Industrial tank manufacturers need to pay attention to a particular set of Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) regulations for work in confined spaces, tank shutoff systems, and similar considerations. These regulations are outlined in OSHA 1910, which sets the standards for proper tank use and manufacturing safety. As demand for industrial tanks remains high, storage tank manufacturers should take extra precautions to prevent industrial fall risks as part of their overall safety approach.
We’ll explore how modular safety equipment can adapt to changing manufacturing and production needs. Along the way, we’ll provide examples of how tank manufacturers can leverage OSHA compliant fall protection for improving safety on ladders, stairs, elevated platforms, and more.
Which Industries Does OSHA 1910 Affect?
Industrial storage tanks are effective for storing mass quantities of liquid materials. Even modestly sized industrial storage tanks can support multiple needs, including:
- Food and beverages
- Cosmetics
- Petrochemicals
- Steel
While it’s a broad cross-section of industries, they share a need for storage tanks manufactured according to OSHA 1910 regulations.
Storage tank safety standards largely overlap with the need for OSHA compliant fall protection. The latter is one of the highest risks in construction and general industries, and efforts to mitigate fall risks must fit neatly into an overall storage tank safety plan.
To both ends, tank manufacturing safety depends on fall safety equipment that’s as versatile as it is reliable.
How Modular Design Principles Support Custom Manufacturing
Custom storage tank manufacturing particularly depends on creative problem-solving. Modular guardrail systems easily adapt to new workflows, which must frequently adapt to large, non-standard tank components.
For example, large storage tanks require long, curved panels that sometimes jut into the air and leave space below. While it can be tempting for workers to pass underneath the suspended material, modular railing serves as an important reminder not to cut corners.
When technicians reach the next phase of the manufacturing process, they can remove modular guardrails almost as easily as the materials they’re meant to protect. During final tank assembly, the very same guardrails can then keep workers safe while working on scaffolding or other elevated platforms.
A modular guardrail system thus changes with your manufacturing needs, as they frequently do for tank manufacturers. It also requires accommodating variations in materials and processing methods, which modular railing supports thanks to several important benefits:
- It installs in less than a minute using simple hand tools
- Straight runs or extensions can easily convert to corner posts, as when moving scaffolding around built-in-place tanks
- Vertical posts can integrate with different baseplates, accommodating larger materials or equipment that must pass through ground-level barriers
- Modular guardrails integrate well with safety gates and other fall protection equipment
Permanent guardrails, by contrast, offer little-to-no resolution to some of the most common custom manufacturing challenges. It’s also a telling example of when reducing fall risks depends on products built for greater usability.
Protection and Access
Large tank manufacturing facilities also have fixed machines that, while not elevated, still often pose OSHA-designated fall hazards. Machine guarding can be difficult when technicians anticipate frequently changing or servicing fixed equipment, and a permanent barrier might trap service technicians in close to the machine.
Safety managers can fulfill machine guarding requirements without these drawbacks through a combination of modular railing and safety gates. It’s an effective solution for the vast majority of OSHA machine guarding requirements, which generally apply for the following machine risks:
- Rotating parts
- Electric hazards
- Cutting hazards
- Punching, shearing, or bending actions
- Nip (aka pinch) points
- Reciprocating or transversing actions
- Exposure to flying chips or sparks
Generally, any exposed moving part could pose a hazard. Industries that heavily rely on metal manufacturing must take significant steps to prevent these risks. When the same processes apply to closed spaces, the risks rise accordingly; meaning so too should the solutions.
Moving Materials to and From Elevated Platforms
Storage tanks at various stages of construction often require access to difficult-to-reach areas. Mezzanines are a common solution, but delivering and removing materials raises additional challenges, such as the need for temporarily breaking the continuity of a leading-edge barrier.
Regardless of its unique function, however, a mezzanine requires the same considerations as any other walking-working surface. Even if employees only rarely access the space, they still need proper protection, especially when heavy materials or equipment are involved.
The solution is specialized gates at elevated access points, where workers can safely receive heavy materials without being exposed to the leading edge. Mezzanine gates accomplish this using two gates operating in tandem. They’re constructed so that only one gate opens at a time, as follows:
- The outer gate opens, allowing a forklift or similar device to place or remove materials at the receiving area
- After the outer gate shuts, an employee on the mezzanine opens the other, inner gate
- The employee removes or delivers materials at the receiving area
- When finished, both gates remain shut
What’s most important is that the employee is never exposed to an unprotected leading edge.
For mezzanines or any elevated surface, you also must take stair and ladder safety into account. In most cases, guardrails are mandatory. In other cases, a safety gate is required or encouraged. Yet in every case, proper compliance depends on you.
More than any other tip, it’s essential to read and understand OSHA 1910, plus all OSHA or CCOHS regulations affecting your operations generally.
Storage Facility Support Operations
Industrial fall risks may be more pronounced from a large storage tank’s roof – but they fully take effect at only 4 ft (1.2 m) off the ground.
Storage tanks and loading docks often go hand in hand, as facilities with major storage capacities naturally depend on frequent shipments. This makes for active loading dock operations that further require OSHA compliant fall protection.
Compared to storage tank operations, it’s somewhat easy to overlook ledges and drop-offs found in loading bays. Yet these, too, need the same considerations as any elevated working surface.
Many of the same fall-protection strategies that work for storage tanks also work at loading bays (and in turn apply to storage tank roofs). With modular guardrails and universal-mount safety gates, you can more easily protect specific areas, whether on a temporary or permanent basis.
In the same way, you can block off entire areas, such as for authorized personnel or industrial vehicle zones. For custom tank manufacturing and related support functions, there are few fall protection requirements modular railing can’t help with.
Meeting the Safety Needs of Industrial Tank Manufacturers
Fabenco has been a world leader in safety gates and other passive fall protection for over 45 years. Our modular designs account for industry-specific compliance standards, along with various workflow considerations that can also reduce industrial fall risks.
In confined spaces, the need for proper fall protection rises, especially when combined with various machining and working-at-height requirements. For questions about OSHA 1910 and industrial tank manufacturing safety, contact us, and tell our dedicated fall protection experts about your fall safety challenges.
