Safety at work is something that can easily be taken for granted even though companies are becoming more aware of health and safety in the working environment. Industrial safety is of paramount importance and ignoring even the basic safety regulations when working in industry or horticulture poses a serious threat to staff. Lifting gear and equipment must be inspected on a regular basis to ensure its safe operation and suitability to the task. Lifting testing is a vital precaution for the detection of faults and of course the prevention of accidents. Safety tags will help to ensure that lifting regulations are adhered to so businesses can remain compliant with safety standards in the workplace.
Lifting safety
Any industry using heavy-duty machines, cranes or lifting gear is wide-open to potential hazards that can make a work area a perilous place to be. Even though businesses are aware of the lifting regulations many overlook them which places the safety of their staff in jeopardy of injuries (which can be fatal). In order to have peace of mind and remain compliant with safety regulations for lifting gear, it is imperative that businesses inspect every piece of equipment regularly.
The current guidelines for lifting safety in the UK are clearly laid out in the 1998 Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations (LOLER). On using lifting gear for the first time, all equipment should be thoroughly examined for any faults or defects. Once this has occurred, details should be clearly recorded and identified on the lifting gear that an inspection has taken place and when the next inspection is due. For this task, visual markers on the lifting equipment such as tamper-proof and robust industrial tags should be used.
Safety standards and inspection
The following advice is a general assessment guide for preventative measures and not a substitute for the official lifting safety regulations.
In order to inspect the lifting equipment correctly, an inspector should make some preliminary preparations. First check the area in which the lifting gear will operate is clear of materials and hazards which may damage the equipment. The inspector must check the identity mark for the lifting equipment against its operating records or instructions and that any test certificates, examination reports and declarations all conform. To ensure a complete and fair inspection, the appliance should be taken apart, degreased and then cleaned with materials that will not harm the lifting gear or any of its component parts.
Once preparation is complete, a pre-inspection can be carried out. This pre-inspection should be in line with the manufacturer’s guidelines or recognised British/European safety standards. Before allowing the lifting equipment to take any excessive strain, a ‘no-load’ lift followed by a ‘light-load’ lift should be carried out to monitor the workings and manoeuvrability of the appliance.
Observations should be made of the drive, clutches, control command, motion limits, chain guides or rope guides, mating parts and all fail safe devices. Once the inspector is confident the lifting gear is functioning correctly a full load can be applied.
A full load test, or ‘proof-load test’, should be carried out on the appliance using a load slightly in excess of its Safe Working Load (SWL). This will show the lifting equipment is safely capable of lifting the load which it is rated for without any failures. The lifting gear may be fitted with a load limiting device or overloader to prevent this happening so the inspector may need to bypass this in accordance with the manufacturer’s guidelines. After completing the proof-load test, the inspector must ensure the load limiter is reactivated and reset.
Should repairs be required after the inspection, any components used must be approved by the manufacturer and match the correct size, material and grade for the appliance. All repairs should be recorded. Once repairs have been made, a safe load test should be carried out to make sure the repair process hasn’t affected the lifting gear’s suitability for safe lifting.
Inspections on lifting equipment should be carried out every six months using official inspection regulations and any operators or staff members using the equipment should be familiar with the machine’s regulations. Businesses can provide visual identification that the lifting gear complies with safety standards and is regularly inspected by using equipment tags.
Roller Conveyors have a wide range of applications in industries such as warehousing, assembly lines and ‘pick and pack’ applications. The Unpowered conveyor is the Gravity Roller conveyor while the Power conveyor is called as the Powered Roller Conveyor which comes in many designs and categories.
The simplest of all conveyors is the Gravity roller conveyors. It is thought that the roller technique was used in the construction of the Pyramids and Stonehenge, amongst other things. While we still use the techniques used by our forefathers, we have refined the system a lot to suit our modern needs.
They are used to transport solid items with a flat base for avoiding the risk to topple. They can be set at a slight incline or horizontal, to allow staff to ‘freewheel’ the products along the line. The items will experience a small amount of vibration as they pass from roller to roller.
Very tiny loads are not suitable for this type of roller conveyors or discrete shape packages can lock the rollers. Also problems occur with items that have a high centre of gravity, or a narrow base, which could topple as they pass from one conveyor roller to the next.
Of course wet, sticky, or semi-solid items such as clay, bread dough, Liquids, powders, aggregates are also unsuitable for roller conveyors. For such kind of materials, Chain Drive rollers are the best option.
A major attraction of roller conveyors in general is the low capital cost, combined with negligible maintenance cost. Short of an all-out attack by a fork-lift truck or similar, there is very little that can go wrong with them. Individual components – such as the rollers – can be easily and cheaply replaced in the event of accidental damage.
Roller beds can be made from plastic, mild steel, galvanized steel, or stainless steel rollers depending on the sort of load and usage you require, and on what environment you wish to operate the machine in. (for outdoor use we would normally recommend galvanized rollers at the very least, for example).
It is usual for a conveyor to be custom-built for a particular application, and hence can be “pre-set” at any desired height or angle of slope. They can also be fitted with variable-height feet to allow both adjustment of overall height, as well as minor adjustments to slope angle. For larger adjustments, the units can be fitted with variable-angle legs, or even telescopic legs.
