HSE praises Hird’s glazing robots and spider cranes – again!
Winlet glazing robots and tracked spider cranes have been praised by the UK’s health and safety regulator as it implements a campaign to urge construction workers to take care with materials handing.
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) published a picture of a Winlet glazing robot supplied by Hird as an example of exemplar practice in materials handing.
The government agency also praised the use of tracked spider cranes on the same site, saying the construction contractor demonstrated good practice in using a safe system of work.
Example of good planning
Hird cannot confirm that the mini cranes involved were Maeda spider cranes supplied from its crane hire fleet – but there was every chance that they were.
It is the second time the HSE has praised Winlet glazing robots. In 2022, it made the same points as it promoted its Moving and Handling Really Matters campaign.
In a LinkedIn post, the HSE commented: “An inspector found this example of good planning and use of handling aids, where the contractors had planned the work in phases.
“Using a combination of a crane to lift large glazing panels on stillages to upper floors of the building, followed by use of a tracked spider crane to install glazing at higher reaches and a small, wheeled pick and carry type crane as shown in the photo, both of which were fitted with a vacuum lifting device.”
The HSE message went on: “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.”
Safe and cost-effective
The ‘small wheeled pick and carry crane’ was a Winlet 575 glazing robot which allows an operative to pick up a glazed panel, transport it, if necessary, and place it in an aperture with no manual handing support. The glazing robot was being used on a building site in Surrey. It has a maximum safe working load (SWL) of 575kg. Thanks to its sophisticated vacuum lifting manipulator it can rotate and tilt a glass panel until it is in precisely the right plane for installation.
Gyroscopic controls allow the load to be maintained in precisely the same plane as it is moved from side to side or up and down, which allows the panel to be placed with millimetre accuracy, even directly overhead.
Hird Director John Wilding said: “We’re delighted the HSE continues to use Winlet glazing robots as an example of exceptional practice. They demonstrate safety can go hand-in-hand with faster, more cost-effective and more sustainable working practices.”
Materials moving aids
The HSE has spent the summer and autumn of 2023 targeting manual handling as a key health and safety risk on building sites across the UK.
It is urging contractors to use the full range of lifting and materials transportation aids to keep their workers safe and improve productivity, offering advice in a downloadable manual handling guide for busy builders.
HSE Manual Handling Guide for Busy Builders
Manual Handling at Work – A Brief Guide
Manual Handling Assessment Charts (MAC Tool)
Winlet materials trolleys
As the UK and Ireland distributor for Winlet, Hird also offers Winlet ErgoMover electrical materials trolleys for hire and for sale.
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.
Mini crane hire
Hird also has a large and extensive hire fleet of Maeda and UNIC tracked spider cranes, with SWLs ranging from 1.7t to 8t, and Valla pick and carry cranes with SWLs from 2t to 25t.
These can be combined with a wide range of glass vacuum lifters, also available for hire from Hird, to install glass panels weighing up to 8t in ways that keep manual handling to an absolute minimum.
Find out more
Talk to Hird about Winlet glazing robot hire, Maeda mini crane hire, Valla pick and carry crane hire, and glass vacuum lifter hire across the UK to enhance safety and productivity – and impress the HSE.
Email: [email protected]
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01482 227333
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01302 341659
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