Get a grip on safety
Dave Broxton, managing director of Bohle, explains why the increased size of IGUs makes their safe manual handling more important than ever.
Things are getting bigger in glass. Our demand for natural light means that bifolding, sliding doors, bonded glass sashes and fixed lights are becoming ever larger and that creates challenges in their manual handling.
Insulated glazed units of 4m2 or more are now increasingly part of the standard production run, as architects push the boundaries of the possible. And while good for volume and good for margin, their size, cost and potential to cause injury, makes safe and controlled handling paramount.
This can be difficult enough on the factory floor and almost impossible on site, where constraints and limitations on space, present additional challenge.
Bohle’s range of Veribor suction lifters have been used by glass handlers worldwide for decades. Continually refined to improve ergonomics, raise performance and maximise safety, they are at the forefront of manual handling technology. This includes testing by TÜV, and the subsequent accreditation – the TÜV GS mark – is an independent guarantee of performance.
We have applied these same defining principles to the development of the LiftMaster B1 manual lifting device. With a compact design and handling weights of up to 180kg, the LiftMaster B1 has been designed to combine the safe and secure movement of glass units, with maximum flexibility.
Designed to be used with or without an electric pump, it delivers exceptional versatility, while a dual circuit vacuum system, reserve tanks, vacuum display and secondary vacuum indicator, ensure that it guarantees the highest levels of safety.
Available separately, the BO B18DM4 lifting frame fitted to the LiftMaster B1 can be detached and crane mounted, offering tremendous versatility in the workshop. The LiftMaster B1 packs down to fit inside an estate car, a particularly useful feature for anyone charged with moving and fitting large units on site.
If proof was needed of the potential risks that handling glass can involve, one only needs to look at recent studies into safety. The last study into major accidents in the glass and glass processing sector found that handling-related injures accounted for 41% of all injuries reported. This was three times greater than tripping, the next biggest cause of accidents, with flat glass handling accounting for 21% of incidents.
All of these risks are clearly amplified in direct proportion to the amount of products that are being handled. The LiftMaster B1 and the BO B18DM4 Manual Lifting Device are highly maneuverable, featuring a tiltable rack and a rotating frame, which makes them ideal for unloading or loading glass from racking, transport or processing, plus a host of other uses.
With increasingly stringent legislation in place governing factory and on site safety, plus the fundamental risk of personal injury that not providing the appropriate tools presents, the LiftMaster B1 is consequently a very shrewd investment in improving efficiency by reducing breakages and in safeguarding your reputation, and most importantly the safety of those who work for you.
