Ergonomics: Lift tables carry heavy equipment

Handling proprietary information can be a heavy responsibility. Disposing of it can take a special—and heavy—piece of equipment.

Security Engineered Machinery (SEM), a leading supplier of information destruction equipment based in Westborough, Mass., makes shredders, disintegrators and degaussers. A degausser is used to permanently erase data from computer hard drives, making them unusable and ready for secure disposal by banks, hospitals and other organizations that need to protect confidential records.

But before bringing two new degaussers to market, SEM faced some weighty challenges. Because the automatic and manual models were each heavy (300 and 200 pounds, respectively) company executives were concerned that the weight of the machines would inhibit sales. How would a customer unpack the machine and safely move it to a sturdy table or countertop? How would they move it safely throughout the facility?

To address these questions, SEM’s management team partnered with a leading manufacturer of ergonomic materials handling equipment (Southworth Products, http://www.southworthproducts.com) to overcome the challenge of machine mobility and worker safety. The collaboration has resulted in each degausser being sold with its own vertical lift table. The end user can now accomplish safe, efficient relocation of a degausser without risk of strain or worker injury.

Each lift table is equipped with smoothly rolling casters and a platform that moves up and down to the most convenient, ergonomic working height. For the larger, automatic degausser, a powered vertical lift table is now standard equipment. For the smaller, manual model, the choice is a manual lift table, which is raised and lowered with a hydraulic foot pump. Mounting holes are drilled in every platform, and the lift and degausser are packaged and shipped together.