Potential Hazards and Possible Solutions for Pallet Wrapping with Stretch Film

U.S. Department of Labor
Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA)

Potential Hazards:

• After a load has been built, it is generally wrapped with plastic to maintain its integrity during transit. Employees may be injured when performing this task manually.
  They must bend at the waist to wrap the bottom of the pallets while supporting the plastic dispenser.(Fig. 1)

Employees often stick their fingers into the open end of the tubes to stream off the wrap.

This increases the risk of cuts to the fingers. Fig. 1

Figure 1

Possible Solutions:

• Use an automatic plastic wrapping machine with palletized product sitting on a turntable (Fig. 2). This ensures the employee will not have to bend at the waist to wrap the pallet.

Figure 2. Figure 3.

If manual wrapping must be performed, use rolls that weigh as little as possible to minimize the lifting hazard.

A handle (Fig. 3) will prevent employees from placing their fingers into the tube, thus decreasing the risk of cuts.

Click on these links to help you evaluate the equipment solution that is right for your facility and production needs. Call our team for answers to all your questions.

Semi-Automatic stretch wrapper. Economical stretch wrappers for the low to mid volume users who require a better application over manual wrapping.

Fully automatic pallet wrapper. Productivity and efficiency in palletization lines where volumes of up to 80-100 pallets per day are required.