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■ Pallets & Palletisers
highlighted in most health and safety manuals conditions and manufacturer’s short period of time, become seriously
and this principle should be applied in pallet recommendations. Like all industries there are defected.
selection. The right type of plastic pallets can those suppliers who will profess to know all After serious internal investigations and on
be a tremendous asset and prove to be reliable the answers, but having seen the damage and reflection, it had become apparent to the
load carriers, whilst overcoming many disorder created by a loaded pallet falling customer that the particular pallet purchased
problems associated with pallets from racking, we would always advocate you had been wrong for the application. Apart
manufactured from alternative materials, such refer back to a manufacturer to check out from being poorly constructed, the plastic
as bacteria problems, and the ingress of references. material used was not of a quality suitable for
splinters, nails or dust into products The main problem is the financial pressure operations in cold store or freezer conditions.
transported. that buyers face from their accountants. In Fortunately, no one had been seriously injured
Waterproof and resistant to bacterial other words, “it’s too expensive, find a and the accident may have initiated a safety
contamination’s under a wide range of cheaper one!” check-up and prevented any further incidents
operating conditions, plastic pallets are ideal The food manufacturer approached a with more dire consequences.
for warehouse and outdoor The question of whether the
applications. They can be used in company had made the right
cold and warm conditions from - choice in view of the safety
40
O
C. to +70
O
C without resulting incidents, been prudent or saved
pallet damage. We would always money would be a very one sided
advocate that when buying any debate. Looking purely at the
type of pallet you should consider financial facts as opposed to any
the options available and consult facts relating to safety, the plastic
an expert for guidance on pallets were purchased on price
identifying the right type of pallet only, but have to be written off
to use. after 12 months as lethally
Experience has shown without dangerous. Therefore, the right
doubt that a one-piece pure pallet may have cost more
injection moulded plastic pallet, initially, but is without doubt a
with an open deck, will give a lower long-term cost as well as a
long, reliable service life and can lower risk option.
be used and washed thousands of The Craemer CR3-5 plastic
times. pallets were trialled at the initial
tendering stage and have
Safety Check-Out continued to be used in the system
When it comes to choosing the right plastic over this ongoing 12-month period. Due to the
pallets, research has shown that price is one of number of companies and although the CR3 incident, they too have been subjected to the
the key deciding factors along with Craemer plastic pallet was preferred for this same rigorous safety checks and no damage or
compatibility to any existing units and application, due to financial pressures failure has been reported on any of the
systems. Unfortunately if decisions are based imposed, a decision was made to buy 1,000 Craemer pallets. They are in continuous use
purely on initial financial commitments to a “cheaper” plastic pallets. The fact that these and the food company has now made the
project, then serious safety factors can be pallets were to be used to store products in decision to replace all of the 1,000 “cheaper”
overlooked and the consequences long term cold store conditions of -20
O
C in warehouse ones with Craemer CR3-5 plastic pallets.
can be costly and regrettably result in serious, racking and would be exposed to very low When it comes to purchasing plastic pallets
if not fatal injuries. temperatures should have been serious it is vitally important that these products are
To illustrate, Craemer can refer to a recent consideration, but the final decision was based considered as part of the ‘Health & Safety
incident in which a well-known food on initial outlay and not long-term cost Chain’ and, if the right product is purchased
manufacturer decided to introduce the use of implications or expert advice. from the outset they will provide trouble free,
plastic pallets in their storage and warehouse The purchase went ahead and within 12 hygienic, safe service and ‘support for freight’
area. The purpose for this change over to months every single pallet had been reported for years to come.
plastic pallets was to improve safety by for serious structural cracks, or being
eliminating the possibility of splinters and damaged or broken.
www.craemer.com
reducing dust levels associated with wood A real disaster highlighted the problem,
products. when a weakened pallet broke and plummeted
The main project criteria was to provide a from an upper tier of high bay racking
Safety First
1200 x 1000mm full perimeter base plastic carrying a one tonne load. Fortunately, and by
• Develop a pallet inspection programme.
• Before you use a pallet, inspect it for
pallet which had a rackable capacity up to one sheer chance, the loaded pallet missed the
cracks, weaknesses and other damage. If you
tonne. operator on the ground by a few inches. On
find damage, mark it unsafe for use until it is
A long service life is expected of plastic examination, the pallets in service had
either fixed or thrown away. This can prevent a
pallets, which is often an assumption by the become brittle, and cracks had appeared in the
lot of potential problems.
purchaser and not properly investigated material. Under full load and with flexing of • An effective pallet/warehouse safety plan
thoroughly by taking into account operational the pallets in rack storage, they had, in a very can prevent injuries and save lives.
52 ShD April 2007 www.PressOnShD.com
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