Highly Commended
Over several years it was noted by the site team that pallets of bricks being placed into the kilns for curing, could cause damage to the kiln racking system or the automated equipment used to place them. Each incident could result in damage, at varying degrees, to the kiln structure or the finger car and elevator used to hold or move the pallets of uncured bricks. In addition, bricks could be dislodged from the production pallets causing them to fall from height or become precariously balanced on the pallet with potential to fall. In extreme situations the finger car (weighing several tonnes) could be tipped up requiring recovery to a safe position.
To rectify the situation, employees were being put at risk to deal with the initial collision, requiring removal of bricks and pallets that might fall and undertaking tasks to stabilise and recover the finger car. Once the initial incident was dealt with, the kiln structure would need repairs resulting in working at height to replace damaged structural elements.
As well as the stated H&S hazards present each kiln crash resulted in production downtime whilst recovery and repair work was completed.
Please see additional pdf to find out how this problem was resolved.
