HSE praises Winlet glazing robots in safety campaign
The Health and Safety Executive, the UK’s health and safety regulator, has praised a Hird customer’s use of a Winlet glazing robot as an example of “good planning and use of handling aids”.
An HSE inspector witnessed the Winlet 575 glazing robot in action during a construction site inspection in Surrey, and was so impressed took a picture of it.
The HSE has now used the picture in a LinkedIn post to promote its latest campaign, Work Right – Your Health, Your Future, in support of safe materials handling.
Safer and more productive
Hird Director John Wilding said: “We’re delighted that the HSE has chosen to use our Winlet 575 glazing robot as an example of health and safety excellence in support of its manual handling campaign.
“Our customers recognise that Winlet glazing robots combine both safety and productivity gains that deliver advantages for contractors, their operatives and their customers.
“Safety can go hand-in-hand with faster, more cost-effective and more sustainable working practices. That’s what all Winlet glass lifting and material moving equipment, available from Hird, delivers.”
The HSE praised the way the contractor incorporated a Winlet glazing robot and a spider crane – also available for hire from Hird – in a phased lifting plan to move and install glass at the site.
First, a crane was used to lift glass stillages to upper floors. Then a spider crane, fitted with a glass vacuum lifter, and the Winlet 575 glazing robot were used to install the glazing panels. The work system ensured manual handling was kept to an absolute minimum.
Material handling injuries
In its LinkedIn post, the HSE said: “This example shows how it is possible to avoid the need for workers to manually lift and move heavy materials. The risk of musculoskeletal disorders was eliminated on this occasion.”
Site visits during October and November are supporting the Work Right – Your Health, Your Future campaign which is specifically raising awareness about material moving and handling risks.
The HSE identified Hird’s Winlet glazing robot as an exemplar of practical control measures that protect workers from injuries, aches and pains in joints, muscles and bones referred to as musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs).
The HSE says 40,000 construction workers reported such disorders in 2021.
Eliminating manual handling
Battery electric powered Winlet glazing robots greatly reduce the risk of MSDs by eliminating almost all manual handling during glass installation.
Powerful suction cups hold the glass, with failsafe safety systems to ensure the glass will continue to be held if there is an equipment fault.
The Winlet 575 has a maximum lifting capacity of 575kg. It can lift loads up to a maximum height of 3600mm and allows glass panels to be installed directly overhead.
It’s maximum arm extension is 1800mm, at which point it can hold panels weighing 275mm. The glazing robot also has a side carrying capacity of 275kg.
Glazing robot range
Loads can be rotated and tilted through 180 degrees. A clever gyroscopic system also ensures panels are held in the same plane while being moved in any direction to support millimetre-perfect placement in apertures.
Hird, which is the UK and Ireland distributor for all Winlet products, can supply the glazing robots for hire and for sale.
They can be provided with lifting capacities from 350kg to 1000kg. There is a version that can be attached to telehandler forks, the Winlet 350TH, and a Winlet curved adaptation kit for lifting curved panels weighing up to 560kg.
Electric material trolleys
Hird also offers Winlet electric material trolleys for hire.
The Winlet ErgoMover Manipulator can carry materials weighing up to 1500kg. It can lower them onto trestles or lift them vertically for offloading, which is ideal for fitting plasterboard.
The ErgoMover Lift & Go also has a 1,500kg capacity. It can be supplied with an optional 360 degree rotatable platform or, as the ErgoMover Lift & Go Flex, with pull-out extension bars with lengths up to 2470mm.
The latest Winlet electric materials trolley is the ErgoMover Wireless. This is has a wireless remote control unit, rather than a draw bar and control handle, allowing longer loads to be carried or for the trolley to be moved into highly constrained spaces.
Find out more
Ask Hird today about hire and sale options for Winlet glazing robots and electric material trolleys – and find out why the HSE praises the equipment as exemplars of good material handing methodology.
Hird can also provide LEEA accredited glazing robot operator training and certified Winlet ErgoMover training, as well as manual handling awareness training if it is needed.
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