Waste Caddy Archives - Page 3 of 3

The Right Tool for Tight Trash Room Spaces

Do your employees expend unnecessary time and energy maneuvering dumpsters from tight trash room spaces to curbside pick-up spots? With the WasteCaddy, a battery-powered ride-on dumpster puller from DJ Products, a single employee can handle this difficult task with ease.

Improve Productivity and Efficiency with a Dumpster Puller

The WasteCaddy measures only 27″ wide so it can navigate narrow trash rooms and tight corners equally well. A bolt-on receiver and cotter pin construction forms a sturdy connection to any trash container, and the steel frame and three 36-volt batteries are powerful enough to pull up to 5,000 pounds.

The path between the trash room and curbside pick-up spot is rarely a smooth one. There may be an incline leading up to street level, or bad weather conditions can create snowy or slippery areas. Thanks to foam-filled tires and electric power, the WasteCaddy travels well on any surface.

Reduce Workplace Injuries and Insurance Claims

Since the trash room presents the highest risk of injuries in multi-family properties, use of our dumpster puller is considered a best practice by property management companies. Safety features include:

• Maximum speed of 6 MPH in forward and 2 MPH in reverse

• High-tech speed controller

• Adjustable acceleration and braking

• Neutral throttle braking

• Variable speed thumb twist grips to prevent repetitive motion injuries

DJ Products: Your Solution for Effective Material Handling

In addition to the WasteCaddy, we carry a full line of battery-powered tugs, movers and pullers. Call 800.686.2651 or visit our website and let our friendly sales engineers help you choose the best solution for your company’s needs.

The Business Case for Investing in Equipment that Prevents Back Injuries

Data from an older article stated that on average, nearly 50 workers are injured during any given minute of the work week. The American Society of Safety Engineers (ASSE) published a 2002 report that workplace safety programs benefit both your company and your employees. Fast-forward to today. This data makes a good business case that using WasteCaddy dumpster movers to prevent back injuries is a wise investment.

Safety by the Numbers

In that article, workplace injuries resulted in $128 billion in losses in 1996, which equated to 25 percent of pre-tax net profits. Even in today’s business environment, indirect costs can inflate direct costs by a factor of 20. Some of these include:

• Hiring, training and paying replacement labor

• Reduced productivity

• Investigation time and implementation of corrective measures

• Absenteeism and low employee morale

• Poor reputation in the community and industry

Many of these costs can continue long after the actual occurrence of the injury.

Raising Safety Awareness

The report cited a survey showing that employers buy into the importance of heightened safety practices regarding business and human costs. The top two reasons given were the cost of workers’ compensation insurance and the “right thing to do.”

There is real-life data to support the cost-effectiveness of safety programs:

• Companies have seen a return of up to $6 for every $1 spent on workplace safety.

• After investing in their safety program, a West Virginia coal mining company saw its workers’ compensation rate drop to $1.28 per $100 in payroll, compared to a competitor’s rate of $13.78.

Reduce Back Injuries with Electric Tugs from DJ Products

Our WasteCaddy dumpster mover enables a single employee to safely and easily handle one of the more labor-intensive tasks in the workplace. Call 800.686.2651 to learn more.

A Philadelphia Bar Sparks a Dumpster War

Residents and business owners on South Street in Philadelphia were excited this summer at the prospect of a new business coming to town. The new MilkBoy South Street location was supposed to be celebrated as a new hot spot for the up and coming bar scene in the area, but a dumpster seems to be a point of contention between the owners and those living and working around it.

Dumpster Problems

The placement of a dumpster on an otherwise dumpster-free street has drawn a lot of negative attention to the new MilkBoy location. According to city ordinances, it’s legal to have the dumpster where it sits, but it continues to be an eyesore for those who have to look at it every day. Residents and other business owners say that it destroys the aesthetic of the area and causes people to dump trash near it. Someone has even gone so far as to spray paint graffiti on the dumpster.

How It Could Have Been Solved

Moving a dumpster by yourself can be difficult enough with wheels, and darn near impossible if it doesn’t. With a specialized piece of equipment, such as the WasteCaddy dumpster mover, the bar owners could easily move their dumpster wherever they need it to be. Certain times of the day might call for the dumpster to be in a higher visibility area, but a dumpster mover could be used to place it somewhere out of sight when it’s not in use.

To learn more about our WasteCaddy dumpster mover, get in touch with DJ products at 1-800-686-2651.

