Fiberglass Strips Improve the Safety of Automated Guided Vehicles

Plant managers and owners take seriously their responsibility to provide a safe work environment and ensure protection from job hazards. A slick work surface is just one of many potential risks that Sure-Foot Industries can help resolve.

An original equipment manufacturer of medium and heavy-duty trucks needed to protect its workers’ safety. Its modern factory setting used automated guided vehicles (AGV) to transport heavy manufactured parts through the plant following routes based on wiring installed in the floor. There might be a ten-thousand-pound engine on top of the AGV moving throughout the facility.

Before

As it travels from one station to another, workers enter and exit to adjust or install parts.  It would be easy for the employees to slip and fall while conducting their duties since the surface of the AGV is smooth metal.

A distributor searching for the right solution to this safety issue approached Sure-Foot. They had considered anti-slip tape however it didn’t offer an ideal lifespan for this particular environment.  It was determined tape would wear too quickly. A fiberglass solution would last through thousands of man-hours and years’ worth of anti-slip safety protection.

A second consideration in addition to lifespan was ensuring access to areas of the AGV for maintenance purposes. A standard strip or panel of fiberglass would have covered these access panels. Sure-Foot designed custom fit pieces that would enable workers to gain more secure footing while moving onto and off of the AGV and still allowed access to different sections of the vehicle that might need service. 

After

Sure-Foot works with a number of different distributors that can provide both industrial and commercial non-slip products to original equipment manufacturers, the transportation and oil and gas industries, or other businesses, institutions or retail outlets.   We can work collaboratively to find solutions or develop custom products or recommendations based on drawings and specifications. Give us a call at 800-522-6566 to join our distributor network, inquire about our products or request a sample.