Corporate Objective

Create a barrier to liability exposure Improve employer goodwill Reduce sheeted material losses Liability issues

Liability Exposure

Understand that a “better method” exist in the handling of sheeted material

Create a corporate policy concerning the activity of handling sheeted materials

Incorporate policies in yard level safety meeting

Train employees in the use of the Sheet Separator

Eliminate the practice of manually sliding sheets

Employer Goodwill

Continue to seek out new and better practices

Strive to reduce the risk or prevention of injury

Strive to provide the latest tools to best equip employees

Reduce Sheeted Material Losses

Cut sheeted material losses by up to half

Apply the count and separate method with the “Sheet Separator”

Use the Sheet Separator to provide an opening for the forks

Reduce Sheeted Material Losses Continued

Eliminate when possible the “stabbing method”

Eliminate when possible the “estimating method”

Stop using the forklift to create the initial opening in the stack of sheets

Best Practices

The following slides demonstrate the application of the Sheet Separator

Using the “Sheet Separator” to separate sheets is quick and easy; all three steps can be accomplished in seconds

Hardie Board Example

Step 1: The operator gets off the forklift and counts how many sheets need to be taken off the stack.

Step 2

Once the count is made, the forklift operator takes the "separator" and inserts the tool beneath the bottom sheet that he/she is going to remove from the stack. The “separator”, when inserted, creates a gap of up to 1/2" which is large enough for the forklift operator to insert the tips of the forklift into the stack of sheets.

Step 3

The forklift operator returns to the forklift and inserts the tips for the forklift into the stack of sheets. As the forks go into the stack the separator tool will fall out and it can be replaced, if necessary, with a block of some type to maintain the largest possible gap enabling the forklift operator to fully penetrate the stack without damaging any material

Step 3 continued

Step 3 continued

These pictures show the incursion of a secondary device to maintain the gap as the driver pulls away from the stack and re-approaches with the forklift taking both forks in at the same time

Step 3 continued

Material is safely removed from the stack

damage free.

Liability Claims Employers do not have to be negligent in order for plaintiffs to file

a liability lawsuit Employers must be proven negligent in order for plaintiffs to

prevail in liability lawsuits The absents of corporate policies only aids the plaintiffs Plaintiff’s council seeks to determine if a better method exist but

was not put into practice Legal defense costs can reach $_________ Jury verdicts in employer liability claims have reached as high as

$____________

Worker’s Compensation Claims

Claims are made and paid in the absence of employer liability (negligence)

Worker’s compensation claims cannot and should not be avoided but may be reduced or prevented

The reduction of risk or prevention of a worker’s compensation claim can be viewed as employer goodwill

Increasing Insurance Premiums and Insurability

The average Worker’s Compensation claim can be as high as $_______

Worker’s Compensation premiums can increase as much as $_________, subsequent to the submission and payment of a single claim

Unfavorable “loss runs” can affect the employers ability to successfully change carriers in order to secure lower premiums

Bottom Line Cost

Back injury: upwards of $150,000.00 Liability Claims: Expensive

Legal Expense $300.00/hr or more Time “drain” on staff

Changing old habits are not easy Part cost for the Sheet Separator

Less than $15.00 per forklift Cost based on expected useful life

3 months $0.21/day 6 months $0.11/day

ROI realized almost daily