This is a common issue and safety
is an issue with it also.
Anyone with a dump site needs a
controlled traffic pattern with signage for your new customers. Your customer
base that shows up daily knows where to dump and how things work because they
are there regularly. But if you accept materials from the general public, they
may show up on occasion and not know where or how to unload. The general joke is that people are like
sheep and follow what the previous one is doing. So if one person does the
wrong thing, the others follow.
Here are a few ideas to use to keep
a controlled pattern and to keep an efficient off-loading of materials:
·
Use as many signs and arrows as possible.
·
If you have the space, keep a separate area for
commercial and public traffic. The general public off load by hand whereas most
of the commercial vehicles are using a dump truck of some kind. The public
vehicles will take more space and time moving around outside of the vehicles and
get in the way of commercial traffic that can just dump and go.
·
Use a spotter or other employee to tell vehicles
where to off load
·
Fill one area and move to the next while pushing
and piling the off loaded materials from previous drop offs.
·
Any site operations should be on the opposite
side of the pile being created with new material drop off. Grinding near the
disposal area is an extreme safety concern. Everyone wants to see what the
grinder is doing and will walk into unsafe areas not knowing any better.
·
Leave a large log or stump near the dump area.
Vehicles, especially small landscapers, will pile material on a flatbed trailer
and need to hand unload. If they have something heavy to tie off to, they can
put a rope around the large stump and around some brush on the bottom of their
trailer and just pull away and unload. Watch for vehicles running in reverse
and hitting the brakes to unload, this is more than unsafe and you are within
your legal rights to bar them from the property if they do not adhere to the
rules of the site.
What about using the drop off vehicles
to assist in site operations?
·
Pile new materials in windrows and grind next to
them to create ground material windrows and keep moving to the next windrow as
they are created.
·
Dump in the center of the site and pile ground
materials on either side and keep the windrows moving away from the center as
you turn and compost them.
·
Separate materials as they are dumped. Have the
spotter look at each load and direct traffic to the appropriate pile. This
saves on grinding and separating materials with equipment later. It’s easy to
keep chip and logs separate for use in mulch later for example.
I’ve given you several things to
consider but the most essential and safe things to do regardless of your site size
and disposal numbers are:
·
Use Signs or Arrows
·
Use a spotter
·
Keep equipment away from incoming traffic
Hope this helps.
Questions?
Dave Whitelaw Grinderguy@askthegrinderguy.com
