Tuesday 9 July 2013

Safety Tips When Using Pallet jacks

If you are working in a warehouse or a factory, then you would probably be familiar with a pallet jack. A pallet jack is considered to be one of the major tools that make work within a warehouse or factory proceed smoothly and efficiently. Truck drivers who need to load and unload heavy materials on and off their vehicles commonly use pallet jacks. These machines could either be manually operated or could make use of a hydraulic system in order to lift and lay down the materials that they are carrying.

Regardless whether you have used pallet jacks or new ones, you have to keep in mind that operating one without proper training could be quite dangerous. This is because a pallet jack is typically made of steel, which can be of considerable weight. That being the case, any wrong move could cause considerable injury. The risk becomes double in the case of used pallet jacks since they would most probably have parts that are no longer as durable as before. Imagine getting crushed but hundreds of kilograms of load! Now, in order to keep this from happening, you have to make sure that you adhere to the load limit set by the manufacturer when you are using pallet jacks. Aside from this, you also have to make sure that you are authorized to operate it before you take the controls. You also have to make sure that you have a spotter with you when you operate a pallet jack.

Now, in case you would be using a manual pallet jack, you have to make sure that the fork you would be using is the correct size for the jack that you would be using. You have to be very particular with this especially if you would be using cheap forklifts as they typically come with mismatched pallet and fork. In cases like these, there is a risk of the load becoming uneven, which could, eventually, lead to the load slipping or the whole pallet tipping over. As with any kind of cheap forklifts, you have to make sure that your load should not exceed the load limit so as not to cause the vehicle to tip over while moving. Of course, this would also mean that you also have to make sure that you maintain a constant speed.

When it comes to electric cheap forklifts, you would need to undergo hands-on training before you can actually operate it. This is to ensure that you would really be able to manage your way around one safely and efficiently. In most cases, electric pallet jacks are used when there is a need to go through narrow alleyways as well as inclined planes. If the electric pallet jack is to be used in transporting cars and other vehicles, a block should be set up in order to ensure that the load does not move while all the other units are being loaded. Pallet jacks would also need to be ahead of the operator when being loaded in an elevator.

No comments:

Post a Comment