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Slab Handling Equipment Protects Products and Personnel
Fort Worth, TX (PRWEB) May 02, 2011
Bluff Manufacturingâs (http://www.BluffManufacturing.com) newest product line, Slab Handling Equipment (SHE) (http://www.bluffmanufacturing.com/products/slab/index.htm) is specially designed to add an additional level of safety for slab handling personnel and protection of slab products. The A-Frame Slab Transport Rack features unique secondary bracing and support system to safeguard personnel and protect materials.
Statistics prove that serious injuries and fatalities occur in loading, storing, moving and unloading of large and heavy stone slabs, ranging from several hundred pounds to more than a thousand pounds. According to data from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), 46 fatalities nationwide were associated with the handling and storage of stone slabs during 1984-2006. As a result, OSHA published Safety and Health Information Bulletins in 2005 and 2008 on the Hazards of Transporting, Unloading, Storing and Handling Granite, Marble and Stone Slabs, urging appropriate procedural precautions and equipment specifications to be established in the industry. In 2010, the Marble Institute of America partnered with stone industry safety experts to produce its Stone Industry Employee Safety Initiative educational series.
âWe studied this information carefully to fully understand what safety features were needed in the design of our slab handling equipment to reduce the risk of employee injury and material damage,â explained Clark Smith, president of Bluff Manufacturing and BLS product line, a division that manufactures the slab handling products. âOur research showed there are several uncontrollable factors that contribute to the potential danger of slab transport and delivery, such as weather and receiving equipment, and that our products must provide slab handlers with extra precautionary measures.â
Specifically designed to safely handle, transport and store natural stone slabs, Bluff Manufacturingâs slab handling equipment combines heavy duty steel frames and pipes, PVC protective caps and welded construction (no bolting) to ensure durability and safety.
The A-Frame Slab Transport Rack is uniquely designed for use in transport. On one side of the existing A-frame, integrated nominal six-inch safety stop âpocketsâ receive a handled five-foot steel vertical pipe. When placed into one of the safety pockets, the secured pipe provides a secondary âsafety stopâ and an extra layer of protection is created in the fall shadow. The safety stopâs presence prevents the slab from free falling, should the worker lose control of the slab. At the end of the delivery, the vertical pipe is placed back in its storage pocket in the center of the A-frame. Your personnel are protected and your product is safely delivered.
Due to the large variability in design of existing A-frames in the field, Bluff Manufacturing developed an innovative design for retrofitting existing A-Frame Slab Transport Racks. The A-Frame Retro Safety Kit allows for the addition of integrated slab safety supports into existing A-frame slab transport racks. They can be bolted to a truck bed or welded to the base of the existing transport A-frame. The welding of safety stop pockets along the base of one end of the frame, combined with the insertion of a 60â vertical handled steel pipe into these pockets, provides a secondary bracing element for slab accessibility during delivery.
Bluff Manufacturingâs complete line of slab handling products includes:
A-Frame Slab Rack Floor Display Unit
Single-Sided Slab Wall Display Rack
A-Frame Slab Racks
A-Frame Slab Rack Post
A-Frame Slab Rack Post w/Handle
For more information about Bluff Manufacturingâs slab handling equipment or to place an order, call 800-433-2212..
About Bluff Manufacturing
For more than 40 years, Bluff Manufacturing has been recognized as an innovative leader in the fabrication and design of high quality dock, warehouse, and safety equipment. Bluff Manufacturing, whose customers include Frito Lay, Lumber Liquidators and ABF, is the only company to meet the American National Standards Instituteâs (ANSI) MH30.2 standard, ensuring the highest quality products and providing customers with the greatest possible value. Based in Fort Worth, Texas, Bluff Manufacturing serves the entire U.S. through a national distributor network, and the companyâs 11 distribution warehouses ensure quick delivery of the standard items in the companyâs product line including yard ramps, dock boards, dock levelers, wheel risers, and safety barrier product Crash Guard.
Bluff Manufacturing acquired B&L Structures in June 2010, expanding its portfolio to include mezzanine structures (http://www.bluffmanufacturing.com/products/mezzanines/mezzanines.htm), stairways, free standing conveyor support structures, and caged and ships ladders.
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