When gravity alone is not sufficient to move a load then roller units can be powered, with options of LineShaft-Drive roller conveyors for lightweight (up to 20Kg or so) packages.
In addition to the obvious benefits of being powered, these units can also offer accumulation. This means that when a package reaches the end of the conveyor, it will stop, without stopping the rest of the conveyor. Hence packages can gradually “accumulate” at the end of the conveyor, awaiting human intervention or automatic transfer to another conveyor etc.. The drive shaft powers each roller by means of rubberised bands.
Chain Drive Roller Conveyors are used for bulky and loads greater than 20Kg. The principles are the same but, as the name suggests, chains are used to provide a more heavy duty drive mechanism.
There has always been a market for glassware that contains quirky imperfections and shapes. They arguably have more characters and tell more of a story, yet despite this, the majority of people strive for perfection in their glass. They like their glass to be perfectly clear, perfectly formed, and perfectly the same as the rest of their set. A new laser-based glass cutter has now made this a reality, giving the ability to create identical perfect glasses with complex designs in a matter of minutes.
The New York based company who developed the tool are set to cause quite a few ripples when it goes on sale to manufacturers next year.News of tool has been buzzing around the industry markets already and investors have been clambering over themselves to get in at the base level.The company has stated that they use a powerful laser that can work in 360 degrees and is accurate to a 16th of a millimeter. It will carve a piece of glass using a computer guidance program into any shape you desire, and for its party trick it will etch patterns deep within the glass. The end result is a perfect product that has the quality and clarity of crystal glass but can be produced at a fraction of the cost due to the high automated process.
It has not been made clear if the company will be releasing shares or whether that are going to remain completely private but most people think they are set to make a lot of money either way. The New York company are reportedly looking into other applications for the glass cutting technology including creating other household items such as crystal vases or glass candle holders. Some have already suggested that their could potentially be industrial applications in the housing and auto markets
Well, we wouldn’t have the first clue would we!The ability to measure, to judge lengths, quantities, volumes, distances etc is crucial to life itself.Even the cells of your body can measure how much adrenalin to inject into the bloodstream in the case of the “fight or flight” response.Any creature with binocular vision intrinsically “measures” the distance from tree to tree or branch to branch every time it looks at those objects. Otherwise our arboreal ancestors would have crashed to the ground and we wouldn’t be here!
Measurement, the act of defining the extent of any physical phenomena, is also at the root of all man’s scientific and cultural progress.Science without measurement merely results in what’s defined as a qualitative observation. One that’s subjective, non-repeatable and of almost no value to anyone other than the immediate observer.Science with measurement is defined as a quantitative observation.One that can be repeated, proven or disproven by others using the same techniques and not dependent on any interpretation whatsoever. Measurement allows us to plot the course of the planets, know where and when we are and check our children’s growth. Accurate measurement of liquids and solids is a key part of everyday life. Without accurate level measurement there could be no industrial society or processes.
Making beer and producing life-saving drugs may seem to have nothing in common, but both use vast quantities of dry and liquid raw materials that have to be mixed in exactly the right proportion to ensure potency and effectiveness. Both rely heavily on the use of advanced level switch technology to ensure continuous production to consistently high standards. When it comes to dispensing, we still need to measure the right dosages, whether it’s a pint or 5ml.
There are some cases where you need to measure, but can’t physically contact the substance being measured – either because it can’t be contaminated or it’s too hot or corrosive. Radar-based level transmitters provide accurate measurement on a second-by- second basis, even for substances like molten metal or acids.So we would literally be nowhere without measurement – aside maybe from unsuccessful fishermen who could really go to town about the ones that got away!Life in any meaningful sense would be impossible, unless you exist entirely at the quantum level, which last time I looked very few of us do!
Water well drilling equipment can mean a lot of things. Shovels, and rotary drills are very different, but both can make wells. Let’s take a look at some of them.
A dug well is exactly what the name implies. It’s dug with water well drilling equipment, really digging, that consists of a shovel. Dug wells are mentioned in the bible. Jesus met a woman at Jacob’s well. Roofed farm wells are well known to most people. Most of these use a crank to pull up the bucket.
Once this type of well is dug with what can be loosely called water well drilling equipment, a hand pump may be added. This style of well includes stone lined walls. The stone actually makes the well safer in case someone falls into it.
When the water well drilling equipment is a well point, a screen and a tripod, it results in a driven well. The point is hammered into the ground. Pipe sections are added as needed. Eventually this will reach groundwater. The pump is installed to deliver the water to the surface. It’s pretty simple.
For reaching deeper water a different types of water well drilling equipments are needed. One modern tool is a rotary drill used to bore down into the ground. They can drill through dirt, clay, rock and anything else between the surface and the water. Once the deep water is found an electric pump is installed.
Water well drilling equipment includes a Cable Tool, which is the oldest form of drilling machine. It’s still used. This tool raises and lowers a bit with force. The action also rotates the bit about ¼ revolution per hit. Frequently the hole must be cleared of dirt and other debris which is time consuming.
Technically not water well drilling equipment, there are also pipes which line the resulting hole. These help prevent contamination. Sometimes this casing is driven or rotated into the well during the drilling process. PVC pipe, glued together as it’s fed down, is often used.
There’s a lot more water well drilling equipment. Try a Google search to learn more about it.