Chemical Spills Due to Hose Issues

Posted by Andrew Greess on Jun 22, 2018

Literal wear is what is going to take out your hoses! Rubbing against the gate of a truck as its being wound. Does it bump against your reel just enough to cause enough friction to wear down the covering over time? Can your hose be snagged while driving? If you think you can answer yes to any of these scenarios then you'll likely lose a hose this way. The question is just when and how much chemical is going to spill, WHEN it happens!

Assess your trucks, what can you do to improve and lessen the wear on your hoses? Can they be secured closer to the vehicle to ensure it can't be snagged at a low-reaching branch? As the technician it is important to stay vigilant about the condition of your equipment. Speak up to the boss when things aren't in proper condition any longer. You should feel like you can give a solution if you have any thoughts on how to help avoid the same situation in the future.

Also take the time to replace multiple fittings if one breaks and the rest are relatively or exactly the same age. The rest will break too. Wouldn't you rather take a little extra time once, than take multiple trips to the repair shop and more breaks in work productivity?

These are not problems you need to be paying a guy to fix, find or waiting until it has a problem and then fixing it as normally what would happen! Be vigilant and check your equipment for excess wear.

The next video in this series is the final one that wraps up this whole seminar:

Andrew Greess: Hose issues, another thing. Here's another example of the kind of thing we see all the time, the hose just gets beat to heck, and no one reports it, and here's an example.

You can see the cut out, and not only is the hose beat to heck, but the camper shell has been trashed by the technician winding up the hose without bothering to lift it up off the camper shell, and that's why the hose is getting trashed.

Think about what is going to happen one day when this tech turns on his power sprayer and the hose looks like this. He's going to spill chemical. The question is, how much, and does he get it in the face or not?

This is the kind of thing, A, technicians need to be identifying, and, B, if you're the boss, you should be looking for this. This is unacceptable.

Here's another one. This is a spray trailer with a boomless nozzle, and what happens is, the driver pulls this chain, the water flows through the hose and it sprays wide swathe in the back of the trailer, but you can see this hose is just flapping in the wind there.

If that hose gets snagged on a tree, this guy is going to be pumping 10 or 20 gallons of chemical out this valve and he won't even know it because he's looking forward. This hose needs to be tied down to the frame somewhere so that it can't get snagged. Again, that's the kind of thing someone should be looking at.

This was a mosquito fogger. Technician brought the mosquito fogger and said, "One of my fittings broke, can you fix it?"

We said, "Sure we can fix it, but every fixing on that mosquito fogger is the exact same fitting, it's got the exact same age, it's the exact same amount of chemical through it, the exact number of hours of use, the exact number in the sun. If one breaks, they're all going to break. Let us fix them all."

"No, I can't. I'm too busy." Next week, he comes back, "You were right. Another one broke." We said, "Let us fix them all." He goes "No, I can't. I'm too busy. I can't." We fix another one. Another week later, he called up and said, "You know what, I broke another one. Can I make an appointment to fix them all?"

The kind of thing where you should be anticipating that. Think about the productivity loss this guy had from driving to our shop three times to get this fixed, cheap plastic fittings.

Here's another one. This sprayer was brought into our shop for service. Something didn't look right, so we looked a little closer. Can you see how the hose is being worn away there by the reel? Again, we found this and fixed it, but this is the kind of thing I think you as a technician, and certainly you as the manager or company owner, needs to be finding this.

This is not something you need to be paying a guy like me to fix or find, or waiting until it has a problem and then fixing it as normally what would happen. Does that make sense?

If you missed the first videos in the series, please check out those blog posts here:

Spray Equipment Safety Training Seminar Introduction

Rules for Spray Equipment Safety Seminar Discussion

What are the Safety Risk Seminar Topics?

Vehicle Equipment Security: Protecting Your Driver and Others

Vehicle Equipment Security Securing Your Backpack, Gas Can, Hose Reel

Learn Which Vehicle Equipment Areas to Inspect Carefully

A Quick Check Can Keep You Out of Hall of Shame

The Importance of Checking Your Rig and Proper Equipment

Importance of Proper Vehicle Load Stability

How to Avoid Cuts, Burns & Abrasions on the Job

Preventing Slipping Injuries