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■ Pallets & Palletisers
Plastic fantastic
Chris Neill, managing director of Craemer uk Ltd., looks at the health and safety issues
relating to the plastic pallets market.
When it comes to Health & Safety and
‘Approved Codes of Practice’ covering
safety issues particularly in the workplace
and warehouses, there is an endless amount
of information and advice for the employer.
For example, regulations cover the
provision and use of work equipment
(PUWER 1998) and the HSE provides
guidance on Workplace Transport Safety
and all of these focus on selecting the right
product for the job, operator training and
ensuring adequate maintenance. However,
when it comes to pallet safety, details
appear to be restricted to loading, stacking
operations and recommendations to year, some of which involve fatalities. materials from which products are
undertake frequent pallet maintenance Therefore, when it comes to purchasing of manufactured, the strength and load bearing
inspections. the humble pallet - sometimes defined simply capability, dimensional stability and pallet
Selecting the right product from the outset as a ‘support for freight’, where in the health entry for versatility of handling by different
is always a serious consideration if purchasing and safety chain does this product receive trucks.
something like a lift truck, plus training inline serious consideration? We would recommend
with H&S guidelines. But despite all the that companies review and question the A Health Warning
detail to product acquisition and a duty of criteria for purchasing plastic pallets, It is a common belief that ‘closed top’ or
care, accidents continue to happen with over accepting there must be a price consideration. ‘closed deck’ plastic pallets are “hygienic for
8,000 serious injuries being reported every However, they should look closely at the food use”, but because of the structure this is
not always the case. In general, many of these
types of plastic pallets are hollow and welded
together in two or three places and when new,
certainly appear to measure up to the food
hygiene standards. However, in aggressive
handling situations such as loading and
racking applications, dangers and potential
bacteria problems can result from every day
handling contact.
For example, if the hollow deck is
accidentally punctured this becomes a
potential water trap. Furthermore, as most of
these pallets are welded just above the fork
entry gap, mis-aligned forks can make contact
with the pallet and easily split the weld. This
damage can result in water ingress into the
pallet, which becomes trapped, possibly
creating bacteria problems and increasing the
tare weight of the pallet.
Selecting the right equipment for the job is
50 ShD April 2007 www.PressOnShD.com
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