christopher Harper, Author at DJ Products

Four Most Common Safety Problems for Warehouses

Warehouses Need to Run Smoothly, Safely and Efficiently

Your warehouse is a vital part of the supply chain. It is imperative that products move through the process efficiently and safely. Accidents can result in damaged products, costly downtime, and injuries or death for your team members. Take some time to review these four common safety problems and take the necessary steps to prevent them in your warehouse.

Insufficient training

Health and Safety Magazine says in depth operator training on all material handling procedures and proper communication of all rules for workplace safety are the most important things all warehouse managers can do to maintain a safe warehouse.

Warehouse ergonomics

Working in the same environment day after day with ongoing pressure to meet tight schedules, it is easy for employees to take their personal safety and things like proper lifting techniques for granted. That is why we offer a full line of ergonomic electric tuggers, powered carts and pullers for any industrial application.

Trips and falls

These common injuries are often the result of fatigue or insufficient sleep. Train your employees to use proper equipment like powered carts when applicable and be sure supervisors watch for signs that workers may be distracted or impaired on the job.

Harmful substances

Some chemicals are necessary, but can also be serious workplace hazards. Be vigilant about safety training and proper handling of harmful substances.

Knowledge of warehouse ergonomics is essential to prevent injuries due to overexertion. At DJ Products, we specialize in providing you with reliable and easy-to-use methods of moving product and heavy equipment. Visit our website for our full line of cart pullers and other warehouse equipment.

How to Recognize Ergonomic Hazards Experienced by Your Maintenance Staff

Are Your Workers Moving Naturally and Comfortably Performing Their Tasks?

You don’t need a medical degree to predict worker injuries caused by poor ergonomics. Watch your maintenance staff perform common tasks to see if they look comfortable and move naturally. If their daily chores put them in awkward physical positions or require repeated motions, it’s worth talking about better ergonomic tools and techniques.

The three biggest risk factors for maintenance staff injuries, according to Ergonomics Plus:

High-effort actions like lifting heavy objects or pushing heavy carts can cause musculoskeletal injuries even in generally strong people. Simple machinery and motorized, automated equipment like dumpster tugs should be preferred.
Awkward stances or motions cause extra stress on the muscles and joints. For maintenance staff, this often includes reaching above the head, bending over, and carrying or pushing items without the ability to hold the arms at a natural position.
Repetitive tasks can build up an injury risk, and the risk worsens if the task requires strength or a non-ergonomic (awkward) position.

Assess Ergonomics for Reduce Worker Injury Risks

Talk to staff and observe their daily duties for signs of the risk factors above. Changes to consider: rotating jobs throughout the day and adjusting or changing equipment to make repetitive tasks easier and more comfortable.

Some aspects of janitorial work simply require too much physical strength to be done safely — like manually pushing a dumpster on wheels across a parking lot or ramp.

Battery-powered equipment like dumpster tugs provide the best injury prevention for the high-force, awkward task of maneuvering a loaded waste container. Contact DJ Products to explore our variety of dumpster tugs and cart pushers that improve ergonomics and productivity.

Lower Your Risk of Warehouse Injuries with a Focus on Ergonomics

Prevent Warehouse Injuries and Accidents With Ergonomic Equipment

During the course of a typical working day, there are many modern distractions employees are faced with which can cause physical injury. Arm your employees with the knowledge they need to reduce warehouse injuries and accidents by incorporating warehouse ergonomics into their daily work routine.

Remove Warehouse Obstacles

Keeping areas clear of empty boxes and used containers is imperative to prevent injuries caused by slipping and falling.

Importance of Safety Equipment

The number one type of workplace injury is strains and sprains. A lot of these injuries can be prevented with the proper safety equipment available to the employee, such as a back brace, safety harness or equipment that helps them perform their job. Explaining to employees the reasons it is important to use aids will gain employee buy-in and increase overall morale, an important part of reducing employee turnover.

Ergonomic Education

Encourage your employees to learn about ergonomics. By definition, ergonomics is the applied science of workplace equipment design in order to reduce discomfort and fatigue. Having the right industrial equipment available that can move equipment or machinery is safer than an employee trying to manually move or push heavy equipment and risk straining muscles.

Incorporating Warehouse Ergonomics

In order to begin incorporating ergonomics, review the layout of your warehouse, the number of employees and available equipment and machinery. Specialists trained in ergonomics will be able to assist you in choosing the right equipment for your specific work layout.

DJ Products like this CartCaddy Shorty help to reduce employee injuries and workers comp claims. Check out our complete inventory of cart pullers and waste caddies today.

Labor Department Gives DoD Contractors New Guidelines for Fighting Gender Discrimination

New DoD Regulations to Fight Gender Discrimination

For the first time in 46 years, the U.S. Department of Labor has updated the regulations regarding sexual discrimination for defense contractors and all other federal contractors. Covering issues like pregnancy of employees and transgender status, the new rules apply to any federal contractor that receives a minimum of $10,000 from government contracts in a one-year time frame. Also covered are unlawful employment practices that treat women differently than men in the workplace.

