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Dumpster Safety – Tips Your Staff Should Know

Safety Is Key.

Do you think the trash room is a relatively low-risk area? Over a five-year period, one school district in Washington state reported a loss of more than 2,000 work days to dumpster- and recycling-related injuries at a cost of $300,000.

Fortunately, there are some common-sense steps you can take to reduce the risk of costly and painful injuries incurred in the trash room.

Dumpster and Compactor Safety Tips

No one should ever enter a dumpster or compactor. Materials should be broken down before going in a dumpster, and a long stick should be used to clear congestion in a compactor.
Areas immediately surrounding dumpsters and compactors should be clutter-free.
The compactor door should be securely closed before operating and should remain closed until the machine is turned off.
Hazardous waste should never go into a dumpster or compactor. Contact your local environmental agency for instructions on appropriate disposal methods.
Compactors should be serviced only by authorized personnel after completing lockout-tagout procedures.
Use caution opening and closing dumpster lids to avoid pinching fingers and hands.
Employees should inform their supervisor immediately if they see evidence of animals or other pests around the dumpster. Under no circumstances should they attempt to handle the problem themselves.
In case of a dumpster fire, call 911.

Promote Trash Room Safety with the WasteCaddy Dumpster Mover

Pushing and pulling heavy dumpsters from the trash room to the pick-up spot can result in serious injuries that are hard to heal. Contact us to learn why our WasteCaddy dumpster mover from DJ Products is an efficient and cost-effective way to improve workplace safety.

Grocery Stores May Lower Injury Claims with Proper Dumpster Protocols

Reduce Stress and Injuries For Your Employees

Often, the grocery and retail industries focus on preventing injuries related to repetitive tasks and lifting boxes in the warehouse. After taking steps to improve worker safety and ergonomics, grocery stores see fewer claims for worker’s compensation and fewer injuries in general. For another area where you can reduce injury claims, you should also consider new protocols for how workers use dumpsters and waste containers.

Moving dumpsters manually (i.e., pushing a wheeled dumpster without the aid of a motorized dumpster puller) presents numerous risk factors for employee injuries:

• Heavy force

• Pushing to get started from a standstill

• Shoulder and back stress

• Awkward postures

• Unnatural motions

Factors such as a worker’s height relative to the dumpster, or whether a waste container must be pushed across gravel or inclines, can all add up to create a very dangerous situation for grocery store employees who move or operate dumpsters.

Our dumpster puller equipment such as the WasteCaddyLite remove the physical stress of pushing and maneuvering dumpsters. With the push of a button, the worker can move and control the container easily without the risk factors for musculoskeletal injury such as overexertion from breaking the inertia of a heavy dumpster.

Improved dumpster protocols should also include employee training, starting with OSHA guidelines for grocery stores. Dumpster areas should be kept clean to reduce slips and falls. All workers should know the proper motions for lifting heavy items.

Never neglect waste collection and dumpster moving protocols when trying to improve worker safety at your grocery store. Use a dumpster puller from DJ Products to keep everybody healthy while also keeping the workplace safe and productive!

Multi-Family Housing Trends for Property Managers

For today’s renters, the appeal of apartments and condos heavily centers around amenities. As a property manager, you are probably either thinking about what features you can feasibly and affordably add, or you are attempting to compete with a flashy new property in town.

Multi-family housing trends continue to focus on urban lifestyles and luxury amenities. An Avalon property in New Jersey, for example, has added a “bike spa” for storage and repairs.

Attracting today’s Millennial renters and charging higher rents can be accomplished by offering luxury services as well as improving the community feeling through better common areas.

Adapting for 2017 Housing Trends

Property managers have several options for improving the tenant experience, even without a major remodeling. Instead of building new features, many apartments and condos are partnering with nearby businesses like gyms, salons, and even chef schools to offer tenants high-end services and recreation.

Lowering operating costs are also part of the equation. If you can cut energy bills or reduce maintenance staff with automation, you might be able to afford a flashy new amenity.

To that end, property managers are adding tools like “smart” lockers that accept packages and send text alerts to the tenant. A property manager might add a dumpster mover or powered equipment cart to reduce the physical demands of garbage disposal and other daily tasks.

