| Improved access and egress to dump trucks |
Quarry staff have modified their new fleet of Komatsu HD465 dump trucks to improve the safety of access and egress. Originally the vehicles were fitted with a step approximately 600mm from the floor, which then met a vertical ladder with four rungs. The ladder required the driver to always have three points of contact which was difficult when carrying an item.
Instead, inclined steps have been designed and manufactured, which can be lowered to within 350mm of the ground. They are fixed across the front of the radiator with the last three rungs retractable by twin air rams. Handrails are provided along the length of the stairway and across the front of the dumper to reach the driver’s cab door.
The steps are controlled by the use of a switch at ground level and a duplicate switch in the driver’s cab. Indication lights show whether the steps are in the lowered “park” position, or the raised “travel” position. An audible warning in the cab sounds if any drive gear is selected whilst the steps are not fully in the travel position. An additional feature is extra lighting of the whole access step area.
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Ladder in raised position
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Ladder in lowered position
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