Caster Wheel Safety in Lab Environments

February 24, 2014

Ross Castors

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We all know that the squeaky wheel is the one that gets the grease, but why do we wait until we actually hear the squeak, need to suppress vibrating castors, or feel our castor wheels dragging before we actually do something about it?

The truth is, caster maintenance should be something that is done on a regular basis, not just as a last resort. It affects the safety of the workplace and ensures castors are able to perform as they should.

Safety and Castors in the Lab

How many castors do you work with on daily basis? In most lab environments, these wheels are becoming more and more common. They make transport easy, and they help companies comply with workplace and occupational ergonomic policies that assist in reducing strains, sprains, and accidents.

It’s important that certain steps should be taken to increase the safe operation of equipment with castors, especially in the lab environment where they are used so frequently on research tables, chairs, monitoring equipment, and even animal cages. Here are just a few.

Frequently inspect the casters for corrosion, broken welds, or any other types of deformations.

Check for loose bolts and nuts that hold the castor to the equipment and tighten them whenever necessary.

Look for any distortion in the equipment frame. This is often caused by putting too much weight on the equipment and can lead to caster failure if the load is disproportionate on one of two of the castors.

Are you using stem casters? If so, check to make sure that the legs of the equipment are always straight and never bent. Also be sure to evaluate whether or not the mounting bolts are fastened securely.

When mounting a caster to a cart or piece of equipment, also use lock washers and lock nuts for better security.

Use tubular equipment to hold expanding adapter stem casters in place.

Keep an eye out for broken swivel head seals, missing thread guards, and any other broken areas on the castor. Replace the castor immediately if these are noticed.

If the equipment you are using stays in one place for any extended period of time, the castors may develop flat spots. This can often lead to shaking and vibrating when the equipment is moved again. While you may be able to ignore the shaking on most equipment, if you are working with animals whose cages have castors with flat spots, this can be very stressful to the animals. You’ll need to replace the casters as soon as possible.

Keep load capacity in mind at all times. If each caster on a cart can only hold X amount, don’t add any more weight than that. This could lead to castor failure and could greatly affect the safety of everyone in the lab.

All of these issues should be inspected frequently and maintenance records should be kept in the lab so it can be evaluated whenever necessary. The records can help to determine if new castors with higher load capacities are needed and help you determine how frequently the caster wheels should be examined.

Keeping everyone and everything in your lab safe is a priority. Make it happen by paying close attention to the castors on your equipment and maintaining them well.