Every year in the UK, 300,000 people deal with back pain issues that compel them to take time away from the workplace. In 2013 alone, 30.6 million days were lost owing to musculoskeletal problems.
According to HSE, musculoskeletal disorders represent about a third of all injuries among waste removal workers. Most of these injuries are linked to collection tasks and can be either sudden or occur over time. This is owing to the improper handling practices that are still prevalent in many industries, including construction waste management.
Companies either do not have the right equipment to help lift heavy/awkwardly shaped items or do not complete the right manual handling assessments beforehand.
Taking your employees’ health seriously is vital, not only as a caring employer but also because it could attract heavy fines and legal actions for your company and affect your public reputation and bottom line. Therefore, investing in the right lifting equipment is good for your business and your employees’ health.
How JRL Group revamped lifting practices at its construction sites
Knowing where to start with the right lifting equipment can be a challenge, as JRL Group, a large UK construction company discovered.
JRL Group comprises 14 divisions offering integrated and bespoke construction solutions for the most complex requirements, and they have stringent work policies in place to ensure worker safety is prioritised at each project site across the UK.
Their work environment, by its very nature, means that each site is different, and there is the need to combine worker safety with proper construction waste management for environmental safety at and around the site.
The challenge
The group faced a unique challenge regarding construction waste disposal at a recent multi-storeyed building project in a city centre location. With space at a minimum, they constructed the building by ingeniously completing each storey before moving on to the next.
At the same time, there was the need to convey waste from each floor to a skip in a simple way that would minimise footfall.
The workers used the construction elevators to bring the bins of waste down – and while this would keep the floors clear for construction, it entailed an accumulation of waste on the ground floor.
There was also the fact that there was not enough space for forklifts to convey the waste quickly to the 40-litre roll-on/roll-off (RORO) skip.
The solution
To solve these construction waste management challenges, we proposed using the Simpro MegaDumper®, which has a bin weight capacity of 600 kg and can lift up to 1100-litre bins to a higher height than needed for the RORO skip.
The MegaDumper® was placed next to the skip so that workers could simply load full bins onto it and shut the safety gate, rather than loading the waste into wheelie bins and manually emptying them into the skip.
It was also easy to move the dumper around the skip to ensure equal waste load distribution and to other skip locations so that workers did not have to wait for one skip to be removed and replaced before starting to fill the next one.
And finally, the MegaDumper® is compatible with 240-litre and 660-litre bins, too, saving workers the trouble of lifting those smaller bins themselves.
The result
Since the MegaDumper® was introduced, the workflow at JRL Group constructions sites has been dramatically simplified, and the workers’ physical effort has been minimised, reducing the risk of lifting hazards or waste-related incidents and enabling proper building waste disposal.
They are able to empty over 100 bins of waste per day, enabling waste to be managed efficiently even at busy sites. They have also reduced their overall costs and carbon footprint, enabling a more sustainable approach to construction at their sites across the country.
Why invest in Simpro’s MegaDumper®
The MegaDumper® has received a highly positive response from JRL Group and other customers for its waste-handling capacity, compact design, and ease of use.
It is designed to be easy for anyone to set up and can be moved around as necessary to fill skips across the site, thus being ideal for construction waste management.
It is also designed to fit into small spaces, like narrow alleys or congested areas, which makes it ideal for use in restricted areas or in conveying waste away from the site without disrupting traffic or taking unnecessary detours.
The MegaDumper® is set up with the latest technology to make it the foremost solution for effective construction waste management in the UK and Europe. Here is how:
- Its hydraulic system enables bins to be unloaded smoothly into the RORO skip with minimal reliance on any kind of handling technology. As a result, waste can be quickly conveyed from the site, and fresh bins can be unloaded without delay.
- It is designed to handle up to 600 kg of waste at a go, making it ideal for construction sites where there tends to be a lot of waste generated.
- As an added detail, the heavy-duty castor wheels allow it to be moved even over rough ground.
- The MegaDumper® is compatible with multiple types of waste – from recyclables to general waste to construction debris – thus removing the need for additional equipment and keeping costs low.
- In addition, the ergonomic design helps optimise safety and reduce fatigue for the operator even during long working hours, while the intuitive controls help teams get up and running without the need for too much training.
- Finally, the MegaDumper®’s expansive waste capacity allows construction companies to make do with a smaller sanitation team, which reduces site overheads.
Over to you
In conclusion, one can never be too cautious regarding worker safety, and lifting equipment offers an ideal option for construction waste disposal, removing large volumes of waste material without overstraining the body or coming into unnecessary contact with hazardous materials.
Simpro’s MegaDumper® is an asset to construction companies of any kind as it enables convenient construction and demolition waste removal.
To learn how it can benefit your business, contact us today. We are the exclusive UK and Europe distributor of Simpro, giving you easy access to their easy-to-use, productivity-focused, and cost-efficient bin lifters.
