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Dumpster Safety Tips for Workplace Maintenance Staff

The WasteCaddy Dumpster Mover

Have you educated your maintenance staff on proper safety procedures to be followed in the trash room? The Environmental Health and Safety Office of Emory University in Atlanta has “toolbox training” guides with valuable tips on trash room and dumpster safety.

Dumpster Safety

Keep the area immediately around the dumpster clear of boxes, papers and other debris.
Never climb into a dumpster or use your feet and hands to move items inside.
Many injuries occur when hands and fingers get caught in the dumpster lid. When opening or closing the lid, always take care to make sure hands and fingers are kept away from “pinch points.”
Hazardous waste should never be placed in a solid waste dumpster. Dispose of all hazardous waste using appropriate methods.
If a fire starts, don’t attempt to extinguish it yourself. Call the fire department immediately.

Trash Room Safety

Employees should be fully trained before operating the compactor.
Never place any body parts inside the hopper. When necessary, use a long stick to move items.
Close the compactor door securely before operating, and never open the door while the compactor is running.
Only trained personnel such as a manufacturer service person should conduct maintenance and repairs on the compactor. Complete lock-out-tag-out (LOTO) steps before performing maintenance.

Improve Trash Room Safety with a Dumpster Pusher from DJ Products

Maneuvering heavy dumpsters around tight corners and up and down inclines creates a serious injury risk. Visit our website for information about our WasteCaddyLite, a battery-powered dumpster pusher that easily moves dumpsters across all types of surfaces and greatly reduces workplace injuries.

Save Manpower Hours, Stop Injuries with the WasteCaddy

Pushing Dumpster up an Incline can cause injury and be a 2 man operation.

Trash rooms may be fairly low-tech, but they’re the site of most injuries that happen to maintenance employees. Improve workplace safety and conserve manpower with an electric WasteCaddy dumpster pusher from DJ Products.

Here are the top reasons why you need a WasteCaddy for your workplace.

1. Increased Efficiency

It takes a minimum of two people to move a dumpster manually, so using a dumpster pusher automatically boosts efficiency by 50 percent. As one of our clients puts it, “It’s like having another employee on staff.”

2. Ease of Operation

• The WasteCaddy quickly attaches to a dumpster’s existing bracket, or you can fasten one of ours. Can’t attach items to your dumpster? We’ll work with you to create a method that suits your needs.

• Does the dumpster need to be moved through narrow passages and around sharp corners? Our WasteCaddy pivots a full 90 degrees to negotiate the most awkward areas.

3. Cost-Effective

• Our clients estimate that they save 16 man-hours per month.

• With the average workers compensation claim averaging more than $40,000, the WasteCaddy provides an 8-to-1 return on investment.

4. Lower Risk of Injury

Workplace injuries are frequently caused by overexertion from lifting heavy weights or stress from repetitive movements. With the WasteCaddy, an employee of any size, age or gender can move dumpsters weighing up to 5,000 pounds, because the ergonomic design reduces stress on muscles and joints.

We have a full line of dumpster pushers to solve any of your workplace needs. Visit our website and use the handy online chat feature to learn more from our friendly and knowledgeable sales engineers.

Minimize Lifting Injuries with Dumpster Movers

Prevent Accidents From Happening!

How much time and money did workplace injuries cost you over the past year? According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, more than one-third of injuries involving lost time were the result of lifting.

Shoulder and back injuries are most often caused by overexertion and repetitive motion strain. Using a dumpster mover from DJ Products reduces injuries by eliminating these risk factors.

Do You Have Lifting “Best Practices” in Place?

There are currently no federal regulations for lifting standards, so it’s up to you to establish safety criteria for your workplace. The National Institute for Occupational Safety has created a “lifting equation” based on weight of the load, distance traveled by the lift, and physical motions of the employee.

Difficult Nature of Lifting Injuries

Most back injuries, such as pulled muscles or fractured vertebrae, occur to the lower spine. Recovery can take months, and it may involve surgery and physical therapy. Even with treatment, back injuries can result in chronic pain.

While you have a legal duty to maintain a safe workplace, negligence is not a requirement for filing a workers compensation claim. This fact increases the need to be proactive regarding injury prevention.

Maintain Efficiency and Reduce Injury Claims

Our popular WasteCaddy dumpster mover lets a single employee of any size, age and gender move loads of up to 5,000 pounds. The pivoting fifth wheel arm makes it easy to maneuver bulky dumpsters around corners and through narrow passages.

We have a full line of battery-powered dumpster movers to fit your needs. Visit our website and let our sales engineers help you find the best solution for you workplace.

