Steel sildes - 'an accident waiting to happen '
Published: 01 October, 2008
GSF Slides, a UK-based drawer slide company, has announced that its 20.0007 slide (yes, this is its name) is four times stronger than the standard type of heavy duty 500lb (227kg) class slide, typically specified for many US fire truck drawer trays.
The company conducted several tests to simulate standard operating conditions of slides mounted on fire apparatus.
The result of the test was that GSF’s 20.0007 slide can operate comfortably with a 1,000 lb (455Kg) load, even if the 1,000lb load is dropped onto the drawer.
By contrast, GSF’s equivalent of an industry standard 500lb cold-rolled drawer slide irretrievably broke when carrying its rated load of 500lb after only 27 cycles of a 5,000 cycle operational test.
Disbelieving this result, GSF retested the slide at half the 500lb rating – with only a 250 lb (114Kg) load; this time the slide failed after 576 cycles.
GSF’s export Director Alec Don explains that the standard industry slides (heavy duty 500 lb class slides) are made out of cold-rolled steel formed to shape, whereas the 20.007 has been designed especially with the heavy duty use of fire trucks in mind.
Based on the test results, Don sees a risk in the use of conventional cold rolled steel slide on fire apparatus. “In our opinion the standard slide should not be specified on fire trucks,” he continues. “This is also based on our UK experience where there is a substantial movement away from these slides, because they have been identified as a cause of injury and claims.
“As these slides are still being specified on fire trucks in the US, we can safely say they are an accident waiting to happen.”
Don considers the options facing vehicle builders: either use a strong product that cost more, or a less costly product that isn’t as strong. In GSF’s view no risks should be taken where firefighters are concerned, so quality is what counts.
“The 20.0007 slide operates perfectly under the most demanding circumstances. You can even drop the weight on it from a height of six to eight inches, and it doesn’t even flinch.”
