Articles

Before you can store food products in the U.S., you have to meet a long list of rules enforced by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). This regulatory agency oversees the nation’s food supply chain, from production to transportation to storage, all the way up to the consumer’s table. You can consider the food-grade warehouse a storage facility that complies with all the standards and regulations required by the FDA, state, and municipal health authorities — but while local rules may differ from one place to another, FDA regulations cover every facility.

A product’s Safety Data Sheet (SDS) provides information on chemical hazards in a user-friendly format. Whether you’re evaluating a potential purchase or performing a hazard assessment, the SDS is a necessary resource.

According to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), more than 5.5 million workers are at risk of exposure to bloodborne pathogens at work. While most of these workers are in the health care industry, workers in support roles — such as logistics, transportation, and specialized waste handling — share the hazard. In order to protect these workers, OSHA standards require employers to take certain steps to manage the hazard, including during risky waste handling tasks.

Every operation should keep an appropriate supply of spill response equipment. That includes absorbent pads, booms, socks, and pillows, which contain (and in some cases, neutralize) spilled liquids, allowing for safe, compliant cleanup. To find absorbent materials for your operation, you’ll need to perform a hazard assessment. This is particularly important for laboratories and other facilities that work with hydrofluoric (HF) acids and other chemicals.

Employers have a responsibility to provide workers with suitable protection from chemicals and toxic substances. Fortunately, with proper planning, fulfilling that responsibility can be a fairly straightforward process.

Utility workers often spend time underground, in the field, or otherwise out of the office — that’s part of the job description, after all. Unfortunately, that means that they’re not always available to accept deliveries, and for many operations, this leads to significant productivity losses.

Lift tables play an important role in modern industry. They’re fairly simple devices from a technical standpoint — most use a double scissor lift mechanism to position loads at an appropriate working height — but they’ve helped to prevent countless injuries while improving throughput in thousands of businesses.

When workers are tasked with moving industrial boxes and cartons via their own manpower, injuries are practically unavoidable. Box lifters, carton handlers, and general duty material handling equipment create a better atmosphere for work by ensuring proper ergonomics. The right tools prevent musculoskeletal disorders while dramatically improving productivity.

Nearly every phase of the recycling process requires heavy lifting. That means that recycling — while a crucial consideration for manufacturers of all sizes — carries significant ergonomic risks for operations that run their own recycling programs, in-house and onsite. Smaller manufacturers also need to take special care to implement practices that keep workers safe from musculoskeletal injuries, even if they’re just moving recyclable materials from the line to a dumpster.

Cut-to-length wire and cable distributors fill orders of all sizes. For the largest of these — which compound the respooling challenge with the size and weight of reels themselves — industry-standard equipment leads to considerable efficiency losses. Overhead, shaftless cable spooling machines provide the solution.