Minnesota Gives Employers Up to $10,000 for Waste Safety Improvement Projects

Minnesota employers eligible to apply for OSHA’s Safety Grant Program are able to be awarded up to $10,000 to be used by employers to implement internal safety programs that aid in reducing the number of employee injuries on the job and illnesses that can arise.

The Safety Grant Program was established to help employers with the costs associated with implementing a safety program within the organization.

Projects eligible for a grant can range from addressing general internal safety factors within the organization to impacting a specific location’s safety management practices by adding special equipment like WasteCaddy dumpster movers, which are perfect for employers who strive to help employees avoid accidents on the job and reduce workers compensation claims. We’ve had customers get most of or a portion of the expense of a dumpster mover/waste caddy paid for by a grant from OSHA.

Consider that WasteCaddy dumpster pushers cut down on the number of injuries that happen when maintenance workers move dumpsters, whether it’s from the trash room to the curb or up a long incline outdoors. Using a WasteCaddy dumpster mover, employees will find the work easier, which will result in less injuries, as well as save valuable time. In many cases, a safety audit brought to light the need for ergonomic improvements to moving heavy waste bins and trash carts to prevent injury to staff. It may be time for you to take a careful look at how your staff is handling these heavy loads.

Our dumpster moving equipment can solve your company’s ergonomic needs, please contact us today for information on how DJ Products help in eliminating the on-the-job injuries associated with manual pulling and pushing of heavy dumpsters.

Waste Caddy Purchases Increase Due to OSHA’s New Reporting Requirements

Trash Container Mover - Transparent — WasteCaddy Lite, Available from DJ Products

To many businesses, the new OSHA electronic record keeping rules sound like airing dirty laundry. The policies have been a subject of considerable controversy, but ultimately the message is clear: more than ever before, it’s time to step up efforts to prevent workplace injuries.

Leaders of business groups and labor have chimed in with reactions, rounded up by industrial news group EHS Today. Industry execs from ASSE and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce think that OSHA will be exposing confidential data and shifting the focus from preventive efforts. The AFL-CIO and COSH agree that the rules will protect workers and whistle blowers.

Reactions to New OSHA Electronic Record Keeping Rules

The tougher environment definitely has businesses placing greater emphasis on safety practices and ergonomic equipment.

Sales of automated tools like battery-powered waste caddys have risen as property managers and waste haulers seek to reduce the risk of severe injury incidents and long-term health problems.

Waste caddys and dumpster movers address a common cause of worker injury — the manual pushing of dumpsters that weigh thousands of pounds and take several workers to move. One worker can easily move any waste bin with an electric waste caddy.

With worker injury and illness data getting published to the public, businesses face intense scrutiny. Compliance is demanding. The data might dissuade job applicants from companies that appear to be dangerous. Some fear that the OSHA records could be used to justify lawsuits and claims more often.

Waste caddys are a smart investment to promote safety and reduce worker injuries, at any business where dumpsters must be moved. For more info, consider the WasteCaddy dumpster tow and other motorized equipment from DJProducts.com.

Is There Such a Thing as Ergonomics for Waste Disposal?

You bet there is! Ergonomics is all around us, from keyboards that protect our wrists repetitive task injury, to workplace trainers showing staff how to lift heavy items with proper technique. Ergonomics in the workplace is especially important because workers tend to repeat the same actions countless times, day after day.

Waste disposal ergonomics can be tricky, and we’re not talking about throwing crumpled paper like a basketball. Workers who handle heavy dumpsters face injury risks from lifting and throwing heavy objects and when pushing or pulling the dumpster to collection points. They must deal with literally tons of weight, on wheels, while traversing slopes, inclines, and gravel. Ask your maintenance and janitorial staff if they are comfortable with moving dumpsters, and you might be surprised to hear about their sore lower backs, shoulder strains, and hamstring pain.

How to Prevent Waste Disposal Injuries

If you’re not using a dumpster mover to move waste containers, chances are good that one of your employees will experience a painful injury that costs the company a fortune in productivity and workers comp. Brian Piñon of ICW Risk Management recently told MySafetyNews about how he analyzes and prevents workplace ergonomics problems:

• Be proactive by asking employees about injury risks and observe their process of looking for physically dangerous practices.

• Talk to your management team and employees about reporting pain or discomfort before injuries occur.

• Train some trusted employees to watch for and correct ergonomic problems.

• Purchase automated equipment like dumpster caddies to ease frequent, demanding tasks.

Examine the ergonomics safety process for waste disposal at your business, and consider a dumpster mover and other ergonomic equipment from DJ Products to protect your staff.