christopher Harper, Author at DJ Products

Preventing Workman’s Compensation Claims

Workman’s compensation claims are a fact of business life, especially when the work involved is primarily physical. Unfortunately, they take a serious toll on your company’s operations. First and foremost is the temporary or permanent injury to the affected employee. In addition, they cause losses in terms of work interruptions, turnover and increased insurance premiums.

While it’s impossible to eliminate all accidents, there are measures you can take to reduce the number of claims in your workplace. Implementing these ideas can help boost safety awareness throughout your organization.

Safety programs are often spread across separate departments, including human resources, loss control and data analysis. Integrating these parts into a unified safety program ensures that everyone is working on the same page and understands each other’s roles.
You most likely have on-the-job safety training included for new hires. However, you should also make sure they’re being trained in the administrative side of safety measures. All employees should know the proper procedures for reporting an incident, including who can help them fill out the paperwork. Emphasize the importance of reporting claims as soon as possible before they grow into bigger problems.
Ensure that your company has a well-rounded return-to-work program with a number of modified-duty job options. Develop a relationship with your local clinic to facilitate effective injury treatment.
Use equipment that’s ergonomically designed to reduce stress and strain on operators. Promptly repair or replace any machines, vehicles or tools that present a safety hazard.

DJ Products can assist you in maintaining high safety standards with our full line of efficient, easy-to-operate tugs, carts and pushers. Call 800.686.2651 and let our Sales Engineers help you find the best solution for your application.

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.

Department of Justice Wants to Preserve Competition Between Contractors

Preserving Competition

The Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) are urging defense contractors to keep producing arms. Weapons and ammunition production are essential to keeping the peace for both law enforcement and the military.

Mergers

There have been several mergers between companies that supply weapons in the past year, which may be good for keeping prices competitive and products readily available. But mergers can also mean a slowing of development for newer and better weapons, and both the DOJ and the FTC want to make sure this type of development does not stop. This is why they have partnered to keep both development and production going, making sure there is no lull.

DOD Contractor Equipment

Weapons and ammunition demand signals will continue to drive the procurement of DOD contractor equipment. Heavy loads will need to be moved via carts, trailers, rail cars, etc., and shuttled from one place to another.

Wagons, waste and even such specialized munitions like bombs must be moved around, either within the factories themselves or out to the loading dock. Many of these require specialized moving machines, and all of them are available at DJ Products, who have industrial solutions for every market sector.

For more information on warehouse equipment suitable for any job, contact DJ Products, makers of trailer movers, dumpster movers and even aircraft movers. We have the mobile solution for your DOD warehouse floor management from munitions to waste removal.

The Condo Owners Guide to Dumpster Safety

Shards of glass, broken furniture, heavy and awkward items — taking out the trash represents an enormous liability for multi-tenant properties. As a condo owner, you and the condo staff face the risk of injury both from accidents and the physical strain of handling waste and moving heavy dumpsters around the property.

Condo owners should set aside time to go over safety practices with employees. The Work Safe Center offers this help checklist for dumpster safety that you can review with your workers.

Avoiding Accidents and Hazardous Materials

Employees should recognize that dumpsters may contain dangerous items such as bent metal, broken glass or even medical waste.

Tips for safe waste collection include:

Avoid back and shoulder strain; do not throw objects or handle heavy items with only one hand.

Use safety gloves when filling or emptying dumpsters.

Break down dangerous items into manageable parts.

Place warning signs about hazardous waste that should not go in dumpsters.

Dumpster Moving Tools for Safe & Easy Waste Handling

Tools are available to help with the weight and strain of filling dumpsters and carting them around the property. Motorized dumpster movers help prevent injury when moving dumpsters up and down inclines, across rough asphalt, or through inclement weather.

Even in normal use on flat ground, a dumpster mover helps by reducing the strain on the back, legs, and shoulders.

In addition to dumpster moving tools, containers can be made safe and ergonomic with easy-grip handles and tools to help lift lids and deposit heavy items.

Property managers can find out more about dumpster movers and waste bin pullers at DJProducts.com.

Shoulder-Mounted Jammers Aim to Take Down Drones

In the era of drones, new technology has begun proliferating to effectively shut down unwanted drones. The latest is something like a ray gun — a shoulder-mounted “rifle” that blasts radio waves of interference.

