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Success
University and college campuses are essentially small cities that never sleep, meaning campus firefighters must always be at the ready. They also depend on equipment that's reliable and easy to deploy with minimal thought – yet it's maximum foresight that enables campus first responders to do so in high-stress situations.
The complexity of campus environments, featuring both crowded structures and dispersed layouts, also means rescue operations must be highly mobile and adaptable. For a variety of functions where accessibility or regulatory constraints inhibit large, immobile hoisting equipment, portable griphoists have become a mainstay of campus fire rescue equipment and related first response functions.
Are Campus Fire and Rescue Standards Really That Unique?
While it may seem campus fire rescue departments must simply heed basic firefighting standards, the reality is quite different. If anything, city fire departments are more likely to base their training off the standards set by university departments, not the other way around. To these ends, consider:
- OSHA 1910.156, Fire Protection standards for fire brigades, lists multiple universities as exemplary models for fire brigade training, including:
- Louisiana State University
- Lamar University
- Texas A&M
- Mobility is a crucial element of university fire brigade training – in fact, Texas A&M's fire training school holds advanced courses that teach "techniques related to the operation of mobile industrial fire apparatus"
As we'll explore, effective lifting equipment for fire departments is essential for maintaining maximum mobility for various types of equipment, not to mention people in need.
Unique Rescue Scenarios in Campus Settings
From putting out residence hall fires to rescuing students from windows or confined spaces, many campus rescue functions depend on portable hoists. Due to the complex multi-story nature of campus architecture, firefighters must have the means on hand to perform numerous hoisting operations, sometimes without the assistance of fixed or vehicle-mounted equipment.
An emergency rescue safety hoist supports numerous emergency functions in campus settings, such as:
- Hoisting or lowering portable water pumps and other firefighting equipment through exterior openings
- Man-riding to lift/lower first responders (but only with qualified gear)
- Rescuing trapped people from confined spaces
- Pulling opening inoperable doors
- Anchoring to impromptu attachment points
- earing down walls and clearing debris blocking access or ventilation
Further, campus firefighters must be capable of performing these and other essential functions as rapidly as possible, and even the finest training can't make up for technical limitations.
For instance, OSHA 1910 Subpart E, Exit Routes and Emergency Planning, requires constantly maintaining free and unobstructed exit routes. A portable griphoist may be the only means of achieving heavy-duty hoisting functions in areas where regulations limit even temporary obstructions by equipment.
Multifunctional Griphoists Built for Maximum Regulatory Compliance
When selecting any fire rescue equipment, it's important to thoroughly reference your regulatory requirements. This depends on granular understanding of the OSHA or CCOHS standards affecting your campus. With an experienced emergency rescue safety hoist manufacturer, It's likely your equipment will accommodate the widest range of safety regulations and use case scenarios.
Next, we'll cover the most important design features of portable griphoists, including technical specifications and the most common safety functions they fulfill.
Adaptability to Changing Emergency Conditions
Operational dependencies include ease of griphoist use and steady, continuous pull from a single anchor point. Campus firefighters may need to use portable hoists for unanticipated heavy-duty functions while away from their main equipment. These functions could include any of:
- Moving immobile vehicles not accessible to fire or tow trucks
- Adaptability for both man-riding and equipment hoisting
- Hand-powered operation, in the event of lost power
- Carefully lowering or hoisting heavy objects in crowded areas
Critical Design Functions for Portable Griphoists
Campus rescue workers can't allow technical distractions to disrupt their focus. Time is of the essence in emergencies, and equipment requiring frequent adjustments could become practically useless. Thus, any griphoist intended for grab-and-go emergencies must feature streamlined, low-maintenance design and user-friendly components.
Because griphoists must also be effective for extreme loads, even with limited manpower, it's vital to choose an emergency rescue safety hoist that's extremely user-friendly, compact, and easy to carry. More specifically, some of the most important griphoist design features for fire and rescue operations include:
- Support for indefinite wire rope lengths
- A telescopic handle, for improved mechanical advantage and compact storage
- Maximum grip pressure and mechanical yield, by virtue of a U-shaped jaw component
- An integrated rope sling to hang the griphoist and enable hands-free carrying
- A precision-engineered snatch block pulley, for maximum hoisting strength and reduced strain
- Overload shear pins that protection from maximum weight limit
- Compatibility with motorized and hydraulic winches to reduce worker fatigue and improve speed and power
- Simplified overall design, for easy maintenance and maximum hoist and rope lifespan
- Approval by UL (Underwriters Laboratories), including qualified use for man-riding
Options that include these features, such as the Griphoist® and Tirfor®, are available in rescue kits from Tractel. Available in multiple sizes, these kits feature ease of setup and portability, and can both pull and lower loads so workers can save lives, rescue accident victims, remove obstructing trees and debris, and solve many other accident and disaster problems.
Meeting Compliance Requirements for Fire Rescue Equipment Training
Effective lifting equipment for fire departments depends equally on build quality and usability. It's important to ensure your campus fire department is familiar with its equipment and certain that it's in good operating condition. In addition to thorough safety plans for each campus structure and gathering/work areas, employers must provide routine training according to their fire brigade's organizational statement, outlined in OSHA 1910.156(b)(1).
Training should involve regular use of emergency rescue safety hoists at least once per year, per 1910.156(c)(2) – or "frequently enough to assure[…] each member[…] is able to perform[…] assigned duties and functions satisfactorily."
Portable Griphoists/TU Rescue Kits Designed with Campus Safety in Mind
When everything is on the line, you can't afford subpar fire rescue equipment. Though campus firefighters face nearly unlimited variables, it doesn't mean they have to accept technical limitations. Tractel's lifting equipment for fire departments distill the most important hoisting functions into a single portable format that's easy to carry and store, and all without compromising on hoisting capacities or speed.
We also provide on-site equipment maintenance, troubleshooting, and inspections to ensure your emergency rescue safety hoist is in peak operating condition (and meet inspection requirements, per 1910.156[d]). To compare our portable hoisting equipment, download our griphoist applications and product guide, or contact us.