Crane radio remotes increase operator safety
By Staff -- Modern Materials Handling, 9/15/1999
Moving from pendant to remote control of overhead equipment makes things roll along more safely at the Facelle Division of Procter & Gamble Inc., in Toronto, Ontario.Facelle makes paper products, including Royale bathroom tissue, Bounty towels, and Facelle facial tissue. Nine overhead hoists in the plant move giant rolls of paper weighing over 2,000 lb each.
"With pendant control, the operator's body is within inches of these large rolls," says process reliability technologist Freddy Rampersad, "and the operator can't move around the load to observe it from different angles to assure clearances are met as the load is handled in the plant."
With radio remote control, operators manage the load from a safe distance and from a vantage point where he or she has the best view of the roll.
Using remote controls from a single company for all its cranes enables Facelle to reduce operator training time. It also allows greater flexibility because operators can be assigned to any hoist. To keep downtime to a minimum, Facelle insists that two hand-held radio controllers be kept at each machine. Should the primary hand-held not respond, the spare (calibrated to the same radio frequency) can be used. For further backup, an electrician can reattach the unit's pendant control should the radio system need to be disconnected.
"For all that, radio remote system problems are very, very rare," asserts Rampersad. "If we do have a malfunction, it usually turns out to be a worn battery or a loose battery clip."
A bigger challenge is to ensure operators don't become complacent in using radio remote controls because of their simplicity of use. "Proper initial training and ongoing reinforcement of the operator's responsibility to handle the equipment in a safe and professional manner is essential," he says.
Cattron
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