Global lifting company, Verlinde France, is highlighting that ensuring employee safety when it comes to materials handling, does not have to mean sacrificing the bottom line of your business.
While the west has tightened up on safety policies, the emerging economies of the middle east, Asia and Africa are now wising up to the importance of effective health and safety policies, not only for altruistic reasons, but to encourage further foreign investment in difficult economic times for the global economy.
Verlinde is now busy servicing emerging territories in Africa and Pakistan and can report growing interest in the latest explosion proof and jib cranes. Jib cranes are among the most in demand worldwide due to their flexibility and lifting power and their ability to move goods around easily and safely, cutting down the risk of serious accidents.
“Investors don’t want to see health and safety issues – so many companies are waking up to the importance of specifying equipment that will improve their efficiency and at the same time enhance their health and safety performance,” said Thomas Descamps, managing director of Verlinde . “Specifying the correct cranes with the right load ratios reduces the risk of injury and eliminates any down-time due to accidents, so it is well worth the investment. Fatal accidents, while a personal tragedy also has serious implications for owners for everything from investment and insurance needs, not to mention the loss of key employees.”
It remains a sad fact that one work related injury occurs in the world every eight seconds – but with the right materials handling equipment installed and coupled with best working practices, much of this catalogue of injury is avoidable.
Business development manager for Verlinde, Simon Rothechild, added, “Business owners in Asia and Africa are now increasingly aware of the coast savings to be made from Verlinde cranes that offer increased automation and safety. The emerging economies of countries like South Africa and Pakistan have been labour intensive by tradition, but recent developments are moving towards safer and more profitable business models, driving the economies of these countries forward and improving working conditions for increasing numbers of employees worldwide.”
Verlinde can point to recent examples in Pakistan, as the company commences jib crane delivery on the sub-continent, direct from Pakistan, and as part of a new R130m training centre in Johannesburg, bringing with it improved education and employment prospects for the region.
Cranes and lifting equipment forms the unseen backbone of the world’s developed societies. Many essential businesses could not function without them and sophisticated equipment can be the difference for a business between profit and loss and the best equipment is critical to see reductions in accidents at work.
