Goods lift in a confined space

The 1500kg capacity electro-hydraulic scissor lift is used to transport a variety of roll cages, garment rails and plastic dollies between a goods receiving area and the shop floor. One of the biggest challenges to be overcome was the extremely confined space within which the lift was installed. As a result, the lift was delivered to the store as a set of components which were then assembled on site by Stertil’s installation engineers.

Although the distance between the two levels is less than a metre, Stertil Dock Products was commissioned to ensure that the lift’s design and operation complied with stringent Health & Safety regulations. The adjacent control panel incorporates up/down push buttons plus a hi-vis emergency stop button which is replicated by another installed on the lift. The lift’s doors and sides are fully enclosed with sheet steel to prevent hands and feet becoming trapped, while a chain mesh guard prevents any interference with the lift’s mechanism. In addition, a system of safety trip bars ensures immediate halting of the lift’s movement in the event of meeting an obstruction.

The lift’s confined working space means that there is insufficient room for any type of materials handling equipment such as fork trucks and pedestrian operated pallet trucks. Consequently, loads of all kinds are manually loaded and unloaded onto and off the lift’s 1600mm x 1670mm platform. Incorporating an anti-slip, chequered steel plate surface, the platform helps promote safe handling for the store’s personnel.

“This was a challenging project for us,” says Andy Georgiou, general manager of Stertil Dock Products. “We needed to design a bespoke solution that was not only efficient, reliable and safe but also one that could be installed within an extremely confined area. However, our team of installation engineers rose to the challenge and everything went to plan. The customer is very appreciative of all our efforts and couldn’t be happier with the end result.”