| King Materials Handling | |||
HomeProductsEmail UsAbout Us
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Tips and Regulations
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From time to time
we will be adding various tips to our site. As these tips and
recommendations increase we will add more pages. Telephone
Us
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| Tip # 1 | |||
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Equipment
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Before contacting your favourite materials handling supplier, gather as much information about the task for which the equipment is going to be used. Here's a check list: |
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Reprinting of this article is permitted, with this footer included: *Article by Ron Mileham of King Materials Handling. Visit the King Materials Handling website here for more articles like this and fantastic products.
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| Tip # 2 | |||
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Safety Audit
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If you are considering a Safety
Audit, contact Ron
Mileham for
free information on how to set it up, what to look for, and how to
turn the findings into meaningful processes and equipment
considerations. If you do not feel confident in seeing the process through, we can provide you with a list of very able companies who, for a fee, will conduct the audit, then present you with the audit results and a recommendation for changes listed in order of importance. A Safety Audit should be the first step in identifying how current processes work – or more importantly don’t work. It is also an opportunity to gather the thoughts of the operators - even more importantly to gather their true thoughts, which are better captured by an outside person, who promises to keep the individuals identity a secret. An outsider can also see the ‘bigger picture’, whereas staff can get bogged down in the minutiae. An outsider also usually has a greater number of company visits to his or her name, and can easily identify where similar problems have occurred and how they have been overcome. Reprinting of this article is permitted, with this footer included: *Article by Ron Mileham of King Materials Handling. Visit the King Materials Handling website here for more articles like this and fantastic products
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| Tip # 3 | |||
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Product Ownership
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If you are the person responsible for recommending or actually
purchasing materials handling equipment, but you are not the person
who is going to use it, then take this advice from a long time rep. Talk with every person likely to use the new equipment. Explain in detail, just how the proposed equipment is going to work and how it will save effort, injuries, time, etc. Then, if at all possible, either arrange with the supplier for the person/s concerned to visit the supplier to test the equipment, or alternatively go to a site where it is already installed, or more preferably – where practicable – to get the equipment on site for a demo or trial. To a Distributor who is only concerned with making a sale, there is no loss of conscience about your hard earned money, even though you have the equipment sitting in a corner for evermore. For King Materials Handling, there could be nothing worse. We have taken great pains to ensure that our reputation and integrity remains at the highest level, and we want you to return to us for your next purchase. So if you don’t ask for the service I describe above, we will prompt you to ensure the equipment you need, is actually owned not by the company but by the employees who are going to use it, for you can be sure, that if it does what they need it to do it will be accepted. If it doesn’t it will not be used, and we don’t want to be a party to that. Reprinting of this article is permitted, with this footer included: *Article by Ron Mileham of King Materials Handling. Visit the King Materials Handling website here for more articles like this and fantastic products
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| Tip # 4 | |||
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Buying second hand products
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When buying second hand products,
remember the golden rule. If I am buying ‘as is’ or ‘as
traded’, there is no guarantee that a) it will work properly and
safely or b) continue to do so for any length of time after
purchase. Buyer beware. A set of hydraulic seals for a pallet truck
can easily set you back around $200, making a cheap purchase a dear
one. If you are buying as re-furbished, then you must find out what re-furbishments have been done to the equipment, then determine if any of the major parts which have not been re-furbished, are likely to fail, given the age and use of the machine (if it can be determined). Then weigh up the benefit of the cheaper price with no warranty and possible parts and labour repair costs, plus shipping both ways, against the new price with a warranty and an expectation of a service life without breakdowns. Ensure you know the warranty details. Are you getting Parts and Labour or just labour? Will you have to ship the product back to the supplier at your expense (this is the usual case) or will you cop both shipment and return costs? If the warranty states ‘or replacement product’, is that product a similar product of similar age, or is it to be replaced with a new product within the allotted time? Reprinting of this article is permitted, with this footer included: *Article by Ron Mileham of King Materials Handling. Visit the King Materials Handling website here for more articles like this and fantastic products
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| Tip # 5 | |||
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Line marking for safety
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A can of yellow line marking paint, could be
the best investment you will ever make, when it comes to keeping personnel
safe in a warehouse or manufacturing facility. Guess who comes off worse when a truck or a fork lift comes in contact with a person? The more you can separate them, the safer your personnel will be. Get a plan of your warehouse or manufacturing area, and see if you can devise a system where there is never any possibility of personnel meeting up with heavy moving vehicles, then you have achieved the ultimate goal. I have seen it done with great effect. On one side of the yellow line – fork lifts operate, on the other – operators only. Sometimes there has to be a buffer zone, where both can operate, but these zones are highly sign posted and visible. A marked out walkway for pedestrians only. A pedestrian crossing with lights. Safety signage. All contribute to a safe working environment. Plan for safety! No lines or old worn out lines are no defence when a new operator says that he or she didn’t know they had to be within the pedestrian zone, when there was no marking to indicate that they were a walking accident waiting to happen. Reprinting of this article is permitted, with this footer included: *Article by Ron Mileham of King Materials Handling. Visit the King Materials Handling website here for more articles like this and fantastic products
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| Tip #6 | |||
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Price of equipment
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"You get what you pay for" is an
adage which has become difficult to comprehend, as competition has increased
exponentially. At one time, the choice between expensive and well made, and
cheap and poor quality was more obvious. Today, our choices are endless.
