Banding Clips Issue.
It is the case in the UK that despite increasing level of Health & Safety Legislation a laissez faire attitude is taken by most users with regard to the effective control of safety margins applicable to steel and plastic banding strapping used to secure product onto pallets. In fact, most users have absolutely no idea of the effectiveness of their strapping and banding operations, either at the outset or on an ongoing basis, and no interest either!
When unsafe situations are pointed out the common response is 'We've had no accidents yet!
So what are typical 'unsafe situations?
The most common is to use a 25mm long metal banding clip to join plastic straps with break strengths up to 300kgs... because they are cheap. With 'Cheap' can be added 'Unsafe' because these clips can hold loads only within the range 60-100 kgs - that's why they are termed 'Carton Clips'.for use on cartons weighing up to 25 Kgs, not palletised goods that weigh rather more. It also follows that these banding clips do not utilize the inherent strength of most plastic strapping specifications whose break strengths are higher than 100 Kgs. so in the event of accident they will be of little use in keeping a load secure.
Similarly plastic buckles massively de-rate the strength of most plastic banding with some of them failing under test at as little as 35kgs applied load so it is important to check with a supplier exactly what the load bearing capabilities are particularly in the case where they are used to join vertically applied banding straps. The average load bearing capability of a conventional plastic buckle is within the range 60 - 100 kgs. i.e. sufficient for a carton weighing 25 kgs picked up quickly by one strap, as shock loading can easily be 60kgs.
Seldom, if ever, is the condition of the sealing jaws on a strapping banding tool checked to establish if it is working correctly, and providing the seal looks normal after it has been crimped, no further attention is given to it. Appearances can be very mis-leading however, and simply by turning the seal over it can be seen if the clip has been closed correctly.
Thousands of pallets are despatched with the metal banding clip only partially closed on a daily basis, and this of course renders the application of plastic banding to a pallet pointless.
Further information can be obtained by emailing info@pscl.co.uk
Contact The Plastic Strapping Company Ltd for further advice and information.
