Customizable, adaptable platforms can – and should - replace ladders for safer rooftop access
This article was created in partnership with Kee Safety
It’s 2 am in the middle of February and the weather in Calgary is cold and windy, with sleet and snow blowing in sideways. An alarm goes off for an issue with an oil and gas pipeline building in the middle of a farmer’s field. The person responsible for servicing it loads themselves into their pick-up truck and drives to the remote location. They pull out an aluminum ladder and prepare to climb it, solo, to get the job done.
“We don’t want that,” sums up Scott Tyson, Western Regional Manager at Kee Safety. “If anybody is using an old-fashioned aluminum ladder to get up at height more than a few times a year, they should have a safe access platform there — especially where people are doing remote work.”
Kee Safety’s platforms ‘ebb, flow, and repurpose’ along with industry
Kee Safety offers a range of platform options, from mobile to more permanent — though still customizable — to access and maintenance options. The trademark Work Platform is hailed as flexible, durable, and effective, and is constructed using Kee Lite or Kee Klamp tubular fittings to suit any application. Exceeding OH&S standards, “it’s permanent but able to be altered and that’s the magic,” Tyson explains, likening it to Lego in its customizability.
“You’re never locked in. If something changes in your operation, my platforms change with you. You need a few more feet? A few less? We can grow it or shrink it — people love that.”
Extremely popular in oil and gas — the largest pipeline company in the world is installing Kee Safety’s platforms from Fort McMurray to Louisiana — Tyson sees the solution’s flexibility as its winning attribute. Different from other offerings, Kee Safety’s platforms keep up with industries where things are always changing. Whether it’s new technology and processes, or different locations and safety standards, “we can ebb, flow, and repurpose along with them,” Tyson notes.
And importantly, these solutions aren’t limited to any one industry: even controlled environments such as an indoor manufacturing facility can benefit from them.
Not just safe, but simple
When refrigeration company Lineage’s new owners came onboard and found ladders were used to access rooftops for servicing the 24-hour machinery, they weren’t happy with the risk. They quickly mandated Kee Safety’s safe access platforms across the board. Across Canada and into the US, Tyson says they’ve done platforms and stair access on those rooftops in every major city.
A company that runs poultry processing facilities is another example of continuously running rooftop operations that needed a better, safer way for people to access those areas. Kee Safety is working with them on walkways, platforms, stairs, and guardrails and it follows the same mindset of keeping it not just safe, but simple as these solutions fall under collective protection.
“You can send me or a monkey up there, that’s what it’s designed for,” Tyson says, adding that if someone is using that old aluminum ladder instead, for example, they need a lifeline or similar apparatus that’s inspected annually and that they’ve been trained to use properly so if they fall, they’re protected.
“As an employer or lease owner, you don’t have to worry about who’s on site or what tickets they’ve got. Anybody who’s qualified to do the repair or inspection can go up because it’s a safe area to complete their task. Keep it simple and safe: it saves headaches.”
‘We can help in any situation’
Regardless of business or budget, Kee Safety can design and build a platform for every need — and they welcome the challenge. There are no limitations on the platforms, Tyson stresses, pointing to an airline that he worked with to help them safely access the fuselage of the aircrafts as an example of how the sky really is the limit.
In the rare instance Tyson can’t figure out a solution himself, he has access to Kee Safety’s 65 companies globally to address safety needs. As the world’s largest fall protection company that’s been around for over 100 years and in Canada for more than 75, Kee Safety knows its stuff.
“I love our global positioning and the opportunities it affords us and those we work with,” Tyson says. “I love our history, our vision, and this product — I believe it’s the best offering in the world. Reach out to us with questions or concerns: we’re here to help anybody in any situation.”
