Supporting warehouse staff and safe lift limits

Midland Pallet Trucks has added two new products to its offering in a bid to help warehouse staff gain a better idea of parcel and package weights to safeguard against injury and allow for more efficient materials handling.

Regulations from the HSE Manual Handling Operations Regulations require employers to take appropriate steps to provide a general indication on weights for each item to avoid unnecessary injuries to staff when handling loads.

Attaching weighing and adding labels to consignments is a crucial part of remaining compliant, the company said. The new Weighing Scale Pallet Truck range from Midland Pallet Trucks gives even busy warehouse staff the ability to weigh pallets, boxes and parcels quickly and easily in a matter of moments with accurate load information.

The new Weighing Scale Pallet Trucks come in two models. The first premium weighing scale truck offers high 2,000kg capacity in 1kg steps with accuracy to 0.1% of the applied load plus a high contract weighing display.

With dimensions across the forks of 555×1,150mm (a popular size for use with common euro pallets of 80cm x 120cm), it can also weigh bigger pallet sizes including the larger GKN Blue Chep pallets of 100cm x 120cm or 120cm x 120cm. It is capable of weighing and transporting packages in a wide range of sizes.

The second model is a premium weighing scale pallet truck with printer and offers the same capabilities along with an integrated thermal printer with manual feed to print out paper labels that can be applied to loads easily.

With over 110,000 accidents in the workplace due to improper handling, lifting and carrying reported to the HSE during the 2017/2018 period, the correct labelling of loads to be carried, stacked or lifted could significantly reduce the number of injuries causing musculoskeletal disorders.

Rough guidelines of the weights that can be safely handled without the use of appropriate lifting equipment including lift tables and stacker trucks do exist, with a maximum of 10kg at shoulder height for men and 7kg at the same height for women.

However, discerning the correct weight of an item to be stacked or removed from shelving is virtually impossible without the proper labelling, Midland Pallet Trucks said. Therefore, it is in the best interests of both employers and employees that loads are weighed and labelled appropriately.

With a centrally located distribution centre, Midland Pallet Trucks is able to take orders for its new Weighing Scale Pallet Trucks via phone or online for shipping the same day.

www.midlandpallettrucks.com