Large 55-gallon drums can really come in handy when you need something to store certain materials inside your facility. However, every now and then, you might need to move drums around, and you can put yourself and others at risk if you don’t take the proper precautions before doing so. You can sustain fractures, muscle strains, and more if you happen to mishandle a large drum. Take a look at a few tips for handling drums safely below.
Put on protective gloves before moving a drum.
Prior to moving a drum, you should always put a pair of protective gloves on your hands. It’ll prevent you from cutting or pinching your hands on a drum. It’ll also offer you some protection in case whatever is inside the drum happens to spill out.
Figure out how you’re going to get a drum from point A to point B ahead of time.
Once you have your protective gloves on, you should figure out the best way to move a drum. If it’s only going a short distance, you can probably push or pull it to wherever you need it to be. Otherwise, you might be better off bringing in some heavy equipment to get the job done. Whatever the case, don’t start moving a drum until you’ve laid out a clear plan.
Check to see if a drum is damaged before moving it.
After you’ve devised a plan to move a drum, you can start the process of moving it. However, just before you do, you should take one last look at the drum to see if it’s damaged in any way. A damaged drum could be difficult to move. It could also cause the drum to tip over while you’re moving it if you’re not careful.
Avoid trying to catch a drum if it begins to fall.
If at any point a drum starts to fall over while you’re moving it, get out of the way. Your first instinct might be to try and catch it, but it probably won’t work and it’ll only put you directly into harm’s way. The last thing you want is for a harmful material to spill directly on you or your clothing. Move away from a drum when it starts to fall and then report the spill immediately. It’ll ensure the spill is cleaned up as quickly as possible.
The drums that you use in your facility should be the right drums for the specific material you’re storing. Container Distributors carries a variety of drums that would be ideal for almost any materials. Call us at 800-366-5098 today to order drums.
