With as many as three deaths already recorded this year by falls from the top of containers, the GenQuip/Groundhog partnership has designed and developed a patented system for the safe loading and unloading of containers and mobile buildings. Entitled the HogLift, this ingenious lifting system is available with brand new units or ready to be retrospectively fitted to most current jackleg and ISO units. A single person operates the HogLift in conjunction with a Hiab crane whilst remaining safely at ground level at all times. The operator has no need for ladders, a safety harness or any access equipment, as the need to climb onto the roof of a potentially slippery container, is completely eliminated.
The HogLift consists of four vertical pillars each containing a free-moving lift trolley. Lifting slings are connected to each trolley at ground level and then they simply slide up the channel to the top of the pillar as the container is lifted.
The system has a lifting capacity of 8.8 ton with a larger 15 ton version soon to be made available. The HogLift is fully compliant with the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 (PUWER 98).
Paul Ratcliffe, managing director of Groundhog (UK) Limited is the person who invented the HogLift, he said “It was obvious that a system where the operator remains on the ground was the safe alternative to current practices, I believe that the HogLift will help save injuries and possibily even deaths.”
The Hoglift is expected to be of interest to accommodation hire companies and any firms with a large fleet of containers.
The GenQuip/Groundhog partnership has become one of the UK’s leading suppliers of mobile and static welfare units to the rental industry. GenQuip has their headquarters in Port Talbot, South Wales and are connected with GenSet plc a leading supplier of construction equipment.
GenQuip plc
Dennis Hughes
Tel: 01639 777028
Email: sales@genquip.co.uk
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