Going underground
February 1st 2007

Whether inspired by an existing culture of 'best practice' or driven by the ever-increasing raft of health and safety legislation imposed upon those in industrial handling, companies continue to strive for innovative solutions, such as those provided by Stanley Handling

Two very different organisations turned recently to Hertfordshirebased Stanley Handling, a leading independent specialist supplier of safety handling equipment designed to optimise materials handling operations efficiency whilst ensuring compliance with all current health and safety regulations.

Metronet Rail, one of two infrastructure companies charged with the maintenance and renewal of London Underground's assets, is responsible for rolling stock, stations, track, tunnels and signals on nine of the twelve lines that make up 'the Tube'.

Access at many stations for the heavy equipment, materials and spare parts required during maintenance and engineering work, usually carried out at night, is restricted and moving materials to and from locations has often been a logistical headache. With work sites sometimes poorly lit, dirty and potentially dangerous, the task is no less a concern for health and safety officers.

Changing tradition Traditionally, parts, tools and equipment were handled manually to and from working areas, often up and down long flights of steps. Metronet Health and Safety Manager, Emoh Itejere, explains: "I have some old photos of work on the Underground dating back to the thirties and forties. It seems the way we were moving materials and equipment around below ground hadn't really changed a great deal." When Stanley Handling showed Metronet the PowerMate 'L-Series' powered stairclimber there was an immediate recognition that this could modernise ways of working and answer health and safety concerns.

PowerMate stairclimbers 'do what it says on the can' in that they enable a single, trained operator to move items weighing up to 680kg up and down stairs, right to the delivery point. A self-contained battery powered motor drives a pair of legs which lift the unit up and over each step. Unlike the triple-axled manual trucks used for deliveries, PowerMate provides the motive power, enabling substantial loads to be transported with minimal effort and in much greater safety.

Besides their specific function as stairclimbers and their basic role in moving materials, most PowerMate models can be used to load and unload vehicles with deck heights of up to 840mm. This makes them a perfect solution for tasks where goods or equipment need to be delivered to point of use and where external handling facilities are not available. This versatility has led to their introduction in sectors as varied as drinks, white goods, computers and office equipment, vending and gaming machines, safes and ATMs, electrical switchgear and motors and HVAC units.

A similar need to increase efficiency and improve health and safety procedures in lifting and moving operations led food manufacturer KP Foods to invite Stanley Handling to help them update and improve procedures on the packaging line at their plant near Doncaster. The site, which processes 400 tonnes of potatoes and produces 4.5 million bags of crisps per day, manufactures brands including McCoys, McVities, Jacobs, Frisps and Discos.

Foil packaging is supplied to KP Foods in reels of between 470mm and 150mm in diameter, weighing up to 90kg. Previously the reels were moved to the packaging line using manual handling reel units which had not come up to specification.

Bespoke stacker Stanley Handling proposed a bespoke ROBUR powered stacker with rotating reel handler, the only model available that could accommodate the range of reel sizes in use and offer electric-hydraulic clamping and lifting. This enables a single operative to load reels, from floor, stack or pallet, transport them to the appropriate line and mount them onto either vertically or horizontally fitted mandrels on the bagging machinery.

Alternatively, mandrels can be loaded to the reel and the complete unit – weighing up to 120kg – located in the machine.

Battery-powered with an integral charger, the reel handlers, which are also offered in stainless steel for 'clean' applications, provide a clean and functional means of improving handling speed and efficiency whilst minimising manual handling and the risk of harm to personnel or damage to expensive packaging materials and equipment, all key requirements of the client.

By the use of innovative technology and through the ability and willingness of Stanley Handling to produce custom-designed solutions to specific handling needs, two organisations operating in very different sectors have found answers to really rather similar problems.

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