Heavy Machine Insurance Is A Must Have For Builders And Contractors

Construction vehicles are a costly investment for any firm to make, as well as the possibility for loss is quite great if they are not properly controlled and maintained. With so many GPS asset tracking (https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/gps.html) and CMMS alternatives available today, it may seem tough to select one that can oversee and track all of your equipment use and productivity, and it only requires some solid research to pick the right decision. Read the five guidelines below before committing to a CMMS solution to best track and control your equipment to get the most hours or miles out of your investment.

Control Your Fleet From a Single Dashboard

Many fleet managers or project supervisors used to have to resort to various spreadsheets, records, and an out-of-date master list to identify their machines, plus an extra set of worksheets and notes to discover the most recent hours or milage. However, with the current market alternatives for GPS fleet management and CMMS software, they are no longer the techniques utilized to monitor fleet information.

Today, you can handle all your fleet information from a single dashboard, and battery hours or equipment miles may be pulled from health reports as required. There is no longer a need for notes and spreadsheets, and current diagnostic reports and the location of the equipment may be prepared in less than a minute. Yard inspections are no longer required, freeing up manpower for more urgent tasks. It combines a fleet and maintenance tool, and a single interface eliminates the previous “searching via numerous places” concerns.

 

Excavator

Conduct CMMS Research

Not all CMMS alternatives are the same, nor do they provide the same features or possibilities. It is critical that you do your homework and choose the best CMMS for your maintenance department. It is assumed that your data will be transmitted correctly, and that the software maker will offer CMMS training; nevertheless, there are several possibilities that may make your search for a CMMS time-consuming.

The most essential thing to understand about a CMMS is that there is no “one size fits all” solution. If you do not properly investigate the system’s capabilities, you may be left with an insufficient software package that cannot meet the demands of your fleet and facilities.

Utilize Asset Tags

Mislabeled work orders and misidentified equipment may be solved using asset tags. For a definition and example of uses for asset tags, click here. They also allow a mechanic to scan the asset tag and then scan any required repair or rebuild components to the asset tag, saving a significant amount of writing or data entering. When asset tags are installed at your site, the element of human error is eliminated from maintenance work orders.

In principle, every asset in your facility should have an asset tag that enables easy scanning of the item into a portable scanner, and this nomenclature series should be unique to your facility. The crucial element, though, is to verify that all of your construction equipment is correctly branded before it leaves your location.

Health Reports Can Be Beneficial

Instead of dispatching a yardman to check on battery life and fluid levels, you may obtain health data on your construction machines promptly. This pays out not simply in terms of labor hours saved, but also in the fact that machines aren’t running when they’re in danger of failing to owe to essential maintenance items being missed.

Instead of completing yard inspections, running a daily health report is a simple, straightforward, and fast approach to guarantee that all of your construction equipment is in top condition to leave the yard and travel out to the customer’s site. Furthermore, by running health reports daily before signing out equipment to an operator, you may easily determine where any damage to machinery happened since you have a documented record of the machine’s state prior to it departing for the worksite that can provide documentation in case an insurance policy claim must be made.

The Importance of OEE

Overall equipment effectiveness, or OEE, is the amount of time your machines spend being helpful and logged into work. The relevance of OEE is to guarantee that your machinery is being used to optimize profits and that it is not losing you money by sitting idle instead of being booked and operating on the project site, or by being held up for regular maintenance when it could be on a customer’s site making money.

What To Know About the SDS of Hydrated Lime

Slaked lime or calcium hydroxide has a chemical formula of Ca(OH)2 is an inorganic compound. This comes in the form of a white powder or colorless crystal that’s used to produce quicklime. This is a calcium oxide that’s generally mixed with water or slake. It has many names such as slack, builders, hydrated, pickling, or caustic lime.

It has many uses, including the preparation of food. Limewater is the usual name for its more saturated form. Know that the original form of calcium hydroxide is not very soluble with water. It can only be dissolved in pure water with a resulting alkaline solution of 12.5 pH. These solutions can cause chemical burns, so it’s best if you could check first the safety data sheet or SDS hydrated lime before you handle it. The solubility generally decreases at higher pH values because of the anion of hydroxide.

A Quick Overview

This solubility factor is essential when it comes to the use of cement pastes. Other uses include paints, cement, petrochemicals, hard rubber products, mortars, and leather tanning. A more recent development has allowed manufacturers to use quicklime for environmental purposes. They use hydrated lime that acts as a milder alkali used to remove acidic gases from plants and mills. This is also extremely helpful in incinerators, cement mills, coal plants, and glassmaking factories.

However, the largest use is in the industry of steel manufacturing, where this product is used to remove various impurities. This is also used to make other metals and for the removal of contaminants in steel.

In construction, this is used to have more stabilized roads during their construction, as well as help build foundations. This is termed as soil “sweetening” by people who are in the construction industry. Know more about soil preparation on this site here.

Safety

Since quicklime has a vigorous reaction with water, this can cause severe respiratory system irritation when you accidentally inhale it. It’s also dangerous if it comes in contact with the eyes or moist skin. Accidental inhalation can cause labored breathing, sneezing, and coughing, evolving into severe medical conditions.

Other possible symptoms of the irritation may include vomiting, nausea, abdominal pain, burns, and nasal septum. Although many people consider this not a fire hazard the reaction with water can be more than enough to ignite any combustible material near it.

