Proper compact palletizing—your solution to the revolving door of injuries and warehouse overhead costs
Factory workers bear the brunt of workplace-related dangers. It’s easy to injure yourself on the job when you don’t have a safe protocol in place. In the long run, this lack of preparation can lead to expensive overhead rates, legal issues, and several other administrative concerns. Fortunately, it’s easy to solve these problems with the right palletizing strategy.
Today’s blog breaks down the importance of compact palletizing and how it helps protect the nature of your business.
Types of Workplace Injuries
Industrial injuries are no joke. Even minor wounds cause thousands of dollars in lost wages, medical bills, and stress. Make sure your taskforce is informed about these common dangers:
1. Repetitive Stress Injuries
Repetitive stress injuries occur when employees are forced to perform the same tasks over and over. These muscle strains usually result when someone maintains poor posture for long periods. Common symptoms include numbness, pain, tingling, and loss of strength.
2. Slips and Falls
One of the essential safety protocols is proper floor care. Employers have the responsibility to clean and dry floors every day. This is especially important in manufacturing facilities. Employees are always moving around, so make sure no liquids end up on the floor. Otherwise, one might slip, fall, and sustain broken bones, spinal injuries, or even traumatic brain damage.
3. Overexertion
It’s easy to exhaust yourself, especially when performing a job that requires a high level of strength and stamina. The heavy lifting runs the risk of a worker developing musculoskeletal disorders, along with various types of back and neck injuries.
Another result of overexertion is dehydration. This often happens when working in a factory that’s close in proximity to hot machinery. Make sure you’re providing employees with enough breaks to drink water; otherwise, they might pass out due to heat exhaustion.
4. Machine-Related Injuries
Industrial machinery can be hazardous. Even experienced operators are at risk of sustaining (and causing) a number of different injuries. If an employee is distracted, they could get a limb entangled in the equipment. This could lead to dislocations, fractures, and even amputation. And some machines also cause concussions, lacerations, and burns.
Don’t let just anyone operate your machinery. Until you have the proper training and certification, you have no business controlling a palletizing system. Once permission is granted, make sure to display enough warning signs, so people know the associated risks with the heavy equipment.
5. Chemical Exposure
Be extra cautious when manufacturing products with chemical materials. If your employees are exposed to these toxic substances, they may trigger a domino effect of burns, skin irritation, or respiratory issues. Some accidents might even trigger industrial maladies such as dermatitis, asthma, deafness, blindness, and asbestos-related illnesses.
6. Falling Objects
One of the biggest causes for injury is falling objects. This occurs when heavy items fall on their own or get dropped by an employee during production, mainly in the palletizing stage. The important thing is to give your employees enough room to brace themselves when objects start falling. If you get struck by a falling object, you may suffer traumatic brain or spinal damage, broken bones, lacerations, or even fatality due to larger objects falling from higher distances. This is a prime reason why you need to supply your workers with hard hats and any other necessary safety gear.
7. Burns
Burns occur in one of two ways. Either an employee is positioned near an explosion or they are working with hot equipment without taking the proper safety precautions. If a worker receives a serious burn, they could end up with nerve damage, loss of motion, and brain injury. Make sure all fire extinguishers are in plain sight and, for best results, adopt fire-resistant technology.
8. Vehicle Accidents
Employees are at risk of injury any time a vehicle like a forklift is operated. Vehicle-related accidents occur when an employee is struck or crushed by a palletizing vehicle in motion. This usually happens because employees aren’t paying attention. To promote safe vehicle use and minimize the number of accidents, employers should enact proper training and certification opportunities. Also, make sure enough warning signs are present in the facility.
Keep Your Front and Bottom Line Safe
ROI Industries specializes in preventing workplace injuries. Our PalletPOD production line is an automated collection of today’s safest, most advanced palletizing machinery. These tools are easy to install and won’t take up a lot of room on your floor space or income statement. If you are a facility manager looking for ways to reduce overhead costs in business, we have the solutions for you.
Contact ROI to get the latest information on PalletPOD, warehouse automation, and OSHA’s regulations on pallet management. Reach out today to schedule your free, no-obligation consultation with one of our experts!
Learn all about our one-of-a-kind solutions. Reach out today to schedule your free consultation!