News and Events

A Safety Culture Transformation: K-Line focuses on teamwork and incremental change

Source: Manufacturing Safety Alliance of BC |

When K-Line Trailers Ltd. receives a Topaz award for completing the OSSE Certification at the Safety Pinnacle Awards Gala in April 2018, it will also mark five years of the team working with the Manufacturing Safety Alliance of BC.

K-Line has been designing and manufacturing custom transport equipment in its Langley facility for 24 years. The company has been successful and its workforce has grown to 170 workers. However, as the business expanded, both injuries and WorkSafeBC orders started to increase. Time-loss days per year as a result were usually in the hundreds. In 2013, the company took its first steps to creating a safer workplace by commissioning a safety GAP analysis.

FIVE YEARS OF REGULAR IMPROVEMENTS
Fast forward five years and K-Line passed their first Occupational Safety Standard of Excellence (OSSE) audit. Richard Cramond, K-Line’s OHS Coordinator says, “The audit was a lot of work for a lot of people, and just about everybody at all levels of the organization worked on this project. By working together, we’ve not only achieved OSSE, we’ve achieved measurable improvements
in safety. Since we started to focus on safety as part of the production process, accidents and injuries have gone way down. In 2017, our time-loss injuries were less than 10% of what they were five years ago. ”

The GAP analysis also connected the Alliance to K-Line. Richard says, “The Alliance advisors met with us monthly to discuss our OSSE progress, answer questions and provide practical advice. Their advisors were terrific. They understood our business and worked with us to create implementable solutions.”

SAFETY BECOMES A CORE VALUE
K-Line consciously chose an incremental approach to improving safety to ensure worker buy-in for the changes. “We focused on gradually improving our safety systems in all departments across the whole company. The joint internal health and safety committee was tremendously valuable during this process. The committee includes representation from management, supervisors and workers — everyone has input. Committee recommendations are almost always implemented by management,” says Richard.

The focus on safety led to shop floor improvements that resulted in faster, safer material movement from one part of the floor to another. With the Safety Committee, K-Line also reconsidered its PPE policy which now gives workers the freedom to choose which PPE options work best for them. Safety isn’t simply about including updates in all weekly department meetings, it is now a core value for the company.

“The recognition of getting the Alliance’s Topaz Award is nice,” said Richard. “The award belongs to all the K-Line workers who have helped create the successful safety program we have.”

K-Line Trailers Begins Production of Next Set of Dual Powered Road Trains Following Product Launch in 2015

Langley, BC | By K-Line Trailers |

K-Line’s Dual Powered Road Trains —K-Line Trailers today announced production has begun on their third and fourth Dual Powered Road Trains (DPRT) for an international mining corporation’s Canadian operation. The mine’s current fleet of Dual Powered Road Trains are hauling some of the highest long-distance payloads of material in the North American mining industry.

“Our goal was to bring a truly game-changing product to the North American mining industry. With our customer’s confidence in expanding to a K-Line DPRT Fleet earlier this year and their recent order for more DPRT’s in 2017 (with a projection for more through to 2023), it confirms we have been successful with that.” said Les Knight, CEO at K-Line Trailers.

In 2014, K-Line Trailers upgraded its previous powered trailer design for triple trailer weights and manufactured what is believed to be the only Dual-Powered Road Train operating in North America. K-Line’s DPRT transports an amazing 216 metric tonnes (476,000 lbs.) on grades up to 10% and handles more material at higher speeds than conventional haul trucks.

The 190’ Dual Powered Road Train partners a formidable tier 3 540HP CAT engine and planetary drive axles with the proven reliability of Western Star’s powerhouse 600 HP Detroit DD16, 6900XD Off-Road Tractor. The CAT engine and Western Star tractor work as one unit to make this a remarkably seamless experience for the drivers on the mine’s long haul road. According to John Tomlinson, Western Star’s North American XD & Vocational Sales Manager, “Driver training and safety orientation are much simpler than one might initially think for a unit of this size. If a person has driven an A or B-Train configuration before, then they have the advantage of driving in a familiar environment behind the wheel of a Western Star Tractor. It’s an easy step from there to operating the road train”.
Following the implementation of the first DPRT at the mine in 2015, K-Line’s design and fabrication team continued to work closely with the mining company to fully integrate the DPRT to the mine’s operations, safety, and maintenance programs.

According to K-Line’s Sales Engineer for the project, Tony Nathan P. Eng., “The customer feedback has been very positive. The second DPRT was commissioned within 10 days of arrival at site and the customer has already noted significant operational gains, cycle time and productivity.”

K-Line Trailers commitment as a leader of innovative transport design and manufacturing is built on their ability to respond to challenges and work with customers to find new ways to deliver the right product for their environment. Photos and footage of K-Line’s Dual Powered Road Trains are available for download at www.klinetrailers.com.

Founded in 1994, K-Line Trailers is a top trailer designer and manufacturer for Mining, Heavy Haul, Aggregate, Wind Energy, and multiple other transport sectors.

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For more information, press only:
David Knight, President
Tony Nathan, P. Eng. Sales Engineer
604-856-7899
info@klinetrailers.com

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