With the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) pushing its 'Better Backs' initiative this summer, Granada Material Handling (Granada), one of the nation's leading material handling solutions specialists, is the sole UK distributor of Fezer VacuPowerlift handling units.
Manual handling has long been known to be a major cause of back injury, with one in five who suffer work related ill-health experiencing back pain. This is not only painfully inconvenient for the individual but with HSE figures showing that one in six working days - equating to a total of 4.9 million - are being lost to back problems, it's also a costly problem for UK businesses.
However, as Granada Material Handling sales engineer, Colin Nevett, comments, the units available as part of the Fezer VacuPowerlift range can make a huge difference. "It is important to understand the risks associated with manual handling and to take appropriate measures to assess and then reduce these risks. As with anything, it is always better to prevent rather than cure back ailments and with the VacuPowerlift taking the strain, the likelihood of suffering back pain in the first place is significantly reduced.
"The units come in seven different sizes depending on the nature of the load to be lifted. The capacity ranges from 30kgs up to 120kgs and the units can handle anything from awkward barrels to sizeable boards."
The system is based on a self-evacuating tube and can be supported from a jib crane or, for larger area coverage, a light weight crane system. The basic design of the system is the same for each product to be lifted except for the lifting tube suction foot. Colin explains: "The suction head is product specific so if the application involves the handling of paper sacks, the unit would be supplied with a bespoke sack foot to grip the bag.
"Similarly if the product is an mdf board, the lifting foot would incorporate a number of adjustable pads to allow for differing board sizes."
With years of experience in vacuum lifting, Granada can supply the VacuPowerlift system to suit almost any non-porous product and any size of area that needs to be covered. And as Colin concludes, safety is always of paramount importance: "The VacuPowerlift is a versatile piece of equipment that significantly reduces the risk of back injury and which can be adapted to work with any number of materials in a variety of environments.
"Our relationship with Fezer is a long standing one and we are delighted to be the sole UK supplier of a product that is easy for operators to understand, which can truly make working practices safer and which can ultimately save UK businesses fortunes every year."