Let’s take a minute and talk numbers… but not necessarily financial numbers.  We’d like to talk safety numbers.  According to the U.S. Department of Labor, in 2015 there were 4,836 workers killed in workplace accidents; that works out to roughly 93 people per week, or 13 per day!  Of that number, over 20% were within the construction industry.  It is a fact that not all of these deaths were preventable, but a great number of them could have been.  Workplace safety is (and needs to be) a fluid thing, changing and evolving as newer practices and technologies come about.  That being said, standards need to be maintained on the older equipment as well. 

The decision to start with the year 2015 was not by chance…January of 2015 was the last time that WTC Machinery had a workplace accident or injury.  In the manufacturing industry, but especially the construction sector, that is really saying something!  That is over 2.5 years without an incident!  We take our training and safety adherence very seriously here, and we try to give our customers the same opportunity. 

As a manufacturer of machinery that is designed to handle heavy construction equipment, it is our mission to ensure that we do everything possible to help minimize workplace injuries related to the operation of that equipment.  For instance, we install custom engineered safety doors and switches on our stationary track presses that prohibit the cylinder from building pressure when open.  This feature minimizes the chance that an operator can be injured by debris or shrapnel while pressing out the pins and bushings of even the largest tracks.

Now, it bears mentioning that you can have all the safety features in the world, but if you alter, remove, or disable them, well then you’re really just inviting an incident.  The force required to perform some of these operations is immense…hundreds of tons of pressure.  Operating these machines without the safety features in place is like setting a steel bear trap with the mindset that it can do no more harm than a mousetrap! 

In an effort to make sure that our customers have every opportunity to ensure as safe a workplace environment as possible, WTC offers extensive training in the proper operation and maintenance of our machines.  Our service professionals work with your operators, giving them the hands on training that is needed to ensure safe, efficient operation of our equipment.