Fiona Stanley Hospital ~ Custom Pallet Jacks

Challenge:
The linen trolleys used by the Serco facilities maintenance team at Fiona Stanley Hospital needed to be transported by an electric machine once full – they were looking for a handling solution that would be cost-effective and efficient.

Solution:
The use of tow tugs was considered; however, this would have involved replacing the castors on the linen trolleys to allow them to be towed, which would reduce manoeuvrability when being used by staff. The expense was also very high, and downtime extensive. The Backsafe Australia team provided another suggestion in the use of the STURGO® Semi-Electric Pallet Jack. Using the pallet jack to lift the trolleys off the ground meant the trolley castors didn’t need to be altered, and the price was about quarter that of the tow tugs! One of the concerns to be addressed with this suggestion, was the length of the tines – they were longer than the trolley, which posed a collision and injury hazard. To address this, the tine lengths were shortened by our in-house manufacturing team. Rubber strips were mounted onto the tines to prevent the trolleys slipping, and to protect the tine surface.

Product:
11740144 STURGO® Semi-Electric Pallet Jack, with modified tynes