Today’s workplace and legal landscape

It’s imperative that corporations embrace diversity in the workplace to protect all employees from any form of discrimination and a hostile work environment. To minimize the possibility of injuries to personnel and to help them complete their work efficiently, DJ Products, Inc. provides a full line of DOD contracting equipment. Designed specifically for the unique demands of defense contractors, this powerful equipment is easy to maneuver and it operates quietly. The BombCaddy offers dual-mode, remote-controlled power to intricately maneuver up to 5,000 lbs around tight areas and heavy equipment.

Federal contractors have no reason to feel uncomfortable about the newly adopted rules. Most DOD contractors and other company owners are already making decisive efforts to eradicate outdated stereotypes. These updated regulations help address any lingering issues of pay discrimination or uncertainty about dealing with gender identity and transgender status.

At DJ Products, our goal is to provide electric and motorized solutions that will eliminate strains from attempting to push or pull heavy loads. To learn more about our walk-behind and remote controlled DOD contracting equipment, contact us today to speak with one of our equipment specialists about solutions tailored to your business.

Technology Leads the Way as the New Face of Defense Contracting

Technology is the Future for The DOD

It has become a new wave of electronics and DoD contracting equipment for warfare in the U.S. military. The Pentagon wants to implement advanced electronic technology that may hold up on the battlefield for a generation or more. As amazing as that sounds, electronics and other advanced technologies are capable of giving the military that type of edge.

Weapons Types

Some of the weapons that are ready for production or that are being made as prototypes are naval rail guns, which use electromagnetic energy to fire projectiles at 5 times the speed of sound; drone swarms that will break apart like a flock of birds and attack en mass; Iron Man type suits that will aid the soldier on the field; and LASER beam weapons made for land, sea and air deployments.

The Private Sector

For the most part, many of these weapons are being developed by the private sector and not by regular military contractors. This “outside of the box” thinking is allowing little known advances in such technology areas as fiber materials, artificial intelligence, software, and diverse equipment such as robotic-controlled ships, helicopters and planes.

Of course, with every new advancement in technology, regardless of what it is, equipment will be needed to move it around warehouses and other spaces, and that’s exactly where the movement solutions from DJ Products will shine.

For more information on DoD-contracted military equipment or any other job where heavy equipment moving is essential, contact DJ Products, makers of trailer movers, aircraft tugs, rail car movers, and more. We have the mobile solutions for all of your warehouse floor management needs.

What Makes Dumpsters so Dangerous?

DJ Products’ Dumpster Caddy Reduces Workplace Injuries

It’s easy to think of dumpsters as safe, since they are basically large inanimate objects. However, these massive metal structures tend the be the starting point for many workplace injuries. Loading, cleaning, and relocating a dumpster can be very hazardous to both employees and tenants.

Manage the injury risk at your workplace by taking a fresh look at the dangers surrounding dumpsters and waste containers. This rental dumpster blog sums up what everybody should know:

The ground around a dumpster must be kept clean to prevent slips and falls.
Clean dumpsters with disinfectant on a routine basis to stop the spread of illness and deter pests.
Dumpsters should be carefully placed in safe locations. Moving them requires machinery like a dumpster caddy because manual pushing and pulling carries major injury risk.
Workers should use proper lifting technique when loading a dumpster. Use side openings for large, heavy objects.
Use motion sensor lights to keep the area safe for nighttime workers.
Clearly label the dumpster with safety warnings — no one should climb in, hazardous materials should not be deposited, and workers should not move the container without a dumpster caddy and proper safety equipment.

Prevention is the best policy when it comes to worker injuries while using a dumpster. Safety gloves are a must; goggles and air filter masks are recommended. Make sure your employees know safe techniques for lifting heavy objects and trash bags.

If workers need to move a dumpster, be wary of manually pushing the dumpster, even if it’s on wheels. The dumpster caddy from DJ Products automates this process and virtually eliminates the risk of muscle injuries and runaway carts.

New Tuggers Reinvent the Process of Material Handling

In today’s society where people expect next-day delivery and a large supply of product, the ability to move items quickly through a distribution center or warehouse is essential. Continuing innovations in industrial tugs make this task easier while “increasing ergonomics, productivity and safety for workers on the floor,” according to the article “Casters, carts, and tuggers: Reinventing the Wheel” from Modern Materials Handling.

Specialized casters

Suppliers are finding new, creative ways to improve traditional caster design. These new, specialized casters capable of withstanding the weight associated with high volumes of products can help distributors transport heavier loads more often while reducing noise levels and risk of injury to workers.

These casters include motorized industrial casters that don’t use a shaft and swivel casters that rotate around two separate vertical axes. Using these casters in industrial tugs such as those available from DJ Products, greatly improves efficiency and safety in distribution centers and warehouses.

