cages for gas tanks

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I was approached by my employer after a visit from the health and safety, they said the propane cylinders we have for the two space heaters we use to heat our shop should be secured in cages to prevent accidental damage and reduce the risk of explosion.The boss told me to order what I needed, he would pay and I had 28days to produce 2 secure cages. I ordered up all the 1" box and wire mesh sheets I needed and turned them both out in one full working day and an hour or so one evening to paint and installed the following day!They needed to be bolted to the floor and wall so as to protect the bottles from getting knocked over and the bottles themselves needed to be secured with chains like a full size bottle on a welder. Attached Images
Reply:Your boss should be happy with those.  Nice work.MolongneckLincoln 175HD MigWard's Powr-Kraft 230 ARCHypertherm Powermax 45Harris O/A TorchMakita 2414NB Chop SawMakita 9557PB 4 1/2" Angle GrinderClarke BT 1002 6" Brench GrinderRyobi DP 120 12" Drill Press
Reply:Great Job, and well done!I am  surprised they are permitted inside the shop, and not required to be plumbed in from outside the back wall!The safety situation though begs to be explored.First the bottles need to be chained to the wall.  Then they need to be contained in cages that are bolted to both wall and floor as well.  It's as if they were some sort of wild beasts capable of escaping under their own power at their own will.  Or are you guys in the habit of playing rugby inside the shop at lunch?  What will be the next safety regulation to come down the pike?  Apparatus that bolts the bottom ring to the floor?  Explosion-proof cabinets?  Concrete pill-box out back?  300 yards from occupied structures?  You know the rules will progress with time, They must!  Each new committee writing safety regulations must write regulations that are more stringent than they were in the past, if for no reason other than to justify the committee's own existance.  (What did the safety committee accomplish this year?)I am not knocking safe practices,  I am a firm believer in taking safety seriously.  But where do the lines get drawn?  Something to ponder.-MondoPS: I am a member of my own employer's safety committee and I raise this question frequently.  I find that if someone doesn't play the "devils advocate" we would all soon be living in Lexan bubbles operating robots to push our pencils from a thousand yards away.  -MMember, AWSLincoln ProMIG 140Lincoln AC TombstoneCraftsman Lathe 12 x 24 c1935Atlas MFC Horizontal MillCraftsman Commercial Lathe 12 x 36 c1970- - - I'll just keep on keepin' on.
Reply:I'm surprised that the bottles are allowed inside too.I'm all for being safe but I think sometimes the safety department gets carried away to justify their job.Back in the 80's the company I worked for built me a nice new shop. I mounted the oxygen and acetylene bottles for my cutting rig on one wall with them chained in place, one on each side of an upright wall support. They were slightly farther apart than they would have been on a cart. Safety man showed up and told me I would probably need to do something about that as the bottles were supposed to be seperated by 30'. I scrached my head a little bit and then asked him what we were going to do about my truck. He wanted to know what I meant. I told him that they were only 4 or 4 1/2 feet apart on my truck and it wasn't any wider. Would we have to get two trucks to haul one bottle apiece? Never heard another word about bottles.
Reply:Thanks guy's glad you like em, the boss was happy with em too which is good, the HSE are back in 2 weeks to inspect the changes they recomended so we shall see weather or not they're upto scratch thenMondo: yes we have some great games of rugby in our shop as well as one or two other games, Which usually involve one member of staff being physically or verbaly abused by the rest of the crew!!!! all done in good humour though.... bullying in the workplace a big no no