Secure your compartment hatch, dip & fill caps
Fuel Tanker dip and fill caps
There has been a high number of incidents where tankers have entered terminals to load with loose dip and fill caps on the compartment hatches. In some cases, these loose fittings have led to a large spill during loading.
All drivers must be reminded that dip and fill caps on the top of the tanker must be locked or secured using an appropriate fastening method (refer below). Failing to adhere to this requirement puts drivers and personnel working in terminals at serious risk of death or injury.
If a Camlock cap is not securely fitted it can be easily blown off due to the high volume of product being forced into the compartment during loading.
Compartment dip and fill tubes extend from the bottom of the compartment to the top hatch, so if a cap is not secured any product entering the compartment during loading is forced up the tube and out through the dip or fill point.
There are recorded cases where a compartment filled with less than two hundred litres of product during loading has forced product out through a fill tube when the unsecured cap has been blown off.
Drivers must ensure that all hatches, dip and fill caps are secured as part of pre-start and preloading checks. Where possible, a visual inspection of hatches and caps must be undertaken either by utilising safety devices fitted to the tanker or using gantry platforms or gantry mirrors.
AIL’s if returning a tanker or rigid tank back to service ensure you are completing a return to service checklist.
Drivers must ensure that any equipment returning to service after repairs is checked against a return to service checklist.
Failure to adhere to these requirements may result in action being taken by terminals including locking out of drivers, vehicles or in some case a business’s vehicle fleet, preventing the operator from loading.
Above are examples of approved methods of securing camlock cap ears: pins, dog clips, spring clips, padlocks, sealing wire (Aviation), plastic zip ties are not recommended unless they are UV stabilised or stainless-steel zip ties.
SLP Manager Lee Stinger
