If your facility has backup generators, chances are pretty good that at some point you’ve wondered how to design safe access around industrial generator units.
Generators provide power to keep the lights on and equipment running during power outages and emergencies. Facility owners depend on these systems to kick on when electricity goes out, but even reliable generators need routine maintenance and repair. Improving how your team accesses generator equipment for inspection, maintenance, testing, and repair can reduce risk, keep your staff safer, and enhance productivity.
Why Design Safe Access Around Generators?
Industrial generators come in many sizes and can be located in numerous places including rooftops, concrete pads, utility yards, and inside mechanical equipment rooms. Maintenance and service activities often require technicians to access the engine, controls, transfer switches, fuel components, cooling systems, batteries, and other components. Equipment installed on rooftops, elevated platforms, mezzanines, or in otherwise difficult to reach areas can present unique access challenges.
If your maintenance technicians don’t have safe and efficient access to your generator units, they may use ladders, make-shift platforms, buckets, or other improvised equipment to perform their duties. This dramatically increases risk by introducing slip-and-fall hazards and predicting where workers will go to access equipment.
Safe access platforms, stairs, walkways, guardrails, and designated work areas can make it easier for your team to safely reach equipment at all points in the life cycle. Besides keeping workers safer, improving access to your generators can lead to more thorough inspections and efficient maintenance that can actually improve generator reliability.
Assess Your Installation and Environment
Every generator installation is unique. Consider the following elements before designing your generator access solution:
- Generator size and layout
- Location & elevation
- Maintenance access points
- Available work space
- Existing infrastructure
- Frequency of maintenance activities
- Environmental exposure
- Safety considerations
Answering questions like these can help you visualize how technicians will service the generator now and in the future. Understanding your team’s interaction with the equipment can help designers create an access system that keeps workers safe and provides the most practical solution for your business.
Identify Key Service Locations
Different types of generators require maintenance technicians to access different components. Not every area around the generator needs the same level of access. Spend some time identifying where technicians will need to go to perform routine inspections, maintenance, and repair.
Common service points include:
- Control Panels: Operators and technicians need to access generator controls for testing, monitoring, diagnostics, and troubleshooting.
- Fuel System Components: Tanks, filters, pumps, and fuel transfer mechanisms may require frequent inspections and maintenance.
- Cooling Systems: Radiators, coolant reservoirs, hoses, and other cooling components should be easily accessible.
- Battery Boxes: Keep batteries properly maintained and accessible for testing and replacement.
- Engine: Oil changes, filter replacements, fluid levels, and engine inspections require workspace around these components.
Maintenance technicians will need to walk around the unit to access different components. Slip-resistant walking surfaces are ideal, especially if your generator is outdoors where walking surfaces can be exposed to the elements. Materials like aluminum grating provide stable footing and help rainwater and debris drain through the access platform.
When possible, use proper stairs instead of ladders.
Fixed stair systems are typically safer than relying on movable ladders. Permanent stairs provide more stability, are easier to access while carrying tools, and improve worker comfort. Maintenance technicians will spend less time worrying about how they access the unit and more time concentrating on the task at hand. Customized stair designs can be configured to maximize space while maintaining safe rise and run heights.
Add Work Platforms
Generator repairs and maintenance often require technicians to access equipment for extended periods of time. Adding a dedicated work platform can provide a designated area for performing routine maintenance activities. Ideally, work platforms will allow technicians to:
- Access service panels
- Open doors or access covers
- Use tools without obstruction
- Store tools and parts
- Perform safe and thorough inspections
Size your work platform to match your maintenance needs. The more space you have to comfortably work on the unit, the better.
Install Guardrails and Handrails
Fall protection is another important consideration. Install guardrails and handrails to keep technicians safe when working on elevated platforms or stairs. Guardrails are typically installed to prevent someone from falling off the platform. Handrails may be used on stairs to reduce risk when ascending and descending.
Safe Access Keeps Equipment Ready
Generators are only as reliable as their last maintenance inspection. If your maintenance staff can’t safely access your generators and related equipment, there’s a good chance they aren’t getting inspected as frequently as they should. Improving how your team accesses
equipment doesn’t just keep workers safer, it directly impacts the reliability of your generators.
If you’re wondering how to design safe access around industrial generator units then you’ll be happy to learn that REDD Team offers customized access solutions designed to keep your maintenance team safe and your generators up and running. Contact us online or call (800) 648-3696 to learn how we can improve access to your industrial generators.