Did you know that industrial drums and barrels can weigh up to 350kg? These weighs far exceed the Australian guidance on manual handling, which states that men can lift up to 25kg while women can lift up to 16kg weight. That being said, drum weights can potentially be over 20 times greater than what the manual handling guide limits, making manual drum handling a severe safety and health risk to employees. If handling barrels and drums is an everyday operation for your business, drum handling safety needs to be a crucial part of your culture. Employers should look at the risks of drum moving, loading and unloading, put in sensible health and safety measures, and get the right drum moving equipment to make the task less taxing.
But in order to get the best drum moving equipment for your drum handling operations, you need to figure out a method that's safe, cost-effective and productive. This requires you to review your goals, space, products, staffing and a long list of potential obstacles. Many first-time drum moving equipment buyers make shortsighted decisions in an attempt to save money, instead of looking at the big picture and buying a quality product that can meet future demands. The best way to determine what type of drum moving equipment you need is to ask yourself the following questions.
What Are My Goals?
If you're looking to mitigate drum damage, you should consider padded drum handling equipment. If you're looking to improve throughput and inventory turns, you should consider a drum handler that can pick up 4 instead of 2 drums. The type of drums you're handling and their size and weight are also things that should be considered. Further, you may need to handle equipment that requires special care. Maybe you need a spark-resistant or corrosion-resistant unit. Understanding what you want to do with the equipment before you buy it will help prevent unnecessary costs and issues.
Who's Moving the Drums?
Most drum-handling-related injuries are a result of a bad match of drum moving equipment and operator. That being said, you need to match your employees' strengths with the equipment and pick accordingly in order to prevent injuries, but also maximise efficiency. Some of the things you should consider include hours worked, continuity from shift to shift, shift discrepancies, maintenance, serviceability and other info. From here, you can determine how complex you want your drum handling routine is and should be.
What Do My Daily Drum Handling Operations Include?
Just because you've always done it one way, it doesn't mean that it's the best, or most efficient way out there. Forklift attachments, portable equipment, dispensing/dumping equipment, hoist-mounted or below-hook equipment are all just some of the many possible changes you can make. Most of the time, the best solution isn't the most apparent, or the most expensive one. Go into details about your shift, working cycle and product flow to effectively find equipment that will provide the best value and safety enhancements long-term.
What's In Your Drums?
The type of materials contained in the drums can make a huge difference in your selection process. There are some materials that require special handling, such as high flash-point or flammable materials. some items require temperature control, heating, mixing or vibration. Some materials can corrode specific types of metal. Shelf life can require a specific type of inventory flow requirements, and some items may be seasonal, and thus require quick handling in higher volumes.
How Safe is Your Current Workplace?
There's more to your safety program than wearing some PPE like steel-toe shoes, safety glasses and hard hats. Sight lines, worker capabilities, vision lines, ongoing training, labeling, product alerts and many other factors all play a role in your safe drum handling operations. Furthermore, is your current drum handling equipment in a good condition? Do you have a set up service and maintenance program? Are you following contemporary protocols?
Are You Truly Saving Money in the Long Term?
If you're too focused on the upfront costs of buying drum handling equipment, you'll end up being blindsided and lose money in the long run. Instead of factoring your upfront costs only, ask yourself how much you've spent on drum handling equipment in the past 5 or 10 years. You generally get what you pay for, so you should look to buy quality equipment that's durable and offers superior performance. Look for material handling equipment that comes with a lengthy warranty, so you have peace of mind knowing the vendor or manufacturer you're buying from stands behind the quality of their product and can replace it or service it in case there's a failure of some sort. Many manufacturers and vendors offer support in multiple areas across Australia, so look to shop with a local retailer that offers outstanding customer support.Add paragraph text here.
