Aerial lift safety TruGuard™ – the leading innovation that makes a material difference to both operator safety and the bottom line, it is big news. This is because in the business of aerial lifts, product innovations just don’t happen very often. When innovations do occur in aerial lifts, it’s a good bet that they happened in Waco, Texas, at the global headquarters of Versalift.
Aerial Lifts Made Safer
Aerial lifts have been made safer, through an exhaustive process of continual improvement. The Versalift engineering team, which is led by VP of Engineering James Christian, created TruGuard™, the next major innovation in lineman safety for the electric utility industry. James Christian is also credited with designing the articulated telescopic aerial lift, which dramatically changed the aerial lift industry in the 1990’s. Mr. Christian and his team are very proud of this newest accomplishment.
“We’re very proud of TruGuard™” – James Christian, VP Engineering, Versalift
TruGuard™ provides an additional layer of safety to the lineman by creating an insulation gap for the entire set of metal controls, including hydraulic tool power ports, at the platform. The TruGuard™ safety system is designed to function without giving the operator any indication that it is there. In this way, the safety system acts a lot like an airbag, seatbelt or parachute. Simply put, TruGuard™ will react if, and when, it is ever needed.
Aerial lifts have been the purview of Versalift since its founding in 1965. At Versalift, we manufacture every insulated aerial lift with the operator’s safety in mind. Safety is, and should be, a central concern of every fleet manager working in electric utility. TruGuard provides fleet managers with greater confidence that their linemen are well protected from hazards. Brian Coleman, VP of Sales at Versalift, understands the concerns that fleet managers and other decision makers face. “Any fleet manager is going to be more concerned about the safety of his linemen than he is with the safe operating condition of his equipment,” says Coleman. Fleet managers know that they must take every opportunity to improve the safe operation of vehicles assigned to work in hazardous environments.
“Any fleet manager is going to be more concerned about the safety of his linemen than he is with the safe operating condition of his equipment.”
Aerial Lifts Safety – What is TruGuard™?
TruGuard™ is the most important aerial lift innovation in lineman safety in the past twenty years. By creating an additional layer of dielectric isolation to linemen at the platform, TruGuard™ makes the platform safer in hazardous environments.
Over the past thirty years, due to insulation gaps in the booms themselves, operators have had a significant measure of protection from electrical current. It makes sense that people in the utility industry are motivated to continue to operate their insulated aerial lifts as safely as possible, because protection from harm is certainly not assured. Without a doubt, it’s a dangerous job that linemen do.
Aerial lifts do basic work, and they are complex pieces of machinery. One hazard that linemen have always faced is the accrual of contamination on the exterior of hydraulic hoses that run to the platform. TruGuard™ allows linemen to avoid accruing contamination on the outside of the non-conductive hoses themselves, by protecting the hoses under a bubble cover. Under the bubble cover, each hydraulic hose is passed through the actual TruGuard™ itself. This effectively seals the hoses away from exposure, and prevents any contamination from reaching any of the upper controls through the hydraulic system. This means that linemen are able to use the familiar metal controls they normally use in the bucket, even in electrified environments.
To learn more about TruGuard™, please visit our Aerial Lift Safety Page and watch the video. Or, feel free to visit our contact page, and reach out directly.