It’s said that the repair bill for damage to Material Handling Equipment (MHE) equipment often indicates seven times the amount of potentially hidden damage to infrastructure, finished products or raw materials.
It may also be a sign that safe practice is not being adhered to and a portent of a possible accident waiting to happen.
Industrial Accident Costs
Staff welfare is a key concern for most modern businesses, and we have seen a growing number of safety features added to equipment over the past ten or twenty years.
From door safety interlocks, hi-visibility seatbelts and interlocks, fleet management systems with RFID, to reversing sensors and audible alarms, speed limiters, pedestrian awareness cameras, blue spotlights and safety zone lights – all are features that are readily available and commonly fitted to Baumann sideloaders.
The consequences of an accident can be painful, perhaps devastating to those involved, but the business too can also suffer as a result.
Initially, there is the business disruption. This may come in the form of unavailable machines, or the time and energy required to carry out a formal review.
There’s also the cost to the business, in human and financial terms. Being on the hook for major repairs can be expensive, waiting times for components – post-Covid and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine – can be very long, and an accident may have a knock-on effect for other pieces of equipment that have to fill in the gaps.
Working Safely With Baumann Sideloaders
Baumann sideloaders are typically built to order, working for years, sometimes decades in a business, and follow the specification type developed in consultation with the customer’s needs. That means temporary replacement kit may not be easy to get hold of in a hurry and may not totally satisfy the operations demands.
There’s also the legal implications of a Health & Safety audit and potential fine for endangering the welfare of workers.
Thankfully, greater awareness of such factors has also helped to popularise barriers, pedestrian walkways and lights, and accidents, whilst persistent and often serious as far as materials handling equipment is concerned, are rare.
As with all machines, approved driver training and continued vigilance, combined with efforts to improve visibility, either through cameras or panoramic cabins, essential inspections and maintenance or just simple cleaning procedures, can go a long way to avoiding many of the inconveniences in the first place.
Get In Touch
The Baumann sideloader safety features are just some of many brilliant aspects of Baumann equipment. Get in touch with us to discover more features or talk about buying a new or used sideloader.
