Pallets play a significant role for businesses that deal with shipments. Pallets come in handy when you want to ship a wide range of products safely. You must handle your pallets in a way that keeps the products on them in good condition, as well as doesn’t hurt anybody nearby as they’re moved from one place to another. With proper handling, you can reduce product damages and accidents. 

Here are some tips that you can use for safely handling pallets

#1 You Should Avoid Using Pallets As A Man Lift

According to the recommendation of experts, you should make use of authorized and engineered lift platforms. You should avoid using the pallets as a man lift to avoid accidents. Most of the pallets are designed to withstand a load of 2500 to 3000 pounds, but it is for a uniformly distributed load. Pallets cannot hold the localized weight when engineers use them to lift themselves. The pallets cannot maintain balance and this may lead to accidents. 

#2 You Should Focus On Pallet Inspection Before Using Them 

Pallet Inspection

Most often, industrial accidents in the shipment business occur when low-quality pallets are used for lifting loads. Low-quality pallets may cause problems at any point during the logistic process. Therefore, experts advise employees to inspect pallets before making use of them for any purpose. While inspecting, check whether the pallets are damaged or in good condition. Segregate the good pallets from the damaged pallets. Use high-quality pallets for shipments and logistic processes. The damaged pallets can be repaired for further use or recycled. Inspections should be done on a regular basis to ensure that the best pallets are used for shipments. 

#3 You Should Focus On Reducing Accidents With Good Housekeeping

If you want to avoid accidents due to pallets, then focus on safe pallet handling. If the pallets get damaged due to any reason, ensure that you are clearing up the area immediately. If not, this may cause unwanted hazards. Moreover, you can ask the housekeeping staff to ensure that the pallets are stacked in a safe place. The stack should be away from fireplaces or any flammable substance. These precautionary measures are essential to follow while handling pallets. 

#4 Always Ensure That You Use Safety Equipment While Handling Wooden Pallets

While you handle wooden pallets, use safety equipment such as helmets, gloves, eyeglasses and safety shoes. If you want, you can also use hearing protection to protect from the sounds made by pallets moving. All this safety equipment will help you protect yourself from accidents. Moreover, you can ensure that the pallets are handled perfectly.

#5 Take Precautionary Measures While You Are Standing On The Pallet

handle wooden pallets

If a worker is standing on a pallet, ask them to maintain precautionary measures. If not, they can get injured due to broken decks. For instance, the person may get his/her foot stuck in the broken parts of the pallet(s). This, in turn, can cause accidents and damage other pallets. Sometimes accidents may be caused due to an imbalance.

#6 You Should Maintain Restrictions On The Height Of The Stacked Pallets

When workers are involved in the manual stacking of wooden pallets, ensure that the height of the stacking is maintained. For safety reasons, you should not stack more than 4 wooden pallets in the vertical position. If the height is exceeding the limit, it may lead to accidents. Moreover, such accidents can cause damage to the wooden pallets. You can make use of the forklift to separate the fully stacked wooden pallets into smaller stacks. 

Summary: 

If you are in search of a firm that provides the best wooden pallets, choose Pallet Resource. Call 763-792-2882 for more info.