Injuries can often occur from a combination of factors involved in both lifting and transporting equipment. Here we have developed a solution that addresses both issues.
Lifting Jacks
Moving heavy equipment can sometimes be a hassle, especially if multiple components are involved. A skate helps us transport equipment and a lifting jack helps raise the equipment just enough to slide the skate under. This process is repeated for all four corners of the equipment and then the equipment can be moved to the desired location. This method of moving heavy equipment is preferred to reserving a crane when the equipment only needs to be moved a short distance. We provide both toe jacks and hydraulic jacks to help facilitate the close and controlled lifting required in this situation.
Machine Skates and Load Moving Skates
A set of skates includes four or more small, heavy-duty units, usually equipped with swivel castors. These units are placed under a piece of machinery after a jack has lifted it above floor level. Some sets include their own built-in jacking points, allowing the lift and the move to be performed by the same set, rather than using two different sets of equipment. Printing machines, packaging lines, and machine tools are relocated across a factory in this way, as it is more cost effective to relocate them in this manner rather than using a crane, especially as the relocation is a job that may only be done once every few years. It is important that skates are rated to carry the load they will be positioned under, as skates designed for light loads will be inadequate for heavy machine tools.
Drum Handling Equipment
A 205-liter drum is large, heavy, and round. It is almost impossible to tip the drum by hand, and attempting to do so is unsafe and is how injuries are sustained. A drum trolley will lift and transport a drum while leaving it in an upright position. Drum lifters and drum rotators allow for the drum to be tipped and poured, while leaving the lifter in place and the drum spout inaccessible. This is very important when dealing with hazardous materials. Forklift mounted drum clamps are utilized for larger scales and will lift and rotate a drum directly off the racking.
Forklift Attachments
Standard forklift forks aren’t designed to carry loads of all shapes and sizes. A clamp style attachment is helpful for loads that standard forks cannot lift, like drums and rolls. A rotator is helpful for loading loads that cannot be positioned without turning them. A tool bin can be used to hold the tool attachments. Other examples of attachments are fork extensions which are helpful for reaching loads that are out of reach. Fork attachments completely change the function of the equipment.
Pallet Trucks
The purpose of a pallet truck is to make the transportation of standard size pallets easy. The forks need to be placed beneath the pallet and, with a quick pull of the handle, the pallet is lifted and can be wheeled to a new location. Many manual pallet trucks have been used for this purpose with little need for repair or replacement. A powered pallet truck removes the need to personally lift and push the truck, and significantly reduces the overall fatigue of the user for large loads or long distance moves. A pallet truck designed to transport standard size pallets has a built in scale. This truck is helpful for transporting a pallet that is leaving the facility to meet a weight requirement without having to go to an external weighing location.
Moving Trucks and Trolleys
When manual handling is used correctly, sack trucks and platform trolleys do the heavy lifting. Sack trucks shift one load at a time. Platform trolleys carry a load of irregular shaped items that would be impossible to carry with a fork lift. The most important consideration when moving equipment is the surface it will be traveling on. A solid surface requires solid tires, a surface with broken or rough tarmac would best be suited with pneumatic tires. Having the right equipment for the job makes the workplace safe and efficient. The lack of moving equipment is quickly felt by the workers and causes a loss of productivity.
Moving equipment doesn’t make manual handling redundant but it serves the same purpose. If a worker gets a back injury from moving a drum or pushing a loaded trolley, the injury was not caused from one dramatic unsafe act. Injuries like this are the result of unsafe practices that are carried out until the injury is sustained. The correct moving equipment will make sure this injury doesn’t happen.
How heavy an item is and how often it is moved are the things that most need to be considered. A drum that gets moved once a month doesn’t need the same equipment as a production line that moves a hundred drums a week. The same principle applies to a piece of equipment that will be moved once during it’s entire working life.
If you tell us what you’re moving, the frequency you move it, and the type of floor, we’ll find the best solution instead of offering the most expensive item we have.