Counterbalance valves may seem an obvious choice in preventing an accident of this type, but they cannot be relied upon. An engineer was recently injured when a machine he was working on dropped i’s load as he attended to a leaking rod seal. Although he took all the necessary precautions of lowering the load to remove pressure, he was startled and hurt when a high pressured jet of fluid fired at him from the fitting. The counterbalance valve had trapped pressure and caused this situation.

What should you know about hydraulic system safety? What do you need to know to keep yourself and other people safe in the workplace?Keeping a load safe is dependent upon ensuring that the pressure of fluid is correct. If the pressure of it becomes too high, then it will want to give that energy to other surroundings, and it’s only the soundness of the components that will prevent it from doing so. It will try to escape any way possible and this includes through weak seals, valves or other poin...

What should you know about hydraulic system safety? What do you need to know to keep yourself and other people safe in the workplace?