Word-of-Mouth Helps Lafarge’s Nashville Cement Terminal Select SafeRack

Lafarge North America’s Nashville, TN, Cement Terminal recently upgraded its fall-protection and gangway equipment to a SafeRack system due to its durable construction and ease-of-use.



Facility upgrades to G4 Series fall protection based on recommendations of plant personnel

SUMTER, SC, August 10, 2009 — Glitzy marketing campaigns featuring snazzy graphics and eye-opening advertisements often gather all of the attention, but oftentimes the best marketing tool is good, old word-of-mouth. Take Lafarge North America’s Nashville (TN) Cement Terminal, for example. Earlier this year, the company was looking to upgrade the fall protection at the Nashville Terminal, one of hundreds of locations Lafarge operates as the largest diversified supplier of construction materials in the United States and Canada. Lafarge North America is a subsidiary of France-based Lafarge, the global leader in building materials, with operations in more than 30 countries worldwide.

The heart of the Nashville Terminal, which is located along the Cumberland River, west of central Nashville, is the cement loading and unloading area, where bulk material arrives via barge from Lafarge’s Joppa Cement Plant in Grain Chain, IL. After it is removed pneumatically from the barges, the material is transferred to the truck loading/unloading area, from which it is dispersed to various jobs and construction projects throughout the region.

It was in this loading/unloading area that plant management noticed the fall-protection equipment being used did not appear to live up to the safety standards demanded by Lafarge for its employees. “We had been using a competitor’s equipment and it didn’t seem to be as beefy as other equipment and it had become fractured,” explained Bob Goodwin, Terminal Manager for the Nashville Cement Terminal. “One of our inspections showed that the integrity had been compromised, and as conscious of safety as we are, we knew we had to upgrade to what we considered a better unit.”

The process of upgrading can sometimes be a time-consuming one, as different systems are reviewed, tested and priced before a final consensus can be reached. Not for the Nashville facility, however, as the plant’s management had one company in mind when it began to look for the supplier of its new fall-protection equipment—SafeRack, LLC, of Sumter, SC.

SafeRack—which is the world’s leading provider of stronger, safer and easier-to-handle truck loading-rack and fall-protection equipment—was on Goodwin’s radar as the search began because he had heard so many good things about SafeRack systems from people within the industry that he trusted.

“Mike Brown, our Safety Coordinator, had had communications with SafeRack in the past and he had seen the units out in the field,” said Goodwin. “Our drivers were also aware of SafeRack products. When the guys in the field understood we were going to upgrade, they had some recommendations and they liked what they saw in the SafeRack equipment.”

Working through these recommendations, in May the Nashville plant installed a pair of SafeRack fixed-position fall-prevention systems, one for the entrance to the loading/unloading area and the other for the exit, with two safety cages on each platform. Specifically, when the drivers now ascend or descend from the tops of their trucks during the product-transfer process, they are being protected by G4 Series Flat Ramp Telescopic (FRT) Gangways. These gangways are constructed using metal-stamping technology and a tool-and-die process to cut out pieces of aluminum, which are then bent into the required shape, eliminating the need for as many welds and creating a stronger, more durable gangway. Other features of the G4 equipment include spring-loaded gangway and platform operation, slip-resistant tread on the stairs, powder-coated handrails and mid-rails, heavy-duty bumpers and four-rail design for maximum fall protection.

“I’m very pleased; we’ve had nothing but compliments on the SafeRack equipment,” said Goodwin. “The drivers like the functionality of the units, they feel secure on them and, overall, they’re impressed with the sturdiness of the units.”

The SafeRack SAS (Self-Adjusting Stair) G4 Gangway incorporates stair treads that articulate and self-level to accommodate varying heights of vehicles.

Goodwin is so impressed with the SafeRack equipment that he now intends to “pay it forward,” so to speak, as he foresees having no qualms in letting his terminal management brethren at other Lafarge locations know that if they’re looking for an upgrade in fall protection, SafeRack is the place to go.

“We’ve already got them at our President Island Terminal in Memphis (TN) and they’ve had a lot of luck so far with them,” said Goodwin. “This is probably going to be a trendy thing within our company when folks see how well they operate, and we’ll definitely recommend the SafeRack products if any of our other locations ask our opinion.”

For more information on any of SafeRack’s products or solutions, please contact Tom Semiklose, Vice President Sales, at (866) 761-7225 or tsemiklose@saferack.com, or visit www.SafeRack.com.

SafeRack, LLC, is committed to providing stronger, safer and easier-to-handle truck and railcar loading-rack and fall-protection equipment. Headquartered in Sumter, SC, SafeRack has more than 200 years of combined experience in offering the food/pharmaceutical, specialized chemical, pulp and paper, building products, plastics, cement, mining, petroleum, biodiesel and ethanol industries high-quality equipment that has been customized for each customer’s unique loading applications. For more information, please visit www.saferack.com.