There isn’t an industry in operation today that shouldn’t be concerned about safety. Since employees are the most valuable resource for any business, be it your favorite little corner coffee shop or on board huge maritime vessels transporting highly volatile chemicals, precautionary measures are never to be taken lightly.
Yet, regardless of how many training classes or posted warnings your business may employ, the reality is that accidents happen. They happen to people and machinery alike, and when they do, the financial cost can be crippling.
With that in mind, here at Unitech Supplies, we strives to offer a comprehensive catalog full of products designed to help minimize the likelihood that such occurrences should happen. With items ranging from the basics that everyone should have on hand, to specialized offerings designed to address the needs of a particular industry, Unitech Supplies has everything you need to keep your organization compliant with the latest in safety standards.
In this first of a two-part guide, we’ll take a look at products that no business should ever be without, regardless of the type of industry in which you operate.
Heavy Duty Waste Compactor Bags
Safety Benefits: Prevents slips and falls due to leakage, protects against bodily harm from heavy items and sharp objects
Trash bags seem like a no-brainer, right? Every business makes garbage and needs a way to properly dispose of it, so you should probably just pop on down to the local department store and pick up a few boxes. That is, if you want to have your bags rip, explode, and leak disgusting garbage all over your employees and your business.
Regular trash bags, the sort of which you buy for a few bucks at the grocery store, work great for household garbage, but not so much for industrial refuse. That’s because the type of debris differs greatly and usually includes items that are too large or amounts that far exceed the weight limits of traditional bags. Additionally, nails or other sharp objects commonly found at job sites can easily puncture the thin materials used in regular bags.
These Heavy Duty Waste Compactor Bags are manufactured from premium-grade materials that are resistant to tears, and their extra-large size is guaranteed to accommodate most any size item you stuff ‘em with. Also, they’re compatible with most garbage compactors.
For more information, read Why Regular Trash Bags Aren’t Suitable For Industrial Waste.
Temperature Indicating Labels
Safety Benefits: Prevents burns and provides graphical representation if machinery is operating too hot
The machines and piping infrastructure located within an organization can often generate extremely high temperatures, and all it takes is a momentary lapse in judgment for an employee to rest their hand upon one such excessively hot surface.
Temperature Indicating Labels are an important way to provide visual cues as to the current temperature of a piece of machinery. Created with an ultra-adhesive backing and as easy to apply as a sticker or piece of tape, when the surface reaches a certain temperature, the label reflects this and immediately lets others in the vicinity know that it is not safe to handle.
There are multiple displays available, with two of the most popular being the Traffic Light Label and the Hot Hand design. While both are easy to read and display graphics that are instantly recognizable, the Traffic Light Labels also report temperature ranges, which can help prevent damage to expensive machinery.
For more information, read Red Light, Green Light: Using Traffic Light Temperature Labels to Prevent Burns.
Hook and Loop Fasteners
Safety Benefits: Reduces the likelihood that floor coverings and wires could become trip hazards
Whether you call it a hook and loop fastener, tape, or Velcro®, the purpose is all the same, and that’s to provide a strong, reusable bond between two surfaces. It consists of two separate pieces, one of which is covered with hundreds of tiny hooks and the other with a matching number of loops. Pressing the two sides together connects the pieces, oftentimes accompanied with an audible “click” that tells you know everything is safe and secure. Put a few pieces underneath rugs to prevent accidental tripping. They’re also fantastic for creating stations to hold remote controls or other smaller items that are commonly misplaced.
Hook and Loop Fasteners come in varying shapes and sizes, including strips and round coin-shapes. There’s even a double-sided version that utilizes both the hook and loop mechanisms on a single tape, great for wrapping cords and wires.
For more information, read A History of Hook and Loop Fasteners (and 20 Great Uses!).
Industrial Tapes
Safety Benefits: Varied, but include burn protection from hot liquids, better footing over steps and walkways, visible notification of areas to be avoided
There are almost as many individual kinds of tape as there are types of industry, and depending upon which sector you operate in, there’s always a few you should have on hand:
- Anti-Splash and Spray Control Tapes work to contain and re-direct the flow of harmful liquids in the case of pipeline ruptures.
- Anti-Slip Tapes put down a layer of course material to provide extra traction in order to reduce the likelihood of falls.
- Flagging and Barrier Tapes are useful in calling attention to high-priority areas and for denoting places and things that should be considered off limits.
We also stock an assortment of tapes with reflective coatings, those for repairing pipes, and even some that glow in the dark! Many of these products can be customized with special wording based on your individual needs, and after checking out our entire tape catalog, contact us so we can help build a bundle designed exclusively for you.
For more information, read 10 Types of Tape That Enhance Your Safety and How Pipe Tapes Can Protect Your Business.
Building a Toolkit For Success
All the items contained within this article should be considered “must-haves” for any organization, with each having universal practicality for all industries. As some of these products have multiple variations that may work better in some situations than others, please reach out to us and we’ll help you decide which ones are best suited for your business.
Up next, our buyer’s guide will continue with Part 2 – The Specialties. These are items that have very defined functions that work best in very specific markets. We’ll explore items such as calibrators, metal detectors, and binoculars, and provide information as to how each can benefit those who need them the most. Stay tuned!