Radio-Powered Interference to Stop Drones

The DroneDefender was recently unveiled by an Ohio company called Battelle. The device operates on GPS and ISM radio bands and features a range of up to 400 meters. Specs remain somewhat secretive. What’s clear is that the DroneDefender has power over most commercially available consumer drone products.

When a drone flies over private property (or perhaps over restricted military areas), a jammer like the DroneDefender can interfere with the radio signals to force the drone into a hovering position. The operator then must land the device or return it home.

This technology should prove beneficial to police and military, as well as civilians wishing to protect private property from trespassing drones operated by other civilians.

DOD Contractor Heavy Equipment for Drones

Whether drone jammers should be available to the general public remains up for debate. For now, the technology seems to be a stopgap solution for unregulated drone flying by civilians. In the world of military and DOD contractor heavy equipment, jamming technology like the DroneDefender should not pose an issue.

For more information about DOD contractor heavy equipment, you can visit DJ Products to find out about electric platform carts, parts caddies, and motorized equipment movers. This includes tool and equipment solutions as well as aircraft and vehicle pullers with GSA authorization for DOD contractors.

Ergonomics: A New Focus on Cutting Warehouse Staff Turnover

Prevent Warehouse Accidents

The warehouse industry typically has a high turnover rate due to the physical demands of these jobs. Employees can be injured while moving machinery or equipment around. They can also develop injuries that result from repetitive movements, such as soft tissue injuries.

The use of industrial tugs and similar products make warehouse work less physically demanding and could lead to a lower turnover rate.

The Importance of Ergonomics

One of the most effective ways to lower the risk of workplace injuries in warehouses and reduce turnover is by adopting ergonomics. This means making sure that employees are able to do their jobs as safely as possible with less physical strain.

Making changes that result in a more comfortable work environment offers other benefits as well that lead to lower turnover. Such improvements will help employees become more productive, since they do not tire as quickly. They can also boost morale among employees when they see that their employer is watching out for their well-being.

Ergonomic Changes

The exact types of ergonomic changes that should be made vary based on a number of factors, such as the types of equipment and machinery that are used, the size of the workforce and the warehouse’s layout. Taking these factors into consideration can help warehouse management determine effective ergonomic changes, such as reducing the weight of mobile workstations and carts, or using motorized or electrical industrial tugs.

At DJ Products, our industrial tugs make it safer for your warehouse employees to move heavy equipment around. Visit us online to see our full selection of cart pullers and other products.

Car Dealerships Look Forward to Sales Boosts from New Dashboard Designs

Dashboards as we know today could be a thing of the past.

The automotive industry has long embraced analog dashboards as being simple to manufacture and easy to use. Familiarity is a major factor in their continued use, but a company in Finland is looking to change the way we see our dashboard instrumentation in the not too distant future.

Totally Digital

Granted, on car dashboards today, there are some electronic and digital guages, but a company called Rightware wants to change all that. They have pioneered the “virtual dashboard” with an LCD screen as your dash, with superimposed digital gauges that tell you what your vehicle is doing. It’s positioned on a backdrop video monitor showing you the road ahead. In essence, even when you’re looking at the dash, you’ll still be keeping your eyes on the road.

Not Science Fiction

This virtual dashboard is already being installed on the Audi V-8 supercar, and even though it’s a high-end model, this is a practical application of things to come. Rightware hopes that in the near future their new technology will bring the entire automotive industry into the digital age, and they want to be on the forefront of this unique product line.

Massive Sales

When the automotive industry begins to convert over to the virtual dashboard, the companies that produce them are going to be flooded with massive sales to supply the automotive sector. Such helpful and effective machines, like DJ Products Car Caddy, will be incredibly useful for maneuvering vehicles in and around work stations at all levels of assembly.

DJ Products leads the way in equipment movers, from the Car Caddy, Parts Caddy, RailCarCaddy, and everything in between.

Multi Family Housing Trends to Watch for 2016

The Future Home

Multi-family housing appears poised to evolve in 2016 and beyond, as consumer tastes and economic outlooks push the market in various directions. GlobeSt.com recently asked commercial experts about the property management and real estate trends on the horizon. The key takeaways:

“The more amenities the better.”

