engineers to find the best way to eliminate it.”
Paul said the resultant trailer has been well received and that the innovative new Freighter design would now be specified as standard whenever the company requires new extendable semi-trailers in the future.