The effort you put in to create a safe work environment pays off a million times over should an emergency situation ever arise. In an industrial environment, this effort should include using appropriate column protection for your spaces and making use of Eagle’s containment utility trays to prevent potential hazardous material spills. These steps and others which can improve your workplace safety are outlined in more detail below. Take every reasonable precaution, and you will have a better work environment.
Column Protectors
Industrial areas often have a lot of movement with vehicles and large pallet jacks around tight corners and occasionally narrow spaces. That makes it all but impossible to go through a typical day without at least a minor collision against a wall or column. When a forklift or large load hits against a column, it does cosmetic damage to the surrounding area and can even compromise the integrity of the building at times.
That’s where column protection comes in handy. These simple plastic protectors are made of sturdy material and don’t protrude far from the column itself. They essentially serve as bumpers for the column or wall that they protect, absorbing the damage and making sure that none of it goes to the building itself.
Spill Trays
Hazardous chemicals can cause major health and safety hazards, from slipping to the potential of a full-scale fire. Any hazardous material container should be placed atop a spill tray. This makes sure that splashes caused by draining the container remain isolated to one area rather than spreading across the floor.
Large plastic drums can be placed atop trays that resemble pallets, allowing them to be moved easily with a pallet jack or forklift. In addition to preventing incidental spills from spreading, these trays can also give you time to respond should a drum spring a leak. While the trays will eventually overflow, you are more likely to notice the problem before it becomes dangerous.
Drum Pallets
For larger containers, especially hazardous material drums, you should use a drum pallet. These function much like spill trays, but they operate on a larger scale. They resemble pallets in construction, with rectangular cells in the tray to help isolate spills when they occur.
Drum pallets have the added advantage of being compatible with pallet jacks and forklifts, which means that you can move hazardous material drums from one area to another without removing them from their protective spill areas. This makes it much easier to transport hazardous materials onto trucks and other vehicles for transport, with the sure knowledge that they will not wind up getting damaged when moving them.
Taking care of your property and storing hazardous materials properly is essential to running a safe workplace. By securing column protectors to maintain structural stability and placing hazardous material containers atop spill trays and drum pallets, you can make sure that you avoid spills, damaged property, and other hazards in the workplace. The right equipment will help you prepare a proper environment for your employees.
