Ergonomic transport solutions from fetra

In Germany, musculoskeletal disorders are the main cause of incapacity to work, accounting for average production losses of 10 billion Euros per year. This was revealed by a report of Germany’s Federal Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. As primary cause for this development, the report identified harmful effects of improper physical workloads in daily work operations, for example when lifting and carrying heavy loads. In real life, this primarily affects employees in automotive workshops and dealerships. When tyres need to be swapped with the changing seasons, like now in October, service operators literally need to put their back into it. Markus Fissenewert, owner of the dealership Autohaus Hentze in Gütersloh, has found a solution to take some strain off his employees: tyre trucks from fetra. “Now there is no more heavy lifting of tyres, the employee can simply pick them up horizontally from the floor and cart them away”, he says. Autohaus Pietsch in Melle also uses the trucks and trolleys from fetra to protect their employees’ backs both in the warehouse and in workshop operations.

When it’s time for the biannual tyre change, Germany’s automotive workshops are humming with activity. Therefore, it’s particularly bad timing when service employees develop health problems and need to call in sick. To minimise such incidents right from the beginning and provide the employees with a healthy working environment, tyre trucks and tyre trolleys from fetra play a vital role. The welded steel tubing design makes the transport devices very sturdy. Thanks to pre-treatment by shot blasting and subsequent powder-coating, their surface is extremely resistant to impact and scratches as well as being oil and alkali-resistant – perfect qualities for heavy-duty use in automotive workshops and dealerships. Being equipped with spreading carrier spars, activated by opening and closing the hand grips, they allow for quick and comfortable transport of tyres without straining the employees’ backs. With this method, up to eight wheels or tyres with a diameter of 450 to 750 millimetres or up to 200 kilograms can be moved around easily. “The fetra equipment is extremely sturdy and easy to use, ensuring ergonomic working conditions and speeding up operations”, says Erik Heinen, Parts Service Manager at Autohaus Pietsch.

Protecting employees from the wrong physical workloads

In the warehouse, also known as the ‘tyre hotel’ by the people at Autohaus Pietsch, fetra’s tyre trolleys can show off all their advantages. Here, some 3,200 tyre sets are expertly stored and periodically moved back and forth by the trolleys between the workshop and the tyre hotel. As the trolleys can carry up to four sets of tyres all at once, the employees save time by minimising trips between warehouse and workshop. The tyre carriers can be freely adjusted in increments of 150 mm, enabling them to carry tyres of virtually any type and size. Thanks to the firm texture of the standard-fitted fetra TPE castors, the trolleys have a low starting, rolling and swivelling resistance. All this means that operators don’t need to put in a lot of force, can work ergonomically and enjoy maximum protection from the wrong physical workloads and their detrimental effects. “Changing tyres is a back-breaking job, so it only makes sense to provide your employees with the best possible equipment”, summarises Markus Fissenewert.