Seeking Customizable Solutions for Transferring LPG Cylinders between Cages

The transferring of cylinders between cages does carry a Health & Safety risk to our employees as there is potential to develop musculoskeletal injuries.

The following video shows how cylinders move between cages and the type of manual handling that takes place.

Selected solutions will have a pilot phase and will be subject to human factors engineering assessment.

We will evaluate all forms of solutions within the Hierarchy of Controls which range from the Elimination level, removing the potential hazards completely, to solutions that help protect our employees from performing this task through Engineering Controls. (see below diagram below).

Figure 1: Hierarchy of Controls

It is important that your proposed solution has a priority of reducing the manual handling risk to our employees. We will consider solutions if there are benefits to the business e.g., such as speeding up the transfer of cylinders between cages, however it must not come at the cost of risking the health of our employees.

Requirements/Considerations

• Our business units (BUs) often have different sized cages and cylinders so your solution must allow for this variation;
• Cages are often stacked over each other and therefore the solution must allow for side access.

Examples of cages shown below:

• As the different cylinder sizes have different weights, the solution should be able to carry a payload of up to 50Kgs.
• The solution may be subject to ATEX Standard or be able to go through the ATEX Approval Process. For a Proof-of-Concept stage, we suggest construction of a simulated environment;
• All activities related to this challenge are being conducted outdoors therefore please consider all the different outdoor weather conditions e.g., rain and ice;
• Please note the solution cannot be mounted to a ceiling however we will consider options using a supporting frame.

Potential Collaborators/Partners

We are open to consider different kinds of partners, however, we expect most interest from:

• Technology suppliers with the ability to customise solutions to meet our needs;
• Firms that can combine several technologies into a solution (i.e., engineering or design organisations).

Benefits

• Access to the SHV Energy expertise and facilities
• Local support for initial testing with SHV Energy business units
• Global follow-up testing, from the SHV Energy wider business.
• Support costs for a Proof of Concept
• Possibility of being able to enter a Supply Agreement with SHV Energy

Discarted solutions

• Exoskeleton
• Personal Protective Equipment