SWITZERLAND: ergonomics and safety for drivers

How to improve the ergonomics and safety of drivers? As innovative as it is remarkable, the answer should soon become widely accepted at VITOGAZ.

Did you know that a driver/delivery person has to handle up to 8 tons per day? Loading full cylinders, unloading them at the customer’s premises, stacking them in racks, taking back the empty cylinders and loading the truck again… The drivers’ work is physical, but not only. They also have to secure their load every time they stop at a customer’s site, so that the bottles do not fall off the truck during the journey.

A tailgate to secure the load

Handling the bottles on the truck and ensuring safety is a big challenge and responsibility for our drivers. The drivers have heavy loads to lift, and in addition they have to secure the cylinders with crossbars attached to the pallets. In the worst case scenario, when there is a lot of work to do and time is short, an oversight can happen. A new truck equipped with side elevators can remedy this. In cooperation with the company Dhollandia, Supply Chain has developed a vehicle that has never been used in this form before in Switzerland. The platform lowers laterally and rises like an “elevator” to the desired height. The driver can thus handle all the bottles ergonomically on the pallets, even those on the third floor, and thus save his strength. The driver is secured at the height by a special guardrail. Once the bottles have been loaded, the platform is folded up vertically, thus securing the load during the journey. The raised guardrail prevents the bottles on the third floor from falling off.