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Winter 2018 Truck and Track 51
SAFETY & SECURITY
The end-to-end management of plastic and metal seals is
becoming more and more important as the pressure on firms
to reduce plastic waste in the environment continues. Whilst
the incidence of theft from loaded vehicles shows no signs of
abating and road transport companies must take security
measures to protect the goods they are carrying, theymust also
be mindful that the seals used are often fully traceable back to
them, so a discarded used security seal could cost money in
fines and bad PR for littering.
As part of our ISO17712 responsibilities, quality security seal
manufacturers must be able to provide information to HMR&C or
other law enforcement agencies to which company a seal has been
supplied, so it is more important than ever drivers and security
and transport managers take responsibility for disposing of spent
seals in a responsible manner. Apart from anything else, this good
environmental housekeeping is also good security discipline,
preventing a used seal becoming a test bed for future tampering.
Unisto has always advised customers to dispose of removed seals
securely and now empathising the environmental benefit too.
Sowhich seals are themost environmentally friendly to
use?
Unisto offers a reusable seal solution in C2K and Manta which are
‘fit and forget’ solutions that provide up to 35,000 sealing events
per unit and are simple to administer,
removing the need to regularly replenish
single use seals and securely store,
distribute and control them internally.
At London Heathrow Airport, there has
been a drive to reduce seal litter and C2K
and Manta electronic reusable seals are
now commonly found on most vehicles
regularly going airside. The seal’s LED lit
display has also helped to be able to read
the digital display in all light conditions in
this 24/7 365 environment.
For single use seals, one-piece type truck
seals, such as Integer or Unilock both
manufactured in polypropylene, can be
easily recycled together with other waste
plastics. Metal strip seals can also be
recycled with metal waste items.
Higher security tamper evident seals are
normally manufactured from a variety of
material with different melting points or
including locking mechanisms of steel.
These compound products are generally
more challenging to recycle, however the
trade-off is greater security and, often, ease or flexibility of use.
To seal or not to seal
So could one avoid the use of a security seal altogether?What is the
value of implementing draconian security measures if the journey
is a single delivery from depot to delivery point without stopping?
Not fitting a seal could give the impression that the vehicle is empty
or carrying low value goods. However, if your vehicle is branded and
if the route takes your driver through high risk areas, you could be
exposed to the risk of opportunist villains opening trailer or van
doors and removing items that can be easily carried-off when the
vehicle is stationery at traffic lights or in slowmoving traffic. In this
situation, you should at the very least secure the doors with a key
padlock or barrier seal, a plastic seal alone can be easily broken off.
As we know, padlocks on vehicles bring their own issues, the first of
which is key control. If drivers carry the keys, then padlocks should
be controlled with tamper evident plastic seals which provide
a clear indication if there has been any
attempt to open the trailer doors.
Barrier seals and devices:
Bolt and cable seals are the most common
varieties of barrier seal.
Cable seals are most often manufactured
with bodies in aluminium or plastic, with
cable and internal locks of steel. If steel
and aluminium combined are used, waste
product can be recycled with your metals
recycling. A plastic body is not so simple
to recycle as the plastic will burn-off well
before he metal melts but the products of
burning plastics can be noxious. Plastic
coated bolt seals are in this category and
generally should not be put in your metals
recycling.
Although steel cables may be coated with
plastic, it is accepted that uncoated cables
provide the best tamper evidence, they
splay when cut making it impossible to
rethread them into the mechanism, so the
most environmentally friendly is also the most secure.
Seal Management
It is not enough to simply fit seals and hope for the best. Security
seals are only as good as the protocols used to manage them and
the most robust security seals poorly managed do little but give
a false sense of security. When something goes wrong, most of
the blame is laid on the seal rather than the poor management
processes that caused it to fail.
Organisations should develop and maintain procedures for a
wide range of processes including procurement, secure storage,
distribution to users, correct application, inspection, record
keeping and seal removal, as well as the management and
final environmentally friendly disposal of used “dead” seals.
The importance of correct training in all these stages cannot be
overstated.
Security seal or Plastic Waste?
By Donald Miller of Unisto
C2K seal
Unisto Integer Seal