Industrial tug benefits

According to the Modern Materials Handling article, the use of industrial tugs and carts improves efficiency as “operators can unload products and replace empty containers on the production line multiple times in a single pass.” This is a vast improvement over the use of forklifts that could only transport a single load at a time and it can reduce employee injury while creating better ergonomics and less noise. Tuggers are easier to turn around tight corners than forklifts and this allows operation in narrower areas of the warehouse.

Contact our professionals today to learn how industrial tugs and cart movers from DJ Products can help improve the safety and efficiency of your distribution business.

Feds Work to Shut Out Contractors as Punishment

In July 2014, the Fair Play and Safe Workplaces executive order was enacted in an attempt to punish federal contractors who have a history of labor abuses. As Congress addresses funding for the Department of Defense, the order is causing members to take sides regarding its enforcement.

Is the “Fair Play” Order Necessary?

The order covers a wide spectrum of labor abuses, but the primary issue is wage theft, which occurs when employers don’t pay employees the full amount they are owed. In the absence of general anti-wage theft laws, the White House has used the policy to withhold federal agency contracts from offending companies.

This past May, the funding bill came before Congress, and it included a provision to make DoD contract equipment and other contracted services exempt from the President’s order. Rep. John Kline of Minnesota, author of the provision, argued that the order is redundant based on the effectiveness of current safeguards.

A House Divided

Rep. Keith Ellison, also of Minnesota, objected to the provision, citing evidence from a Senate labor report showing that $81 billion in contracts had been awarded to 49 companies with significant wage and safety violations on record. However, Ellison’s amendment to remove the provision was dismissed.

The House ultimately approved the funding bill, which is now before the Senate, but it still faces an uncertain future. The White House has suggested that President Obama will veto the entire bill unless major changes are made.

DoD Contract Equipment from DJ Products

Our reliable and cost-effective material handling solutions fill a multitude of military and DoD applications. Contact us for more information.

Hospitals Move to Microfiber Flat Mops to Improve Ergonomics

Reduce Hospital Acquired Infections While Improving Efficiency

Keeping healthcare facilities clean and free of hospital-acquired infections (HAI) is a full-time and laborious job that involves mopping and wiping down all surfaces. This type of work takes a toll on the body and can cause injury. American Laundry News explains that one way to reduce strain is by switching to microfiber flat mops. By using hospital ergonomic equipment including lighter mops and hospital cart movers, employees and patients have a healthier, safer work environment.

Equipment changes that improve ergonomics

American Laundry News emphasizes the ergonomic benefits of switching to microfiber flat mops as they’re lighter, can be operated with less strain on the back and result reduced cleaning frequency which helps avoid repetitive motion injuries in workers. However, cleaning with microfiber mops is just one way to improve the safety and functionality of healthcare facilities.

Keeping a hospital clean, organized and running smoothly requires easy access to necessary supplies and an effortless way to transport them. Using hospital ergonomic equipment such as cart movers enables workers to transport supplies swiftly and without strain on their body as the powered cart supplies the strength.

Investing in hospital ergonomic equipment

Just as American Laundry News explains that not all microfiber mop systems are equal, not all ergonomic equipment is equal either. An experienced, professional supplier of hospital equipment can provide high-quality, efficient cart movers to help maneuver carts weighing up to 1,000 pounds without straining the employees operating them. Workers avoid overexertion and the cart movers aid in freeing up valuable space in hallways and rooms.

Cart movers from DJ Products can improve the safety and efficiency of healthcare facilities. Contact us today to find out more about our solutions for hospitals.

What’s Driving up Physician Hospital-Based Employment?

Physicians employed at a hospital.

According to data offered at Becker Hospital Review‘s recent meeting in Chicago, nearly 70 percent of physicians today are working in hospitals rather than private practice. What factors are driving this trend, and what does it mean for compensation and fair market value?

Reimbursement cuts and lifestyle changes provide motivation

Becker‘s seventh annual meeting included a presentation on physician employment trends conducted by Jim Carr, partner in HealthCare Appraisers, a national consulting firm providing fair market value (FMV) analysis. Carr cites reimbursement cuts and lifestyle changes as major impetuses behind the move to hospital-based employment.

Impact on fair market value

This far-reaching trend is causing hospital administrators to rework compensation contracts accordingly. Carr gave the following suggestions to consider when calculating FMV:

• While work-related relative value units (RVU) are still the most widely-used metrics, physicians are increasingly resisting them in favor of base salary guarantees and/or longer guarantee periods. The feeling is that production in a hospital setting is governed by many factors beyond their control.

• Many physicians are demanding compensation for any activity, such as committee meetings or resident supervision, which affect RVU.

• Quality-based bonuses are becoming more common, but the definition of “quality” is shifting from clinical metrics to value-based criteria such as patient satisfaction.

DJ Products supports these trends with motorized hospital service carts

More efficient operations in your hospital mean greater production from your physicians. Our motorized hospital service carts allow employees to get more done with less effort. Contact DJ Products and let one of our knowledgeable sales engineers help you find the best solution for your material handling needs.

Author: christopher Harper