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AJ1795

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Posted 17 March 2016 - 01:36 PM

Hi All,

 

Our company is looking into moving from drums of syrup to totes of syrup.  There is a concern with spillage.  Does anyone have any good solutions in case of a spill (some kind of guard, etc.)?  We are very short on space and don't have a huge budget.  There is also a concern if a tote was ever damaged/punctured... Does anyone have procedures in place for those incidences (patching leaks, etc)?  Thanks!



Wowie

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Posted 17 March 2016 - 02:18 PM

Spill containment pallets (that can be used under drums or totes) are available and really useful. They can be used in lieu of concrete berms.

 

Ex: https://www.ecopalle...-ibc-bunded.jpg

 

You can get them small enough for one tote or large enough for multiple (I've seen three, and used two for antimicrobial chemicals).



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ldb

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Posted 17 March 2016 - 08:03 PM

AJ1795,

I have run up against this very issue when we transitioned from drums to bags in totes.  The totes of syrup weigh 3,100 lbs net.  The catalyst that spurred me to research a solution was a warehouse incident where the forklift driver clipped the bung of a new tote with the end of his fork where the spigot attaches to the bag...created a small tear in the bag.  If you are looking to exercise futility, try holding back 3,100 lbs of syrup that wants nothing more than to escape the pressure of its own mass via the path of least resistance.  The little Dutch boy at the dam came to mind when I had HFCS flooding the warehouse floor and a four foot long stream of HFCS coating anything that got in the way...myself included.  Cleanup was nightmarish.  

 

Other, more common instances have occurred when employees weighing the syrup into 5 gallon buckets walk away, forgetting to close the valve.  Not as messy as the forklift incident, but sticky nonetheless, not to mention cost of lost product.

 

Anyway, I didn't really find any perfect solution to spills.  For us, it ultimately comes down to training.  We do have small repeat instances of course, but the frequency has been reduced greatly since it became an important talking point during regular training sessions.  

 

I wish I could offer a more definitive solution to your inquiry, but training has ultimately proved to be the most effective solution for us. 

 

Good luck,

LDB



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AJ1795

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Posted 17 March 2016 - 08:22 PM

AJ1795,

I have run up against this very issue when we transitioned from drums to bags in totes.  The totes of syrup weigh 3,100 lbs net.  The catalyst that spurred me to research a solution was a warehouse incident where the forklift driver clipped the bung of a new tote with the end of his fork where the spigot attaches to the bag...created a small tear in the bag.  If you are looking to exercise futility, try holding back 3,100 lbs of syrup that wants nothing more than to escape the pressure of its own mass via the path of least resistance.  The little Dutch boy at the dam came to mind when I had HFCS flooding the warehouse floor and a four foot long stream of HFCS coating anything that got in the way...myself included.  Cleanup was nightmarish.  

 

Other, more common instances have occurred when employees weighing the syrup into 5 gallon buckets walk away, forgetting to close the valve.  Not as messy as the forklift incident, but sticky nonetheless, not to mention cost of lost product.

 

Anyway, I didn't really find any perfect solution to spills.  For us, it ultimately comes down to training.  We do have small repeat instances of course, but the frequency has been reduced greatly since it became an important talking point during regular training sessions.  

 

I wish I could offer a more definitive solution to your inquiry, but training has ultimately proved to be the most effective solution for us. 

 

Good luck,

LDB

 

We are most certainly concerned with safety in the event that someone clips the container.  It's happened before and you're right that there doesn't seem to be anything you can do about it!  



mgourley

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Posted 17 March 2016 - 10:23 PM

This seems like an exercise in "what if".

I understand that that needs to be done, but the general rule should be "how to prevent".

 

The storage area has to be thought out in advance. I understand space and expense is an issue. I assume cost is a driver in going from barrels to totes?

What is the real cost in lost product and clean up costs if a tote spews all over the place vs. staying with much easier to handle barrels?

 

Spill containment pallets are fine, well and good, but they assume that they are large enough to contain the volume of the tote, and are large enough to contain the four foot stream of HFCS as posted above.

 

Call me a simple man, but the best prevention is proper training and fear of deity of your choice.

People handling/moving/staging these containers MUST be aware of the consequences of failure. Yes, I know, accidents happen, but in my experience, damage to ingredient containers are mostly due to lack of attention or lack of care.

 

You can't apparently spend the money to build a storage area that will mitigate the result of a spill, so maybe some intensive training on material handling, only allowing competent people to move these items, and maybe purchase of a couple of high capacity floor scrubbers/vacuums might be a good idea.

 

Marshall





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