Aerospace, Manufacturing, Canada Risk assessment of powered industrial vehicle traffic in an aircraft engine manufacturing and repair facility

Summary

In order to insure the security of pedestrians circulating in the factory, EEM performed a detailed risk assessment of traffic, identified control measures that could diminish risks and coordinated the application of these controls.

Approach and Solution

For the assessment, all facility aisles and intersections were evaluated separately to ensure a sufficient level of detail. For each aisle or intersection, interactions between pedestrians and powered industrial vehicles (PIV) were quantified (frequency) and observed (respect of the rules, speed, etc.), the context was studied (signs, aisle width, lighting, presence of mirrors, blind spots, etc.) and risk ratings were determined. EEM identified control measures to apply to aisles and intersections with high risks. An action plan was elaborated and EEM coordinated its implementation.

Results

The project enabled the identification of aisles where PIV are no longer authorized unless an access is temporarily closed. This decreased the number of high risk aisles and intersections where controls had to be implemented. Following the implementation of the action plan, risks evaluations for each aisle and intersection were revised by EEM and risk ratings were revised to reflect the implemented changes.