Pauline Desmet | Head of Material Handling | 01 March 2022
Material handling equipment represents a critical part of the industries we operate in; from oil and gas to mining to renewables and more. The primary requirement for any equipment being used is its ability to operate safely without being a source of hazard. We, at Alistair Group, ensure that all work equipment complies with recognized international standards and the applicable regulatory requirements.
Our maintenance management system covers periodic inspections, issuing work orders for each piece of equipment. These periodic inspections go along with annual thorough examinations based on statutory requirements, recommended accepted standards, and manufacturers’ instructions. The annual thorough examinations are carried out by independent certified 3rd party inspection companies. We make sure that only certified lifting equipment is used during our Lifting Operations.
The purpose of this periodic inspection and a thorough examination is to identify whether the equipment can be operated, adjusted and maintained safely and that any deterioration (for example, any defect, damage or wear) can be detected and remedied before it results in unacceptable risks.
The current reports of thorough examination for any equipment are kept inside of the equipment and are also stored electronically on the Online Lifting Register. Any components that are replaced are recorded and pictures of the damaged or worn-out component are saved to the equipment’s profile on our online database. This allows us to monitor the rate of failure of each component, flag any abnormalities and come up with a feasible solution that will prevent the same component from failing on any of our other assets.
Honing in on our fleet and specific compliance of equipment we’d like to highlight two specific measures we put in place: Firstly, our trucks are equipped with trailer stanchions and headboards. This is important for the safe transportation of oil country tubular goods (OCTG). Apart from preventing harm to personnel, safe transportation of OCTG reduces any repair costs and ensures the pipe is in optimal condition when used.
Secondly, a wheel nut indicator is one of the main features of our trucks. One of the common risks involving the transportation of goods using trucks is the detachment of wheels from the wheel stud. Therefore the wheel nut indicators allow identification of loose nuts before this can occur and prevent accidents.
Alistair Group is committed to the continuous effort for improvement and safety; these implementations are only a handful of the precautions we take to ensure our operations are carried out safely and our operators work in a safe environment.
