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Care &Maintenance:

25th March 1977, Page 51
25th March 1977
Page 51
Page 52
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Page 51, 25th March 1977 — Care &Maintenance:
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Which of the following most accurately describes the problem?

Heaving equipment about

EVEN IN the best equipped warehouse or transit shed, there are occasions when it is necessary to manhandle goods — either to get them within reach of the fork-lift truck, or to make minor re-arrangements.

This manhandling often involves the heavier, more awkward objects, such as tanks, big cases and steel billets, and one of the best ways of moving them is to place them on a number of steel rollers, and then push them around.

• But what should be used as rollers, and do you slip these beneath the case? It is all too easy to pick up whatever steel bars are lying around_ and as often as not, these bars will have been used as levers, so that one or two of them are bent, while the diameters differ Even if it were not for these disadvantages, the use of bars should be avoided, since they can be very heavy, and difficult to pick up, and it is all too easy to get your fingers trapped beneath them.

It is preferable to use thick tubes as rollers, since they are much easier to pick up. In addition, by placing your finger in the tube, you can move the roller beneath the case, without any fear of it being trapped, should the case be dropped.

Where these tubes are needed regularly, it is worthwhile making up some special rollers, and keeping them purely for the one job. Obviously, the starting point is some lengths of thick-walled steel tube, about 35-50mm t1 1/2-2in) diameter, and the idea is to attach some handles at the ends.

Although the material suable for such handles will vary from workshop to workshop, the chances are that old bolts or shackle pins are the most common components that are readily available.

You need some bolts about 12.5mm (1/2in) diameter, and a large washer, about the outside diameter of the tube, should be brazed under the head of each. Then, the bolt head is inserted in the end of the tube, so that the washer abuts against the end face, leaving the shank of the bolt protruding to provide the handle. The washer is then welded to the tube.

As a finishing operation, some rubber hose can be pushed over the bolt, so that the rollers look as if they are designed for the job in hand, and that way. they are likely to be looked after properly — especially if the staff are used to scrabbling around looking for some suitable rollers every time they have to manhandle some awkward objects.

Although these rollers are a big help, they can become Very dangerous to use unless some means of putting them under the boxes and then of removing them is available. One rough and ready method is to give a good heave with a crowbar, and hope to kick the first roller underneath at the same time.

With two men and two crowbars, there is a little more chance of success, but the real answer is a simple but specialpurpose lever — and this can be made in the workshop.

What is needed here is a lever with a slim blade that can be slid under the case easily enough. The lever needs to be strong enough so that it can then be turned, lifting the case up on one side of the blade, the other side providing the pivot on the floor.

Such a lever can be made from an old leaf spring and a section of tube. Ideally, an intermediate leaf should be used, one that is at least 760mm (30in) long by 50mm t2in) wide by 8mm (0.31in) thick. If it is long enough, of course, a broken leaf can be used.

To start with, one end of the blade should be tapered down to form a wedge, which can then be pushed easily under the case. The end can either be ground down, or can be heated and hammered down on an anvil.

It is also worthwhile to radius off the corners of the leaf, to remove the sharp corners.

Next, the leaf should be bent through 90 but this calls for some care. First, the point where the blade is to be bent — the halfway point — should be marked, and this region should be heated until the metal is a dull red. The blade can then be bent to the L-shape needed, with arms of equal length.

To maintain the strength of the blade, it should be allowed to cool, and then should be re-heated to a dull red, allowed to darken slightly, and then quenched in water.

To gain the necessary leverage, one end of the L needs to be lengthened by the addition of a piece of tube, and so that quite heavy cases can be lifted without much effort, the tube should be 120-150cm (4-5ft) long.

To gain the necessary leverblade, the end of the tube should be flattened over a length of at least 300mm (12in) so that the tube almost reaches the bend in the blade.

If the tube is a tight fit on the blade, the assembly will remain in one piece except when dismantling is needed owing to limited access, and will be treated as a tool by the staff.