Preventions of Accidents

The safety guide from many companies generally contains specific instructions on how to handle lime. Some may include obtaining permission and following special instructions before using lime. You should not handle this material unless you understand and read all the necessary safety precautions. It’s also best to have the gear that will help prevent you from inhaling any dust, spray, vapor, mist, gas, and fumes mixed with hydrated lime.

You should wash everything thoroughly after you handle it and use this in a well-ventilated area. Using it in an indoor setting is not recommended, and you should wear protection for your face, eyes, hands, and whole body when you handle it.

First Aid Measures

If you know someone or you have been accidentally exposed to hydrated lime, you need to know various first aid measures that can help save you or another co-worker’s life. Hold the eyelids steadily and flush everything with clean and running water if the problem is in the eye.

Continue doing this unless otherwise advised by a poison or safety officer in your workplace. Call a doctor and flush the eyes with a specialized solution such as Diphoterine to prevent long-term injury. More guidelines for occupational safety can be found here: https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/docs/81-123/pdfs/0093-rev.pdf?id=10.26616/NIOSHPUB81123.

Challenges and Characteristics to Know About


The hydrated lime will require careful handling so that it won’t escape into one’s surroundings and prevent contamination from airborne particles. Caution is often exercised to shield this material from moisture because it will trigger a chemical reaction that will generate heat.

Caution is often exercised to shield the material from contaminants because of its exothermic properties. On the same sentiment, priorities regarding safety are given to the operators and handlers because it has a higher hazard level than others.

It will cause corrosive effects to the eyes and skin, and overexposure can lead to severe burns. In some instances, it can result in unconsciousness, choking, lung damage, or even death. Because of these hazards, an airtight connection is usually followed from the processing to the storage of lime.

Handles who are experienced in this field observed that no two samples are the same. Some may contain abrasive materials, while others come in the form of soft and sluggish powder. They can stick to the side of the container, build up inside conveyor lines, and get stuck in the belts. This is why the operators should always follow the safety data sheet and handling them successfully may require an experienced man that can decide on a suitable solution.

Gas Generators And Diesel Generators For Sale By Prima Power Systems In Canada

Are you planning to invest in a generator? The majority of households require such a unit, as power outages occur at least a few times annually. 

These units provide households with power and prevent a myriad of inconveniences like frozen pipes, spoiled food, and moldy walls. There are standby, inverter, and portable models, which run on different fuels like diesel or gas. 

The selection of generators for sale is incredibly extensive. 

These tips will help you choose the right one.

Consider the frequency of power outages

The first consideration when buying a generator is the frequency of power outages in your local area. Homeowners in Canada should try and predict how often they are likely to need one and for how long. 

For instance, if you dwell in an area where outages are frequent and prolonged, you can choose from three types of generators, standby, portable, or inverter. The same goes if you live in a region susceptible to hurricanes, blizzards, and ice storms. Portable models are the smallest and lightest, requiring no professional installation. There are even models with wheels to make transport easier. 

Standby generators, as the name implies, aren’t portable but installed outside the house. These are perhaps the most convenient variant for households in areas where power outages are incredibly frequent. These units switch on automatically when the power goes out, as well as switch back on when electricity is restored. 

Furthermore, inverter models are lightweight and quiet. These units run on propane and gas. Homeowners can even purchase a parallel connector to combine two inverter units at once for an increase in power. Check out some handy tips for using a generator. 

All three models are capable of powering up a household during frequent outages, as you can connect them directly to the circuit breaker panel. Nevertheless, it’s important to hire an electrician to install a transfer switch in your breaker box for the unit to function optimally. 

Generators

Canadian homeowners experiencing occasional outages are advised to invest either in a large inverter or a portable model. There’s no reason to splurge about $10,000 on a stationary unit if you need to use it just a couple of times annually. In such cases, a large portable or inverter model would be enough to provide your household with power. Normally, you should be willing to pull the unit out of the garage and hook it up when necessary. 

If power outages are rare in your area, you should consider purchasing a midsized inverter unit or a recreational inverter. For example, these midsized models are powerful enough to run a refrigerator, a window air conditioner, or a heater. Conversely, recreational models can power a cooktop and a TV. 

Consider the wattage

After selecting the most suitable type of generator, it’s time to consider the wattage. The best way to determine the ideal size is by adding up the wattage of all appliances you need to power in the course of an outage. Once you make a list, you should add all wattages together and then multiply the calculated number by 1.5 to plan for extra power the appliances require to start. See this link, https://generatorist.com/power-consumption-of-household-appliances, to check out the power consumption of household appliances. 

Diesel vs. gas generators

Diesel vs. gas generators

Most individuals usually hesitate between diesel and gas generators. Both types of units come with their own benefits and drawbacks. For instance, diesel units require less maintenance and are more fuel-efficient than gas models. These units are also safer, as diesel is less explosive and flammable. 

On the negative side, diesel variants are affected by fluctuating fuel prices. Also, they’re louder than the ones running on gas. Gas generators are more convenient, as they are connected to a gas line, meaning the fuel source is readily available. 

Moreover, the cost of building gas units is lower than the price of diesel ones. Additionally, natural gas is considered cleaner when compared to the rest of fossil fuels. Nevertheless, they require more maintenance and need more space. Also, gas is more explosive, imposing a higher risk of fire hazards. 

Final word

Every household stands to gain from a generator!