June 2016

30Jun2016

Working at Height: Unsafe Practices Can Lead to Severe Injuries

mike health & safety

It's easy to underestimate just how dangerous working at height can be. Remember, 'working at height' doesn't always mean standing on top of a skyscraper; the UK Health & Safety Executive defines it as "work carried out in any place where a person could fall a distance liable to cause personal injury". Whether you're standing on a scaffold or an upturned box, if there's a chance you could fall and hurt yourself then it counts as working at height.

And when you're working at height, it's crucial to take the appropriate height safety measures. Again, it's easy to underestimate the measures that might be required - everybody knows that you need some sort of fall prevention system in place when you're working on a rooftop, but people are often perfectly happy to use, say, a stepladder without considering whether or not it's safe to do so.

But just as some lucky people have fallen from great heights and emerged relatively unscathed, many people have fallen off stepladders and ended up badly hurt. Earlier this month, The Construction Index published a story about two BT employees, both of whom fell from stepladders while at work and suffered injuries of varying severity. The first man lost his senses of smell and taste; the second was left with long term memory problems, partial vision loss, and multiple fractures to his skull and spine. These two incidents occurred within hours of one another; BT eventually pleaded guilty to health and safety breaches and ended up paying a fine of £600,000 (plus costs of £60,000).

This unfortunate story deftly illustrates the importance of height safety measures. Never assume that you/your workers will be safe because 'it's not that high' - be sure to assess the risks properly and take any measures necessary to minimise the risk of an accident.

Click here to browse SafetyLiftinGear's full range of height safety equipment.

28Jun2016

Glas-tow: How We Helped Festival-Goers Escape The Mud This Year

mike general news

Whether you were there for the action at Worthy Farm this year or not, we're sure that you've seen some of the mud-soaked horror stories that have come out of this year's festival. Of course, Glastonbury is known for being notoriously muddy, but this year's lashing of rain really took its toll on the site's parking area.

After all the chaos caused last Wednesday, with some festival-goers experiencing delays of over 10 hours as they journeyed into Pilton, the organisers wanted to make sure that they were prepared to help car travellers leave the festival on Sunday and Monday. As you may have seen in our previous blog post, we delivered several loads of towing chains to the site on Friday, to help ensure that all the provisions were in place to help cars flee the mud.

Since our last post, videos have emerged on BBC Points West, showing our towing chains in action as people are pulled out of the mud. Some even left the site as early as Sunday afternoon, with a host of acts yet to perform, in a bid to avoid the chaos of the Monday rush. You can see footage of tractors pulling vehicles out of the mud bath with our towing chains here!

If you're heading to a UK festival this summer, make sure you're prepared with the right gear! We have trolley carts, winching gear, tarpaulins and more, to make sure you have a great time, even in the British weather!

27Jun2016

Chain Hooks? We've Got Plenty!

mike products

If you're searching for a high-quality chain hook then you've come to the right place! Here at SafetyLiftinGear, we have a terrific range of chain hooks to suit a variety of purposes and weight limits. Whether you're looking for a chain hook that rotates 360 degrees or large heavy duty 5 tonne hook, you're bound to find a chain hook that is right for you! To help you with your search, we've listed some of our top selling chain hooks below, all of which are available to both hire and buy!

2 Tonne Webbing/Roundling Hook Grade 100

Was £17.25, Now £14.38

Buy Here

This hook can be used with webbing or round slings as a lifting hook, with the sling threaded through the hook. It's colour coded to match the working load limit of the lifting sling and can also be used as a link to join two slings together.

3 Tonne Webbing/Roundsling Hook Grade 100

Was 25.89, Now £21.58

Buy Here

This hook has a mighty 3 tonne maximum lifting capacity, so it's the perfect hook to use for all your heavy duty needs. Again, this hook can be used with webbing or round slings and can also be used to link two slings together.

G80 Swivel

Cost: £9.58

Buy Here

This swivel is designed for use with shackles, chains and slings where the operator has to rotate the load. It can rotate 360 degrees and is available in sizes to suit 7, 8, 10, 13 or 16mm G80 chain / Connectors.

G80 2.5T Ring Clutch

Was £23.98, Now £21.58

Buy Here

This ring clutch specifically used to lift pre cast concrete staircases & columns and has a working load limit of 2.5 enabling it to be used with the heaviest of loads. This hook also comes with a manual release but please note that the colour may vary from that in the picture.

