North America - Lehigh Cement Company Union Bridge Honored Again for a Best Safe Practice

PHOTO CAPTION: Lehigh Cement Company's Union Bridge, Maryland plant was chosen as winner of the PCA Innovations in Safety 2003 Awards Photography Contest. Plant personnel designed and built a custom platform that makes it safer for employees to remove 10' long water lances from the hot gas tower during maintenance. The water cools the air prior to entering the baghouse. The length and weight of the lances, elevated tower height, and previously cramped exterior platform made it difficult for employees to maneuver and control the water lances. The operation required two employees.

Plant personnel devised a plan to widened the platform based on sound engineering, and installed a support ring beyond the handrail. This now allows one employee to easily and safely remove and balance all but the heaviest water lances.

Peter Lukas, Plant Manager, notes that this type of solution is typical for Union Bridge. "From time to time we face problems with the original design or installation of plant equipment. Plant Associates are usually the first to discover the problem. When they bring it to management's attention, they most often already have a solution in mind. For this project, several Process Utility Persons worked closely with our Safety Engineer. Together, they came up with the idea of installing a support rail. This is typical of the working relationship of all Associates at Union Bridge."

Construction of the Skyway portion of the San Francisco - Oakland Bay Bridge project

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