Keeping Your Trash Room Clean Prevents Fires

Make Moving Waste Easier and Safer.

Do you think that there’s not much point wasting time in keeping your trash room clean? A messy trash room is more than just an eyesore. It’s a safety hazard that can even result in fires.

When A Trash Room Goes Up in Flames

The staff at a downtown Phoenix high-rise found out the hard way how dangerous dirty trash rooms can be when their compactor recently caught fire. Firefighters who responded to the scene found light smoke and the sprinklers had gone off. Fortunately, there were no injuries.

Grease, sludge and dirt can build up in a dumpster. Tests show that this residue is flammable at temperatures as low as 180 degrees. If someone carelessly flicks a cigarette butt inside, or smoldering ashes are mistakenly dumped, a fire can start almost instantaneously.

Complicating matters, the grimy build-up can keep the dumpster doors from closing securely, in effect creating a wind tunnel that intensifies the fire. Any paper and cardboard in the dumpster or trash room are also likely to accelerate the flames.

Legal Aspects of Poor Trash Room Maintenance

If the doors on your trash chute don’t close properly, it constitutes a violation of fire safety codes. Noncompliance can be subject to citations, fines and other penalties, but these are insignificant in the face of possible property damage, injuries and fatalities.

Improve Trash Room Safety with a Dumpster Puller from DJ Products

Have trash room injuries impacted your available manpower? Our electric WasteCaddyLite dumpster puller makes it safe for a single employee to maneuver dumpsters up and down inclines and through narrow passages. Visit our website for more information.

Trash Rooms Are Dangerous Places!

Prevent Accidents From Happening!

Trash disposal seems like a simple job, so your employees may tend to let their guard down when working in the trash room. The truth is that there can be serious consequences if proper safety procedures aren’t observed.

Lack of Safety Leads to Tragedy

Sadly, a 56-year-old man in Palatine, IL became a fatality after entering the trash room at his apartment building. When Roger Mirro discovered that his cell phone was missing, he suspected he may have accidentally dropped it down the garbage chute. Mirro then headed to the trash room in the lower-level parking garage to search for his phone

Mirro’s wife returned home after an outing with friends and became concerned about her husband’s absence. The police were called, and they were directed to the trash room by a neighbor who said that Mirro had asked him for a key.

After searching the underground garage, the police found that the lock on the trash room door had been removed. Upon entering the room, they discovered a ladder propped up against the trash compactor and Mirro’s body, showing “obvious signs of trauma caused by the compactor,” was inside.

Our WasteCaddy Reduces Workplace Injuries and Down Time

Moving heavy dumpsters can result in a variety of injuries, which in turn increases your insurance premiums. The WasteCaddy from DJ Products is powerful enough to let a single person move dumpsters weighing up to 5,000 pounds, and it’s ergonomically designed to prevent repetitive motion injuries.

Visit our website and chat with our sales engineers about the WasteCaddy and our full line of battery-powered tugs and movers.

Is There Such a Thing as Ergonomics for Waste Disposal?

Back Injuries Can Occur from Pushing or Pulling Heavy Dumpsters.

You bet there is! Ergonomics is all around us, from keyboards that protect our wrists repetitive task injury, to workplace trainers showing staff how to lift heavy items with proper technique. Ergonomics in the workplace is especially important because workers tend to repeat the same actions countless times, day after day.

Waste disposal ergonomics can be tricky, and we’re not talking about throwing crumpled paper like a basketball. Workers who handle heavy dumpsters face injury risks from lifting and throwing heavy objects and when pushing or pulling the dumpster to collection points. They must deal with literally tons of weight, on wheels, while traversing slopes, inclines, and gravel. Ask your maintenance and janitorial staff if they are comfortable with moving dumpsters, and you might be surprised to hear about their sore lower backs, shoulder strains, and hamstring pain.

How to Prevent Waste Disposal Injuries

If you’re not using a dumpster mover to move waste containers, chances are good that one of your employees will experience a painful injury that costs the company a fortune in productivity and workers comp. Brian Piñon of ICW Risk Management recently told MySafetyNews about how he analyzes and prevents workplace ergonomics problems:

• Be proactive by asking employees about injury risks and observe their process of looking for physically dangerous practices.

• Talk to your management team and employees about reporting pain or discomfort before injuries occur.

• Train some trusted employees to watch for and correct ergonomic problems.

• Purchase automated equipment like dumpster caddies to ease frequent, demanding tasks.

Examine the ergonomics safety process for waste disposal at your business, and consider a dumpster mover and other ergonomic equipment from DJ Products to protect your staff.

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