Chinese products were mostly copies, and of dubious quality. Some of these products still exist, but currently much more is of serviceable to high quality. How is the end user to know? For importers and re-sellers a dilemma exists. Buy cheap, sell cheap = price driven. Or: buy dear, sell dear = quality driven. The client is looking for either serviceable quality at a reasonable price, or best quality at a premium price. A materials handling supplier has to make a choice as to where they sit in the market. King has taken the view that better than average quality -- with a fair price tag -- is the key. Too expensive and most clients will baulk. Too cheap and product failures will cause a loss of confidence and business. We have seen companies sell shoddy products just to make a sale, only later to be shunned by their customers when a breakdown occurs and no responsibility is taken by the seller, citing, "You knew it was cheap, what do you expect?" We at King take our responsibilities very seriously. We have clients who call us saying, "I am looking for XYZ product, my order number is 1234." No prices mentioned, no quality assurances requested or expected. Under these conditions it would be easy to buy cheap and sell dear, but what a breach of trust that would be! Our reputation is the unseen and unspoken code of ethics that protects you from all the shoddy products and bad advice out there. Which brings me back to my original question: "How do you know if what you wish to purchase is suitable for the task, and is the quality and price equal to your expectations?" The simple answer is, "How much do you trust your supplier's expertise, experience and record of honesty?" Trust is earned by repeated good advice and good product offerings. Our 20 years in the materials handling business has enabled us to cement many thousands of long term relationships with companies that we are proud to be associated with. Reprinting of this article is permitted, with this footer included: *Article by Ron Mileham of King Materials Handling. Visit the King Materials Handling website here for more articles like this and fantastic products
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| Regulation #1 | |||
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Regulations relating to safety when working
at heights
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A - Anchor Point The anchor point must be designed to stand a minimum loading of 15kN for single person fall arrest and 22kN for two people. These equate to being able to support a family car of 4WD. Anchor points can vary from single points to straps around suitable beams or to the more sophisticated horizontal lifeline. They can also be on davit arms or tripods for confined space and rescue work. Permanent anchor points require certification on installation and recertified annually. B - Body Harness The person at risk is required to wear a correctly fitted full body harness certified to ANZS 1891.1 (note "designed to comply with ANZS 1891.1" is NOT acceptable). The date of manufacture and the serial number of the harness must be clearly visible. The full body harness is designed to spread any fall arresting forces over the load bearing parts of the body, and the harness should be correctly configured for the work to be undertaken and the risks identified. Harnesses should be inspected prior to each use and inspected by a competent person every six months. The maximum life of a harness is 10 years from date of manufacture. C - Connector To arrest any fall, the harness worn by the person at risk must be connected to the anchor point. There are a variety of ways in which this can be done. Rope or web lanyards are the most common, but rope grabs, ladder sleeves and self retracting lifelines are all considered as connectors. It is also essential that the connector is compatible with the harness and anchor point at both ends, and particular attention needs to be given to the elimination of any potential for 'rollout' caused by incompatible hardware.
*Acknowledgement to Gordon Cadzow for parts of this article.
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| Safety Message #1 | |||
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Workplace Safety. A Message from WorkSafe
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Below
are some things to think about in your workplace *
What are the hazards in your workplace? Employer / employee consultation is
essential. SNIPPETS: *
It is the employers responsibility to ensure a safe working
environment. *
We should all be pre-emptive in identifying potential hazards, before
they become the cause of accidents and or injuries. Fixing problems before
they occur shows you care. *
Workers are most likely to know the problems. Just take the time to
ask! *
The cost of an injury to the business is calculable. The cost to a
family is beyond money. *
The cost of safety is miniscule compared to the cost of an accident.
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| Safety Message #2 | |||
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Working at Height. Sobering Lessons
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1. A worker is trapped on a crane platform by a steal beam. When the
crane operator lowers the platform, the worker falls to his death. He was
wearing a safety harness, but it was not hooked up!
2. Five workers on an elevating platform plunge to their deaths when the platform breaks in half. All are wearing harnesses - none are hooked up! I get asked often if an operator in a safety cage needs to be wearing a harness. I advise that regulations require an effective method of fall arresting once an operator goes above two metres. Yes, s/he is in a cage with full mesh sides to 900mm high, so a harness is 'recommended.' It is also wise to clip the lanyard to one of the hooks provided. Buy the harness/lanyard and use it! This is not only common sense - it is also cheap insurance for the worker and the company. If the worker leans too far over the side and falls, who is going to face his or her family? Could you sleep at night? THE CULTURE MUST BE: 1. Inspect cage 2. Ensure cage is secured to the forklift 3. Fit harness 4. Clip harness to hook 5. Do not use cage for other than intended use 6. Ensure fork driver is experienced/licensed.
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