Technology and features that appeal to younger people are especially driving change and growth. With supply growing and renters stretching their budgets to get the highest value, owners and management must come to the table with attractive amenities.

Rent growth may slow

The 4% annual growth of rent cannot sustain itself forever, so how will your property stay profitable when things level out? While cash is flowing, invest in value-added features that will reduce future costs.

Biggest growth in high-end

Developers are building luxury apartments more often than ever. Millennials and other groups will gladly choose multi-family housing — if the quality of life exceeds what they can afford through ownership.

Stagnant wages for many renters

On the other end of the spectrum, renters of lower-cost housing are failing to see wage increases on pace with rent growth. Are your lower-cost assets prepared to handle a fallout if the local market pushes prices lower?

We look at these property management and real estate trends as clues to help prepare for the future. Controlling costs while making smart investments in property management tools will help multi-family units stay profitable no matter what lies ahead.

Automated material handling equipment such as dumpster movers or motorized carts can boost efficiency while also reducing the risk of costly workplace injuries. Talk to us at DJProducts.com for more info.

Moving Dumpsters Manually Is Risky

Dangers of Manual Dumpster Moving

Dumpsters are a perfect storm for employee injuries. The heavy weight and awkward size make them dangerous to push or pull manually without the aid of motorized equipment. The unnecessary risks include falls, slips, run-over feet, and collisions with cars or buildings.

More commonly, however, employees suffer musculoskeletal disorders from pushing or pulling dumpsters. These include muscle tears and strains, torn tendons, slipped discs, and other injuries to the neck, arms, back, and legs.

Why Workers Get Injured from Moving Dumpsters Manually

As Canada’s Ministry of Labour describes, moving a dumpster risks injury because it requires repetitive tasks and high force while promoting awkward postures.

Repetitive stress injuries: Workers can develop conditions due to repeated, stressful actions without proper mechanics or sufficient rest time.

Overexertion: Loaded dumpsters can weigh up to 10,000 pounds. No one can safely handle that weight 100% of the time.

Mechanics and posture: The body is forced into high-stress labor at awkward positions when rolling a dumpster — especially over gravel, sleet, inclines, or other uneven surfaces.

What is the Employer’s Responsibility for Waste Handling Safety?

The U.S. and Canada each have federal and state-level guidelines for employer responsibility. In all cases, the employer must take action to prevent injuries and educate workers on how to use equipment safely.

To be safe, provide workers with battery-powered dumpster movers and train them on proper technique for lifting, pushing, and pulling heavy loads. These steps also protect the business from lost days and injury claims.

Take injury risk out of the equation as much as possible. Motorized dumpster movers from DJ Products mitigate the risk of debilitating musculoskeletal disorders and avoid the dangers of manual dumpster moving. Call a sales engineer today at 1-800-686-2651, or feel free to Contact Us through our website.

Why You Need to Monitor Dumpster Enclosures

Keep An Eye On Dumpster Enclosures

Everyone has seen a small bag of garbage or a piece of trash sitting right next to a dumpster, and you have probably thought, “Why couldn’t they have just put it into the dumpster?”

People shy away from using dumpsters with dirty lids, broken handles, or a general mess around them. All the hand sanitizer in the world could not make them want to operate a filthy dumpster enclosure.

Monitoring dumpster enclosures keeps your property clean, your tenants safe, and your brand’s image looking good.

As Universal Site Services points out, there are many reasons to monitor your dumpster enclosures:

Residents do more to keep the property clean when dumpster areas are clean and neat.

Prospective tenants will be turned off by unsightly common areas.

Local laws may impose fines for improper waste disposal.

Employees should have a safe and clean working environment.

How to Keep Dumpster Areas Clean

Make sure to provide the appropriate types of dumpsters for waste and recyclables, in enough locations that people will actually use them. A staff member should clean handles and lids at least weekly.

You also need a solution for moving and emptying dumpsters efficiently. Our battery-powered dumpster tugs let you move containers to different locations around the property. For special events like pool parties, a worker can relocate dumpsters nearby. It also makes operations easier when it’s time to move dumpsters to a pickup location.

Empower any employee to safely and quickly move dumpsters to strategic locations and transport them to dropoff sites with motorized dumpster tugs from DJ Products. Contact us for help selecting the right equipment for your property!

Author: christopher Harper