Castors made to make movements!
It’s the age old problem! There is something heavy to move at work, it’s got to be relocated, so do you stop and think about it or just get on with the job?
It’s the age old problem! There is something heavy to move at work, it’s got to be relocated, so do you stop and think about it or just get on with the job? In the United Kingdom nearly a third of all injuries reported in the work place, are from a direct result of incorrect manual handling, requiring days off work and costing the economy millions!
Castors and wheels are at the forefront of equipment development to ensure heavy loads can be moved with ease and without stress to an employee’s backs or spines. Within the industry of Manual Handling there is a huge variety of sack trucks, trolleys, fork lift trucks, mobile platforms and steps, all requiring suitable castors and wheels for ease of movement. Its often worthwhile a company investing in such equipment to save time and money and to adhere to strict health and safety laws.
However, the world of manual handling equipment can be a daunting one and companies need to ensure they choose the correct equipment for the job in hand. Not only do they need to consider using handling aids, but often a crucial decision to make, is the choice of castors for the equipment. Getting the right castors and wheels specified can have a huge impact on the ease of movement of a heavy load or piece of equipment. Equally over-specifying the castors may be unnecessarily costly.
There are several factors in choosing castors and wheels that need to be taken into account. These include the floor surface, the weight of the item to be moved, the style and design of the castors, the fittings and the type of wheel or tyre.
There is an old saying that says ‘hard wheels for soft floors and soft wheels for hard floors!’ Say for example you have a piece of equipment to move in an office environment with carped floors. The best castors for the job would be ones with a hard wheel, such a nylon wheel or hard plastic wheels. Conversely in a warehouse environment with a hard concrete floor, the castor that would reduce the amount of vibration when moving the heavy load would be a castor with a softer polyurethane wheel or rubber wheel. In external situations, such as in garden centres, these trolleys move our plant purchase on castors housing pneumatic, or air filled wheels, for smooth manoeuvrability.
When it comes to load bearing or weight the castors can move, there is a mathematical equation! Don’t worry its simply ‘the load capacity for the castor should be one third of the sum of the trolley weight and the maximum load it has to carry’. If that’s baffled you, it simply means if you are going to ‘over specify’ any characteristic, then over specify the load capacity for the castors you choose. For example, if you have four castors on a trolley ensure the total weight on the trolley; can be carried by just three of the castors. This allows for uneven floors, as at any one time there may be just three castors touching the floor and taking the full load!
As well as the floor surface and load capacities of castors, important considerations are also the style, design and fittings of the castor housing. Castors come in a variety of designs from small office chair castors to castors that can take over 6 tonnes. Swiveling castors rotate to improve maneuverability and can be equipped with a brake to lock the wheel and swivel movement. Castors are available with a wide variety of fittings. The choice of fitting is largely a question of the frame to which the castor must be fitted. The two most popular options are to have a top plate fitting or a bolt hole fitting castor.
One of the last decisions to make is the size and type of wheel in the castors. In most cases, the larger the wheel, the higher its load bearing and the easier it is to move. There are a huge variety of wheels and the choice you make will vary depending upon your application.To avoid injuries when pushing or pulling wheeled transport take time to assess the situation and specify the right castors for the job. This may then save you time, money and your back!
