How to Make Your Employees Safer and More Efficient in the Workplace

The vast majority of tasks in industrial occupations require workers to overexert themselves. This causes a lot of hazards, and accidents are rife. Naturally, a lot of tools, machines, equipment has been developed to help with many of these tasks. Yet, to this day, around 30% of workers continue to be exposed to unsafe lifting practices every day. This is why it is vital that companies start to focus on introducing material handling equipment to keep employees safe.

What Is Material Handling Equipment?

The equipment has been designed to take out the unsafe practices of manual handling. Hence, there is no more need for people to take on awkward postures that lead to musculoskeletal problems. This is essential because tools are getting heavier, and because the workforce is getting older. Hence, not only does material handling equipment keep people safer, it also makes them more efficient.

This type of equipment is custom-designed to suit the particular needs of the application. It can transport, recover, stack, feed, lift, and more. The idea behind it is to enable industry workers around the world the ability to move bulk materials safely and efficiently. Hence, these pieces of equipment usually include chains, belts, and rollers to further facilitate the movement. In terms of power supply, they are usually electric or hydraulic. Every piece used in the equipment is chosen for its durability, so that it can last for many years.

Types of Material Handling Equipment

When the right type of material handling equipment is chosen, productivity is increased, creating a significant return on investment, particularly when considering money saved by employees not sustaining injuries. That said, this equipment is often expensive, so it is important that you choose the types that are right for the particular industry.

Commonly used pieces of equipment include:

• Stackers, which stack bulky pieces of material onto pallets or onto a stockpile.
• Conveyors, which include two end pulleys that feed a continuous loop of material through it. Materials like grains, ores, and coal can be transported on this.
• Hoppers, which are used to feed materials into a range of different machines.
• Reclaimers, which usually go hand in hand with stackers, as they are the machines used to take bulk materials out of a previously created stockpile.

It should be clear that material handling equipment is the best way to ensure workers can be at top productivity, while at the same time helping them to avoid injuries. They come with state of the art, reliable, and versatile technology, as well as superior execution. This means that material handling equipment is now one of the most important tools that a wealth of different industries can get hold of. By reducing both the time spent on handling materials and the risk of injuries associated with doing this means that everybody wins. The employer has to make a high initial investment, but this is returned quite quickly with the aforementioned increased productivity and fewer injuries.