The great advantage of this tool is that one man can insert the rollers on his own. First, he drives the tapered end of the lever under the load with a sledge hammer, leaving enough clearance between the vertical portion of the lever and the side of the load for his hands.

Then, by pulling on the lever the man can raise the load sufficiently to insert the roller.

When making one of these levers, it is important to remember that the blade should not be too wide, since the wider it is IF'T more leverage is needed to lift the load.

So, when the rollers are being made, check that the lever is just wide enough to give sufficient lift, any extra width merely means that extra effort is needed.

However, this type of lever can be useful in the workshop as well, and here it may be necessary to use a wider blade for some applications.

In that case, it makes sense to make up some levers with blades of different width, but always keep the narrower ones for the heavier loads. WHETHER we agree with the Government's pay policy or otherwise, we have to abide by it.

Nevertheless, as inflation whittles away at what is in our hard-earned pay packet, not a few employers — hauliers among them — are having twinges of conscience.

They feel that the £4 a week limit is far too meagre, especially for those employees who work steadily and conscientiously as most drivers do.

Yet employers who really are concerned about this situation will probably have had thought (I hope this isn't wishful thinking on my part!) about increased benefits under an existing, private occupational pension scheme.

Provided there is one in force, this might be a possible way of rewarding deserving employees, bearing in mind the concept that a pension is, in effect, deferred pay to be enjoyed at a later date — survival assumed.

But unfortunately at this time, due to the pay restraint policy, there are severe limitations in respect of improvements to occupational pension schemes.

Of course, a new pension scheme could be set up in accordance with the Social Security Pensions Act 1975 if no pension scheme is currently in force, though this would probably have been done in any event in view of the 1975 Act regulations.

Pensions road

Although the pensions road may be mainly blocked, another channel is wide open as confirmed by a Government authority. No restriction has been placed on the provision of permanent health insurance for individuals, or groups of employees, or in fact, for the whole employee force in a firm.

Despite the fact that the idea of permanent health insurance is growing in .popularity, vast numbers of

people and lots of employees do not really understand or even appreciate just what kind of cover is given under this type of insurance.

Statistics show that in respect of persons between the ages of 35 and 65, something like one-sixth (or about 17 per cent) are incapacitated through illness or accident for a prolonged period — and for more than 10 per cent of these the incapacity is permanent Thus the question of long-term illness is not as remote as some of us might think. Perhaps we ought to look at What is on offer.

Personal accident insurance is quite well known. Broadly, if you are off work due to an accident, whether at work or at play or at home, you receive so much a week until you recover and are able to return to work, Certain capital benefits are normally included, such as a cash sum of £1,000 or more if you are killed in an accident. Sickness benefits in addition are usually available if required.

However, sickness insurance is only possible in conjunction with personal accident cover; it cannot be obtained on its own.

One possible snag here is that in the vast majority of cases benefits extend up to two years only. This period is generally sufficient to cover the time a person has to be off work due to accident or sickness.

Yet for long-term illness, such as when someone is bedridden for year after year or is perhaps permanently disabled, the twoyear period is completely inadequate. This is where permanent health insurance (phi) enters the scene.

This type of insurance Cl/4

has been variously known as permanent sickness and accident, continuous disability, non-cancellable disability, income insurance, and several other names.

Some of the names are misleading, some are cumbersome, and some are almost incomprehensible. Thus the name 'permanent health insurance' has come to be generally accepted..

In straightforward terms, this form of insurance is long-term accident and sickness cover. A termination date has to be fixed at the outset of The insurance and this is normally age 60 or 65.

If you wanted to be critical you could point out that if there is to be a termination date then it is not a 'permanent' contract. The insurers' answer is that it is 'permanent' up to the termination date. But that's only a minor carp.

The outstanding feature is that a permanent health insurance policy cannot be amended or cancelled during its currency at the instigation of the insurance company.

