Handling equipment fire hazard warning

Laurence Jones, TT Club’s director Global Risk Assessment says that mobile equipment fires are widespread at ports and terminals. “In the last two years, the TT Club has received about fifty claims resulting from hydraulic fires in mobile equipment. This type of incident can result in serious injuries to workers and be very costly in repairs and operational downtime”.

The cause of these fires is often hydraulic oil coming into contact with hot machine components, having escaped through burst hoses or leaking fittings. All mobile equipment using hydraulics are at risk, including reachstackers, lift trucks, fork lifts, straddle carriers, rubber-tyred gantry cranes, mobile cranes, tractor units and trucks.