SAFETY FIRST – PALLET JACKS

When it comes to material handling, the pallet jack is considered the most user-friendly. One just places the product on the forks, moves the product to its destination, and unloads. Simple.

However, as with any heavy machinery, there is a safety risk. Oftentimes, injuries will occur due to the jack being overloaded, or the operator not being mindful of the jack while it's in motion. The best way to reduce the possibility of injury is to keep the operator up to date on their operator training.

A companies choice in pallet jack will also play a part in safety. Like any product, there are differences between a low and high quality product. If your company has a used unit, the past use and general wear that it has accumulated will come into play as well.

A high-quality/well maintained pallet jack:

Uses stability casters to help prevent shaking or tipping
Uses heavier forks for balence
Is easy to turn
Has a long battery life, generally two shifts
Is equipped with a long handle

A low-quality/well worn pallet jack is:

East to tip/pull over
Difficult to turn
Overly responsive to accidental button bumps
Short battery life, generally one shift at best
Equipped with a shorter handle

While, a pallet jack of either quality will get the job done, a lower quality product will require more work out of the operator and more maintenance to perform a high quality job. It is important to remember that whenever one is operating machinery, one must remain focused on the task at hand. A distracted driver is not only putting themselves into harms way, they also putting coworkers and bystanders at risk.

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