Working around heavy machinery requires constant vigilance. Slips and falls while getting on or off heavy machinery are common causes of injury. Fatigue can also contribute to careless mistakes. This June, take some time to review your preventive maintenance safety efforts — both in the shop and in the field — in recognition of National Safety Month. The following four preventive maintenance tips can help protect your technicians during the busy season.
Jobsite Safety Tip 1: Simplify the task.
Making daily maintenance simpler is an easy way to help keep your technicians safe.
For decades, heavy equipment oil changes were a rather straightforward, labor-intensive process. Technicians spent hours on the ritual of removing oil plugs and catching the oil in a container. After removing the filter while attempting to minimize spillage, new oil was added — typically using a funnel.
This often required the technicians to crawl around — and even under — the machine to pull plugs, access filters and position themselves to pour oil from jugs into funnels. Technicians often worked in close proximity to hot oil and carry oil in heavy pails.
Modern oil change technologies, like the Sage Oil Vac system, streamline the oil change process. The mobile lube system replaces the antiquated practice of manually lifting heavy buckets or jugs and crawling around the machine when transferring bulk fluids to the equipment.
Jobsite Safety Tip 2: Minimize exposure to oil.
Keep the jobsite and technicians as clean as possible.
The enclosed, pump-free Sage Oil Vac system protects the technician and the environment, as tanks are not vented into the atmosphere. Additionally, clean, sealed tanks prevent contaminants from being introduced into fresh fluids. There is also less chance of spillage on the job.
Accessories such as the Sage Oil Vac barrel straw, allow your technicians to transfer oil safely and quickly from bulk or drum storage into the mobile lube system with minimal effort and virtually no spills. They will not only be much cleaner at the end of the day, but less fatigued.
Jobsite Safety Tip 3: Reduce time-related stress.
The summer busy season can put additional pressure on service technicians, and using conventional mechanical pump-based systems can be time consuming.
The Sage Oil Vac pump-free vacuum technology uses compressed air to push oil out of the tank. It removes used oil and dispenses fresh oil at up to 15 gallons per minute, allowing more machines to be serviced per day than units utilizing mechanical pumps.
By making the oil change process more efficient, fewer employees are needed to keep up with routine maintenance. This is critical in today’s labor market. Technicians are more productive when they have all the fluids they need to service the fleets without the added stress of frequent trips to the shop. Sage Oil Vac offers a wide range of solutions to match your maintenance demands with an optimized mobile lube solution.
Jobsite Safety Tip 4: Reduce jobsite noise.
Conventional mechanical pump-based based oil change systems that require a compressor to run 100% of the time. Sage Oil Vac systems, on the other hand, conserve air by creating and maintaining vacuum pressure within the tanks. This reduces air compressor run time by up to 70% over conventional pump-based equipment. The result? Less noise exposure for your technicians and less onsite noise.
Following these four jobsite safety tips will provide a better working environment for your valued technicians. Contact Sage Oil Vac to learn how we can help your technicians safely and efficiently keep your fleet running during the heat of the busy season.