A dumpster mover can help your employees accomplish more, which can lead to benefits like faster maintenance ticket response times and cleaner common areas that boost tenant satisfaction. If your multi-family building needs solutions for more efficient management, check out our WasteCaddy and other dumpster mover solutions.

North Dakota Offers Safety Grants – Could You Buy a Dumpster Mover?

Does Your Safety Grant Cover a Dumpster Caddy?

As healthcare costs continue to spiral, companies are focusing on preventive measures to help reduce injuries and illnesses. In many cases, government agencies are offering financial incentives as encouragement for employers to implement workplace safety measures.

Promoting Ergonomic Safety in the Workplace

North Dakota administers an ergonomic initiative through the state’s Workplace and Safety (WSI) agency. The goal is to reduce the number of cumulative trauma injuries, which make up 35 percent of claims that were reported in North Dakota over the last five years.

One part of the initiative provides for a safety grant to be issued to qualified employers who participate in the program.

• The process begins when an employer submits an application.

• Once the application is approved, the employer selects a provider from the WSI network to perform an on-site assessment to identify problems, make recommendations and conduct training.

• If any equipment is recommended during the assessment, the employer completes the second part of the application requesting a safety grant.

• Upon approval of the application and completion of signed agreements between both parties, the employer purchases the equipment and submits the paid invoice for reimbursement.

Could You Use Your Safety Grant to Purchase a Dumpster Mover?

Many workplace injuries happen when moving heavy dumpsters by hand. One of our clients explains that a dumpster mover from DJ Products allows this task to be completed by a single person, so it’s like “having another employee on staff.”

Don’t let workplace injuries compromise employee productivity. Visit our website and let our friendly sales engineers help you find the right solution from our comprehensive selection of battery-powered movers and tugs.

Safety Tips for Property Managers

Dumpster Safety

Property managers often deal with a wide variety of people in both public and private settings. In many cases, such as during property showings, robberies (and worse) have taken place due to the relative absence of other people. These tips can help keep you and your co-workers safe while handling the day-to-day chores of running a rental office.

Be Careful When Doing Physical Labor

There are times when property managers who don’t normally do maintenance work may need to be out and about on their properties. During those times, it’s important to take every precaution to not injure yourself. Using the right tools such as a dumpster caddy can make the job of moving heavy objects easier, leading to fewer accidents.

Always Copy Identification

When showing units, make a copy of everyone’s ID before taking them into a space for lease and only do so if someone else is around. If staffing is tight, send a quick text/email to your office with an ID scan so at least someone else knows who is viewing the property.

Schedule Unit Tours in Advance

By having potential tenants schedule their showing in advance, you can limit tours only to periods of time when there will be more than one person in the office or on the property. If that does not work for the tenant, you can at least have another person accompany you for the showing.

If you’re interested in learning more about keeping yourself safe as a property manager, or making your workload easier with tools like a dumpster caddy, give our staff at DJ Products a call at 1800-686-2651.

Properties with an Auger Style Compactor Need a Dumpster Caddy

The Need For A Dumpster Caddy

Trash disposal is a cumbersome process for any industry, ranging from manufacturing to hospitality. Today, auger-style compactors paired with dumpster movers result in significant savings of space, money and labor.

A Revolutionary Change in Trash Disposal

Traditional compactors use a hydraulic-powered ram to push trash into a container. There is little actual compacting action until the container is nearly full, leaving much to be desired in terms of effective use of space.

In contrast, augur-style compactors are equipped with a spiral bit that operates electronically. The boring motion breaks down trash before it enters the container for denser, more efficient payloads.

Benefits of Augur-Style Compactors

Contents of payloads are increased by up to 50 percent.

Fewer trash hauls are required, reducing labor and expenses.

Denser payloads mean lighter impact on the environment.

Electrical power is more eco-friendly than hydraulics.

Since the auger is continually moving forward, there is no litter around the container entrance like there is from the drag-back action of a hydraulic ram.

The forward motion of the auger also eliminates costly and frustrating chute jamming.

Unlike hydraulic ram compactors, there is no danger of auger-style compactors freezing up in cold weather.

