Retractable Barrier Specialist Helps Ryder Boost Health and Safety

Retractable barrier specialist, Tensator Group, has helped Ryder Europe boost its health and safety credentials at its 27 depots across the UK.

Ryder asked Tensator Group to provide a solution to cordon off the potentially dangerous pit areas that the company uses to service its fleet of rental and lease commercial vehicles. Its aim was to continue to ensure the safest possible working environment for the company’s 360 expert vehicle technicians.

Over a nine-month period, Tensator Group has rolled-out and installed more than 1,000 Tensabarrier® Wall Units, socket-fixed and Advance Tensabarriers, specialist pit bridges and printed webbing that displays a clear ‘Beware Open Pit’ message.

As part of the project, Tensator Group also developed bespoke brackets to allow the Wall Units to be attached directly to the pit bridges.

Commenting on the rollout, Simon Ranner, operations director at Ryder, said:

“At Ryder we promote an integrated health and safety culture across our UK network, and the installation of the Tensabarrier® products at 27 of our locations has helped us further protect the welfare of our technicians.”

For Brett Hellyer, health and safety product specialist at Tensator Group, Ryder is tackling an industry-wide issue head on:

“Large vehicle servicing work takes place below ground level in service pits, but it must be remembered that there’s a very real risk for those people working near or passing by the edge of that pit.

“The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) classes working at height as any area where a person could fall a distance and sustain injury, and so this applies to service pits in garages and maintenance depots. According to latest HSE figures, 29 people died and over 6,000 sustained an injury as a result from a fall from height in the workplace between 2014 and 2015.”