Forged Snap Hook

Was £2.85, £2.38

Buy Here

This Hook is forged from carbon steel, so it's extremely strong and reliable! This hook comes with a pressed steel latch and is available in 7/16" (340KG) and 9/16" (450Kg).

Can't find the chain hook you're looking for? Click here to view our full range!

24Jun2016

Delivering Towing Chains to Glastonbury

mike products

The 2016 Glastonbury Festival officially started today (although people started arriving several days ago, armed with their SafetyLiftinGear festival carts), and from what we're hearing, the festival site is already pretty muddy!

Of course, the Glastonbury organisers are used to a bit of mud by now, and we're pleased to report that they've already got the situation well in hand. In fact, the SafetyLiftinGear team were down on Worthy Farm earlier today, delivering several loads of towing chains in preparation for the end of the party.

Loading up the van with another batch of tow ropes bound for Glastonbury!

These towing chains will be used to pull cars out of the mud when everybody's trying to leave the festival on Monday. If you've ever tried to manoeuvre a car out of a thick pool of mud, you'll know how frustratingly difficult it can be, so we hope that our chains make life a little bit easier for all those hungover festivalgoers in a few days' time!

Click here to browse SafetyLiftinGear's full range of winching, towing, and off-road products.

22Jun2016

Special Offers on Hydraulics and Workshop Equipment!

mike products

Huge reductions - order now while stocks last!

If you're in the market for a bargain, then today's your lucky day! We have slashed the prices of dozens of great products in our Hydraulics and Workshop Tools departments, and while demand is high, there is still time to place your order! Here are just a few of the items currently on offer here at SafetyLiftinGear:

Screwdriver sets
Car breakdown kits
A wide range of hydraulic jacks and cylinders
And much, much more!

So what are you waiting for? Select one of the categories below and start browsing for a bargain!

Workshop Tools & Equipment
Hydraulics

All of these items can be found in our Clearance and Special Offers sections - visit those pages for more great deals!

20Jun2016

The BLOODHOUND Project: There's an App for That!

mike general news

As we've proudly stated again and again over the last few months, SafetyLiftinGear is the official supplier of lifting / material handling products to The BLOODHOUND Project, an attempt to both break the land speed record and inspire a new generation of scientists and engineers.

Of course, even if we weren't involved in The BLOODHOUND Project, we'd still be closely tracking its progress - after all, who wouldn't be interested in a supersonic car that can travel at 1000mph?

One of the latest developments from Team BLOODHOUND is the creation of a mobile app that allows you to get the inside scoop on The BLOODHOUND Project and related topics like the history of the land speed record and the science behind the car that will hopefully break it.

The app is available for iOS and Android devices - get it from the App Store or Google Play now! It costs less than a pound, and all proceeds will be invested back into the BLOOHOUND education programme, so your pennies will be going towards a very good cause! Click here to find out more about the BLOODHOUND Blast app.

SafetyLiftinGear is an official partner of The BLOODHOUND Project, supplying the lifting equipment and material handling products that will be used in the construction of the BLOODHOUND supersonic car. More info here.

16Jun2016

Product Spotlight: TM12 Lifting & Confined Space Rescue Device

mike products

The G-Force TM12 is a multi-purpose tripod and gantry that can be used for lifting and lowering materials as well as for working safely in confined spaces. The TM12 is lightweight and - since it can be broken down into its 3 constituent components - easily portable, too.

Watch the video below to see how the TM12 is assembled and operated:

This video shows the TM12 being used in conjunction with a recovery winch - these are sold separately, although you can also choose to purchase your TM12 tripod and gantry with winch included.

Here are some additional details about the G-Force TM12:

Consists of main tripod, top beam, and two-legged support
Also includes 1 x double trolley, 1 x single trolley, and 1 x alloy bow shackle (1000kg)
Support workers (max. weight 140kg) in confined spaces
Lift and lower loads of up to 1000kg
Length and height fully adjustable
Gripping thorns on feet for extra traction
Ideal for use with the G-Force P10R Rescue Harness

The G-Force TM12 Tripod & Gantry is available both to hire and to buy - order yours here!

Get in touch to learn more about our training courses!