Increase Efficiency with Dumpster Movers

Denser payloads equal a minor drawback of heavier weight, but the WasteCaddy dumpster mover from DJ Products provides a convenient solution. Our electric dumpster movers let a single employee transport containers up to 10,000 pounds over inclines as well as flat surfaces. Call 800-686.2651 or use our online chat feature for friendly assistance from our knowledgeable sales engineers.

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.

Eliminating the Overexertion of Trash Removal

Full dumpsters and trash containers need to be stationed at the right place and at the right time in order to be picked up. This is critical for apartments, condos and retail establishments that accumulate trash quickly because missing a pick up could potentially create a build up of waste and unsanitary conditions. For this reason, employees are often asked to do whatever it takes to get the waste container to its destination, which could potentially compromise safety and put employees and property at risk.

The process of getting the heavy waste container, which may weigh in at a few thousand pounds or more, to its destination could involve employees having to push or pull the dumpster over several hundred feet over rough or hilly terrain. This can be a very dangerous undertaking for one, two or even three employees regardless of the weather, but the high temperatures of the Summer or the ice and snow of the Winter can greatly increase the chance of overexertion and injury.

The battery powered WasteCaddy from DJ Products lets a single employee safely maneuver a fully loaded trash container over any distance and any type of terrain with no worries at all. The very reliable and ergonomically designed waste container mover makes this job that usually requires multiple employees an easy task for just one employee.

Using properly designed equipment to maneuver heavy dumpsters and recycling bins drastically reduces the chances of injuries, while at the same time increasing productivity by allowing the job to be completed by one employee instead of two or three. The job gets done faster, easier and with less of a chance of injury or property damage and this is an optimal situation for both management and the employees.

A Waste Mover Divides Holiday Work

When thinking about material handling solutions to help employers make work easier for their employees during the holiday season, you might consider a shopping cart retriever if you are in retail. But what can we offer for those who are not in retail and don’t use shopping carts?

The holidays are a time of giving and the side effect of all that abundance is more refuse. Whether you have a store, restaurant, hotel, or manage an apartment complex, your employees can make great use of a dumpster mover. Whether the waste containers are full of piles of wrapping paper and boxes, discarded Christmas trees, or lots of leftovers from holiday dinners, your employees need to transport them quickly, safely, and efficiently since it is likely that they will need to make more than one trip.

If you weren’t already aware, a heavy waste container can often weigh up to 5,000 lbs. And in some cases, your employees will need to transport these containers on an incline. If you live in an area where the ground becomes slick because of ice or snow, you will want them to be able to move these containers with control. DJ Products’ battery powered waste mover can push or pull heavy dumpsters or trash bins over asphalt and through snow and ice.

Plus, what used to be a job for three to four workers can now be completed by just one person. That’s right—if moving a large, heavy waste container previously required a few employees, you may be able to have just one person finish this task.

Dumpster Cleanliness Tips for Apartment Managers

How to Keep That Dumpster Clean?

There’s a lot riding on the appearance and reputation of your property. Apartment managers have to be careful about keeping dumpster areas clean in order to keep tenants happy and maintain curb appeal. At the same time, messy dumpsters create a health and injury risk for everyone.

Overfilled dumpsters also present an environmental risk. If your apartments are advertised as a green business, you especially don’t want stray garbage becoming a water pollutant. The Keep It Clean Partnership lists trash from overfilled dumpsters as one of the most common causes of polluted waters. If the trash gets into a storm drainage system, filth and dangerous chemicals wind up in local creeks and rivers.

So, what can apartment managers do to keep dumpsters clean?

Locate dumpsters where employees and tenants can easily use them

Keep the outside of the dumpsters clean so people will get their trash in the dumpster, not on the ground nearby

Use dumpster tugs for a solution to safely transport dumpsters from collection areas to pickup areas

Frequently clean up spills and refuse that are left behind

Dumpster Tugs: Put Garbage Where It Belongs

Material handling equipment helps employees take care of difficult, strenuous tasks like pushing or pulling heavy equipment like dumpsters. What if one employee could safely move the dumpster bins from the collection area out to the curb, without the physical risk of doing it manually?

Dumpster tugs protect workers from injuries and make garbage collection a more tidy and efficient process. Contact DJ Products for more information about a variety of dumpster tugs, ranging from trash container movers to heavy-duty towing equipment.

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