Claims may be submitted with frequent or infrequent regularity, but as long as the policy holder continues to pay the fixed annual premium, the insurers have to settle all valid claims and also keep the contract in force on the same terms up to the age selected at the beginning.

Indeed, the principal attraction of phi is that once a claim has been established, payment of benefits will continue throughout the period of incapacity up to the agreed age limit if necessary.

Prolonged absence

Prolonged absence from work due to either sickness or accident is invariably a calamity, both to the person concerned and to his family. An employer cannot be expected to continue salary or wages indefinitely -and financial anxiety can retard an employee's recovery.

A man falls ill, but his responsibilities go on. How can he meet his mortgage repayments, his life assurance premium or his pension contributions? The same considerations apply in the case of many women.

An employee's long-term absence can be serious for the employer, too. Quite apart from the salary or wages paid out while the person is off (and possibly pension contributions are still being met in addition), the employer has to keep his staff at full strength, and may have to engage replacement staff with the consequent expenses of re-training and initial lower product; ity.

Most employers have some arrangements for paying salary or wages during prolonged absence but these may not be clearly defined.

Employees appreciate -as part of their known conditions of employment — the security of an assured income during prolonged absence through sickness or accident. A far-sighted employer sees this as to his advantage, too.

Frequently, full pay continues for a limited period only (say a month to six months) and then perhaps half-salary for a further limited period.

If at the end of this time the employee is still incapacitated, an employer without any plan to safeguard salaries and wages may have no alternative but to call for the employee's resignation or arrange for premature retirement, perhaps on quite a low pension.

A plan to safeguard salaries and wages with an insurance company on a group basis is a business-like way of overcoming these problems.

The prudent employer through such a plan can budget for a known manageable premium, while an employee suffering a prolonged period of incapacity has at least the comfort of long-tern-1 security of a high order.

Benefits can be offered to all employees or to certain groups only, such as senior staff or managers. Working directors might well be included or they could have a scheme of their own.

The income may be arranged to start immediately an employee is away or it may, with an appropriate saving in premium, be delayed for up to, say, 52 weeks. However. 'six months is the most usual period of deferment.

Many firms operate a 'standard' scheme. This provides payment at half-salary scale (to which State benefits would be added), though arrangements can be made for payments up to two-thirds salary, inclusive or exclusive of State benefits.

This gives an indication of the flexibility of a group permanent health insurance policy.

Any hauliers who are interested will want to know the cost of a scheme. Well, they will be pleased to learn that the premium is reasonable.

Normally it is rather less than one per cent of the appropriate payroll, to provide benefit at half-salary level commencing six months after the outset of illness and continuing until recovery or the termination age shown in the policy.

Schemes differ with different insurers, of course. One leading permanent health insurance company offers an attractive group contract.

Where the group comprises 25 or more employees, regardless of past medical history or age, a level of cover is given which is automatic for all those not absent through illness when the scheme begins.

For smaller groups with the same insurers, where medical evidence is involved, the completion of a simple questionnaire is required In some instances a medical examination may be necessary, but this is at the expense of the insurers.

Costs are usually met by the employer alone but under some group schemes, employees contribute a certain proportion. Tax relief is allowed to the employer on his contributions as a business expense.

Assuming the income is paid to employees through the employer (as a master policy is normally issued), employees will be taxed thereon as earned income under PAYE regulations.

Various options are available. For instance, a waiver of premium clause is usually included without extra charge. This means that premiums in respect of any member will be waived in proportion to the amount and duration of any benefit being paid during a period of disability.

With some insurers, provision can be made for both the employer's and employee's contributions under a pension or life assurance scheme to be maintained during the period of the employee's incapacity. This is usually referred to as a pension premium waiver. An escalating benefit clause should be included for obvious reasons, as inflation seems likely to continue for many moons to come. Generally there is an extra charge for this. The escalation may be fixed at, say, three per cent per annum compound or even higher.

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