More than 50% of accidents related to bitumen handling occur during unloading.To prevent such accidents, LOTOS Asfalt has designed an education campaign called “Be safe when working with bitumens”, and produced a video guide on how to deliver bitumens to construction sites safely. The videos are available at lotosasfalt.pl. They are also played during training sessions organised for all supply chain participants – from customers and carriers to production plant personnel.
General
More than 50% of accidents related to bitumen handling occur during unloading.To prevent such accidents, LOTOS Asfalt has designed an education campaign called “Be safe when working with bitumens”, and produced a video guide on how to deliver bitumens to construction sites safely. The videos are available at lotosasfalt.pl. They are also played during training sessions organised for all supply chain participants – from customers and carriers to production plant personnel.
The seven 'Be safe when working with bitumens' videos are a step by step guide on how to carry bitumens safely,” explains Piotr Ciara, Senior OHS Specialist at LOTOS Asfalt. “The modules present the successive stages of bitumen transportation process, from loading to unloading. The last video also presents relevant first aid techniques,” he adds.
The guide promotes safe unloading procedures, showing how a tank car should be prepared for bitumen shipping, what the proper shipping temperatures are, who issues qualifications for bitumen shipping by tank cars, and how drivers transporting bitumen products should be dressed.
The video tutorial is not all. LOTOS Asfalt held a series of training sessions in Gdańsk, Jasło and Czechowice, which were aimed at promoting safe behaviour among all participants of the supply chain, from production plant employees to carriers.
“We have engaged in a dialogue with our customers on their experiences related to bitumen deliveries as we have plans to prepare a best practice report,” says Adam Wojczuk, Chief Commercial Officer of LOTOS Asfalt. “We promote safe bitumen deliveries among our partners and recommend that unloading be supervised by our sales representatives.”
Paving-grade and polymer-modified bitumens are transported and stored in liquid state, at temperatures of 150°C to 200°C. Accordingly, handling bitumen products requires strict observance of safety rules. Apart from burns, other potential hazards include fires, fumes and the danger of hot bitumen boiling over from a tank. According to statistics, more than 50% of accidents related to bitumen handling occur during unloading.
Communication Office, Grupa LOTOS S.A., ul. Elbląska 135, 80-718 Gdańsk, Poland, tel. (+48) 58 308 87 31, (+48) 58 308 83 88, e-mail: media@grupalotos.pl
