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Pneumatic lids to make grain wagons safer

<p>Workers loading grain on to rail wagons will be protected from a range of risks and injuries under a scheme to install pneumatic lids that can be operated from ground level, the Victorian Government claims.</p> <p>Victorian workcover minister Bob Cameron announced $6m funding which Freight Australia will spend on pneumatic lids for 800 wagons used to transport grain by rail in Victoria.</p> <p>The lids will help protect workers from falls, dust inhalation and back injury, the government said.</p> <p>"At present workers are required to climb the sides of rail wagons to guide grain tubes and must manually open and close lids as the wagons are filled, risking falls of up to four metres," Mr Cameron said.</p> <p>"Providing pneumatic lids that can be operated by the worker from ground level removes many of the potential injuries workers have been exposed to."</p> <p>Victorian transport minister Peter Batchelor said the government is paying for an upgrade program that would otherwise have been funded by farmers. </p> <br />