How to stop hand injuries getting pinched between racks?
We have been having a rash of hand injuries, specifically hands getting pinched between racks, nothing serious, just a lot of bruising.
We use racks like these in our facility:
https://centurionequ...thand/4545.htm#
Now, impact resistant gloves are not really an option because you can't put the required latex gloves on over them, anyone else have this problem and come up with a solution to minimize the number of these issues?
Have you addresses traffic flow? Are there too many bodies?
It sounds like your issue is recent.....has something changed?
I would address the # of people moving around in that area............ask the folks on the floor why they think it's happening now
I have, but it is the people moving the racks that are having the injuries. We have very open flow, but when I talk to them about it, I get "I don't know" or "I guess I need to pay more attention". The increased frequency is fairly recent, but they have always been there, but I can't seem to find what has changed.
I considered putting some kind of spacer or bumper on the racks to minimize the pinch points, but then we lose storage space so production nixed that.
I am just at a loss.
Have you thought of putting bumpers approximately 1.5"-2" on the top and bottom corners? It would create a space between the racks as the bumpers would contact first.
I have, but it is the people moving the racks that are having the injuries. We have very open flow, but when I talk to them about it, I get "I don't know" or "I guess I need to pay more attention". The increased frequency is fairly recent, but they have always been there, but I can't seem to find what has changed.
I considered putting some kind of spacer or bumper on the racks to minimize the pinch points, but then we lose storage space so production nixed that.
I am just at a loss.
Looks like we posted about the same answer at the same time. If you did top corners on the right side and bottom corners on the left, would the 2" be encroaching on your storage too much?
Looks like we posted about the same answer at the same time. If you did top corners on the right side and bottom corners on the left, would the 2" be encroaching on your storage too much?
Space is at a real premium, For every 18 racks we would lose a racks worth of space. But I honestly cannot see another solution. I am not content with just telling the employees to be careful.
do all four wheels turn? racks with 2 static wheels sometimes turn on a dime or vice versa
Ask maintenance for their opinion too....they may have a super easy fix
do all four wheels turn? racks with 2 static wheels sometimes turn on a dime or vice versa
Ask maintenance for their opinion too....they may have a super easy fix
Asked them, they have no idea. Yes, the racks have two wheels that swivel and two that are static
Ask them to switch to four swivels on just a couple of carts.......used to have the same problem all the time. I'm betting the 2 swivel castors aren't moving like they are supposed to and the carts are getting away on them
You could pad your employees knuckles with gauze under a food contact glove....just a thought
kmerian,
Suggest that, on top of interviews, try to observe people at different shift, routines, worst schedule and see from what behaviour that cause people to have incident with racks. Sometimes, may need to physical changes depending on the understading of routines of personnel.
We have been having a rash of hand injuries, specifically hands getting pinched between racks, nothing serious, just a lot of bruising.
We use racks like these in our facility:
https://centurionequ...thand/4545.htm#
Now, impact resistant gloves are not really an option because you can't put the required latex gloves on over them, anyone else have this problem and come up with a solution to minimize the number of these issues?
Hey Kmerian,
We have the same racks and had the same issue. First, we had the employees hold the inside of the racks as they pushed, but it was awkward. Just recently we solved the problem with a small modification that doesn't take up additional space. We had our maintenance team weld push bars onto the racks. So it goes diagonally between the two sidebars on the back side, so trays can still be loaded. We also enforced a rule that 2 employees are required to move the racks.
Hope this helps.
Hey Kmerian,
We have the same racks and had the same issue. First, we had the employees hold the inside of the racks as they pushed, but it was awkward. Just recently we solved the problem with a small modification that doesn't take up additional space. We had our maintenance team weld push bars onto the racks. So it goes diagonally between the two sidebars on the back side, so trays can still be loaded. We also enforced a rule that 2 employees are required to move the racks.
Hope this helps.
This does, very interesting, can you post a picture of the racks?
Pinch points need to be addressed beyond "just watch your fingers", you will always have employees that on their 10,000th rack make a mistake.
To minimize injury, you may not need to have 2" bumpers on the racks, even just 1-1.5cm gap between racks would prevent the worst injuries by making sure the two racks can't crash together flush and completely crush fingers.
As far as losing rack space, you can try to engineer a better solution, but sometimes Safety is inconvenient.
@ Kmerian
Not sure how to upload pics to the forum so I will send it by email. If anyone else would like to see my drawing please message me your email address.
Ask it they are holding onto the corner post of the racks to move them. We use to have this problem until we trained people to hold onto the rack in a "inboard position". If the rack is not set up for this, you may need to add handles or a push bar.
Racks like those are always tough to handle, but i like itreatpets idea. A "push bar" in the middle of the racks would probably be a good solution. I would also implement some training. You Production team could help train the staff to ensure the proper employee flows are being followed, employees are pushing the racks slowly and using the push bar.
Injuries like this will increase your companies cost of insurance big time. I'm sure if your Management looked over the numbers, and could see how much more money there spending in insurance due to injuries like you mentioned, they will become a little more supportive of implementing something to address this with you.