The OSHA rule on any jobsite requires separating fuel gases, most commonly Acetylene, from the oxidizer agent when “not in use”. Where this gets fuzzy is if the two tanks remain connected and fully set up there is a 24 hour period where it is considered “reasonably anticipated” the set up could be used. This leads to many people simply leaving their setups fully assembled indefinitely which is certainly not the objective. It also leads to an increase in theft of regulators leaving tanks uncapped and even more exposed to potential catastrophes.
There have been attempts to build a better storage cart that would safely store the 2 gases on a single cart by providing enough of a solid barrier between the tanks to “separate the gases”. This has unfortunately leads to other problems including adding significant weight and height to the carts while at rest may be safer but try to transport the cart and that 5’ solid steel separation wall leans back and crack someone in the face. Now you got a whole other set of safety concerns.
The team at Speer Mechanical in Columbus, Oh devised a much smarter solution that OSHA agents can agree solves the problem of truly separating the gas 20’ as intended in the regulation. Their tanks are all on individual carts which simply lock together with a bolt on lower portion and a latch on top. The two carts are easy to move around together but at the end of the work day break apart in minutes. The tanks are always chained to the carts so storage in never a problem and the regulators get put away eliminating potential theft.
We spoke with Gary Wells of Speer who put the original setup together, along with Fred Bothwell the head of safety for the company about the configuration and they said it is now standard on all their jobs. We asked Gary if he had any intentions of trying to sell this product and he said he did not but encouraged us to get the word out to possibly help make other jobsites across the country safer as well as help out his fellow tradesmen by saving them a little extra time each morning and evening. Really great guy, so please if you start manufacturing these and making millions, kick our boy a little something on the side.
The company was recently honored at the Builders Exchange Annual Meeting with the 2011 Safety Innovation Award where they received the award in front of several hundred of Central Ohio’s top construction professional. Great job guys!
