36% of forklift injury accidents involve pedestrians. That’s tens of thousands of accidents a year in the U.S. alone, a great many of them with direct bearing on pedestrians, who are at great risk. Due to the sheer mass of forklifts, they are particularly dangerous for pedestrians. Almost all these accidents result in serious injuries due to the mass and size of forklifts. Forklifts account for 1% of industrial accidents, but 10% of injuries. That statistic alone should put dealing with lift traffic and the ways it threatens walking employees, order pickers, and others a top priority.
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Tags: industrial safety, warehouse safety, AisleCop
Posted in Forklift - Pedestrian Safety|
Industrial workplace safety bears repetition and consistent reinforcement
For manufacturing and distribution operations, workplace safety doesn’t just protect workers—it optimizes productivity and helps drive revenue growth. It also helps protect company assets, reduces downtime, and increases morale. What can you do to protect your employees in picking, packing, material handling, assembly, maintenance and similar work? To answer this question, we spoke with leading manufacturers and distributors. Here’s what they had to say: Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: Hytrol, industrial safety, Unex, ergonomics, WireCrafters
Posted in Safety & Ergonomics|
Manufacturing skills gap. Talent shortage. Shifting workforce demographics. What are the trends?
Call it what you will, but the fact remains that the U.S. manufacturing industry faces a pressing issue in the coming years if current worker retirement rates continue to accelerate and projections for industry expansion prove accurate. Research from the Manufacturing Institute and Deloitte indicates there could be as many as 2 million unfilled manufacturing jobs by 2025, up from initial estimates of 600,000. As noted in a Huffington Post article on the research findings, retirement and rapid industry growth are the two driving factors contributing to the skills shortage.
To get a better sense of how the industry is addressing the challenges (and potential opportunities) associated with the increasing skills gap, we recently conferred with industry partners, leaders, and subject matter experts.
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Tags: warehousing, Manufacturing, labor, skills gap, Automation
Posted in Manufacturing|
Scene: a typical, busy warehouse
A fulfillment center with row upon row of pallet racks. Eight dock doors occupy one wall of the building, some for receiving, some for shipping. Pick workers work in the rack aisles pushing carts and pallet jacks loaded with picked orders. Other pick workers have empty totes on carts for pulling orders. Fork trucks stock pallet rack and pull bulk stock for large orders. Dock doors are left open much of the time, even when there’s no trailer at the dock.
How many potential safety risks can you envision in this scenario? How do you prevent those from happening?
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Tags: safety sensors, motion detection, infrared, technology
Posted in Safety & Ergonomics|
Somewhere in your facility, there may be a place where someone frequently shouts “shut the door!”
Perhaps you have operations that require maintaining temperatures within certain limits. There may also be areas heavy-traffic areas where a conventional overhead door’s slow lift and close rates cause delays, slower throughput and cause reduced productivity from waiting on a door to open.
These are situations where a high-speed door may solve a variety of problems. From limiting airborne debris, dust and contaminant infiltration to temperature regulation, high-speed doors pick up the pace in your facility even as they limit the amount of exposure to negative environmental influences. They open and close so quickly that forklifts and people hardly need wait on the door in order to pass through the doorway. Let’s take a few minutes to explore the types and key features of high-speed doors.
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Tags: aluminum frame, steel frame, stainless steel frame, self-repair, collision, forklift, high-speed door, vinyl mesh door
Posted in Docks & Shipping|
Facility space is expensive—very expensive—so it’s become increasingly important to utilize it to its full potential in any industrial facility. We’ve seen many companies find ways to expand their crowded operation utilizing mezzanines and other elevated work platforms that help seize the vertical cube. There are multiple methods for moving materials between vertical levels, and vertical reciprocating conveyors (VRCs) are one of the best.
With an array of carriage types, drives, designs and power sources available, what vertical lift might meet your needs?
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Tags: Mezzanines, pflow, vertical lifts, vrc, pallet handling
Posted in Lifting & Lift Systems|
Everyday functions of most warehouses and industrial operations fall within the realm of manual material handling–constant lifting, bending, stretching, reaching, pushing and otherwise manipulating materials by physical force. People are moving cartons, picking orders, reaching for packing materials and performing other tasks. Manual material handling contributes to musculoskeletal disorders, to the tune of more than 500,000 reported annual reported cases of strains and stress in shoulders, backs, arms and legs.
While you can never eliminate it, you can reduce the worst aspects of it. Let’s dive into some ways.
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Tags: ergonomics, lifting, manual material handling, musculoskeletal, industrial safety
Posted in Safety & Ergonomics|
Steel guard rail is one of the best–and most economical–accident prevention tools in a facility’s safety arsenal. It helps keep workers safe from forklift traffic, protects valuable equipment from potential damage, and even guards ends of pallet rack rows. But there may be times when you need forklift or cart access to protected areas (or simply don’t want to step over or around railing). How do you handle those situations? How often are you having to remove your guard rail and then reassemble? There’s a better way available — lift-out rail systems.
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Tags: Lift-out guard rail, lift-out/drop-in, drop-in, access point, lift-out, guard rail systems
Posted in Safety & Ergonomics|
Facility layout is a complex and sometimes maddening process. You are often limited by budget, space, time, or schedule beyond your control. What factors should you consider when you allocate space, either in a new facility or a redesigned one?
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Tags: facility layout, EHS
Posted in Space Optimization & Planning|
Fork lifts are the mules of the industry, and we expect them to just power up and run when we need them to, but there are some very important safety aspects that should be taken care of before every shift. Safety steps that lengthen the service life of the vehicle, assure the vehicle operates as it should, and helps make it more visible to others working in the same space with the forklift. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: Safety & Ergonomics, forklift, inspection, check levels, fork truck
Posted in Safety & Ergonomics|
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