Monthly Archives: November 2015

Gold mining heavy equipment is a must in a mining site

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Like the construction industry, mining industry is an equally profit making industry with people making good money being employees of a mining company. Especially, when the mining company is in to extracting gold from the earth you do not require any special heavy equipment to do so. The one which is been used in a construction site like an excavator or a backhoe loader can also be used in a gold mining site. However in addition to this, it may require few specific components but overall it has no major difference as far as the equipment are concerned. Though gold mining is one of the most profitable businesses in the entire mining sector but it needs precision while you get to the bottom of the metal. Other than that, one also needs to consider the safety measures while you are into the mining sector. There are many accidents that have been reported due to mere negligence or for not following very simple safety rules. One has to always follow the fundamentals of the safety structures or else it can become really dangerous for the people involved in it.

The role of an excavator in the gold mining industry is immense. Along with the excavator equipment like Jaw Crusher and Hammermill are equally important. Some of the equipment may be a part of small sized machines but have a huge role to play in the gold mining industry. There are people who believe in making heavy equipment for gold mining on their own but it requires great deal of training and learning in order to become capable of making those equipment on your own. Therefore, it is advisable that if you like to see your career taking shape in the gold mining industry, first try to work for a mining industry and learn how exactly one gets to the metal and then you start playing with things and take rational decisions on heavy equipment. If you don’t have much knowledge about equipment needed in the gold mining sector, it is better that you stick to the basics and try to avail some information from the website.

Buying of heavy equipment should not be a problem as you can make good use of websites that sells heavy equipment online. There you can get all sorts of equipment depending upon the nature of your business. For instance, companies that are huge in size can go for big machines and the ones that are not so big can go for equipment that suit their purpose. Overall, the websites has everything for everyone. Most of the heavy equipment manufacturing companies also list their items on the website but that is not so often. Ideally, it is the dealers who list the items on the site. You should check if they have any offers for you. Normally, offers are mentioned in the listing but still if you feel like checking it out directly with the person selling it online, you have the liberty to do so.

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Construction workers are more prone to risk during extreme cold conditions

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Incidents of accidents have become very common in a construction site and in spite of taking corrective measures by the higher department, these incidents are simply not willing to cease. At some time, it is the workers fault as they skip to follow the safety parameters and go to do work without the safety accessories, thus putting their life at extreme risk. At other times, it is sheer negligence that needs to be blamed for such accidents. The sad part is after experiencing so many unfortunate incidents, the construction workers and the higher management has still not found a way to tackle the menace. Ideally, one can’t adopt a mechanism that will alert them about a possible danger other than being cautious about it. It has been seen that most of the times, construction workers tend to work carefree and gets themselves hurt or killed.

During winters, the situation is worse. Workers have to work on icy roads where there are high risks of slipping while working and this may lead to major accidents. They may also not be able to foresee a possible danger and may go straight into it. Overall, winter is a big pain for both the construction companies as well as for the workers with no real solution around. There are few tips that one can follow to minimize the incidences of accidents happening in a construction site during winters.

Educate the workers about safety parameters:-

In order to save the valuable lives of workers, they should be educated about the safety parameters that are followed by the company. Not many workers may know how to use the devices when there is an emergency. You can’t expect them to know everything right from the very beginning. They need to be trained and should be explained about the various safety rules that one should follow. Concurrently, they should also be trained in how to save one’s life by giving mouth to mouth resuscitation, providing first aid to a fellow worker, emergency numbers to call etc. Once all the workers are trained in this, the number of casualties may decline.

Prevention is better than cure:-

There are workers who unknowingly risk their life to complete a given task. They skip to follow the basic rules of safety and in this process hurt themselves. We all know the saying “Prevention is better than cure”. However, we hardly walk on what we know. This is something that should be stopped. When a worker is given a dangerous task, he should be equipped with all the safety amenities so that in case he falls off the machine, he has something to save his life.

Very cautious while working in the snow:-

While you are working in the snow, there are high chances that you can get deceived by seeing everything white around you. You may fail to see a danger and if you are in a hurry, you may invite trouble. Therefore, you should always work in ease on the snow and take utmost care of your as well as your colleague’s safety.

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Heavy equipment rental prices

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Heavy equipment can always fetch you good price irrespective of them being new or old. If you wish to sell it or let it out they always have a value attached and can prove to be a good source of income. Moreover, you will always find takers for your machine. Renting heavy equipment has been a viable option for people who do not want to completely do away with their equipment. They may need the machine later but may not see any temporary use of it and therefore they decide to rent the machine and earn some money in this process. For people who want to rent their machine should be aware of the existing rental price and can’t ask for an amount that sounds to be extravagant. They have to first do a proper research on what others are charging for similar equipment and accordingly he/she can quote his rate.

Knowing the correct rental price has often been a challenge for the giver. Your machine may not be that old and is quite efficient on the jobsite. You are quite unsure of the rental amount that you should put on the machine as you fear that you might either over price the item or may leave it underpriced. In order to know the correct rental price, you can approach few rental houses that work exclusively in this department and gather information to know what price you should be renting the equipment/machinery.

In case you do not wish to take help of any external 3rd party company and want to work it out on your own then the most viable choice would be to check out few websites that deals with renting heavy equipment. However, this process can be quite time consuming and you should do this only if you believe that you can devote your time and energy in gathering all the information required to know the correct rental price. Once you have started browsing the websites of companies that deals with renting heavy equipment, check out the listings of people who have posted their item on the website. Go through the description as that will suggest the quality of their machine and the price they are quoting on it. You will be able to identify if your machine is better than theirs and if you should be quoting a higher price.

It is also important to understand if the takers are ready to take the item at the quoted rental price. There could be many people who must have listed their item without even trying to know the correct rental price. Therefore, check the profile of those members who have successfully rented their equipment. It is only through them that you will get to know the correct rental prices or different sorts of heavy equipment. Once you are sure about the price, you can simultaneously register yourself on that website and post your machine. If you have more than one machine to rent, you can state that on the description so that people who are looking for multiple machines can find you appropriate enough and will go ahead with the deal.

Growth of the construction industry is co-related to the economic prosperity of a country

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The growth of any business is directly related to the amount of effort one puts in his business to make it big. However, it is also co-related to the economy of the country. If the economy is sluggish, you can’t really expect much from the business, no matter how hard you work to develop it. You have to wait for the economy to gather some speed so that things work for you and you start doing well. It has also been witnessed that the economy is doing great. However, it is just few specific industries that are not performing due to certain policies of the governing body. This also plays a vital role when it comes to the development of the business. If you are also a part of the industry that is affected by the policies of the governing body then it may cause harm to your business as well. You may suffer hardships till the time the policies are not amended for the betterment of the industry.

Things are quite similar when it comes down to the construction industry. This industry does really well and favors everybody who is associated with it when the policies are favoring it or when the economy in a whole is doing well. But when we check the flip side of the coin where the policies are against the construction industry or the economy is in a pathetic state, the same industry that was booming and was favoring a whole lot of people can turn upside down for everybody. This however does not imply that one should shut shops when the industry is not doing well. It is also not practically possible to close the construction business at the time when things are not going your way and to pick it up from where you left when things are back in shape.

The recommended option would be to go slow when the tide is against and ask the investors to hold on with their investments for some years (if you are associated with constructing condos). You can also take up small works/projects that come your way. When things are not working out for you, it is better that you stick to projects that do not have a good profit margin. That will at least help you to keep the company floating and you may not have to look for any cost cutting measures.

Just in case, you fall in the category where you are unable to get any business neither big nor small, it is prudent that you cut short on your costs by either renting your heavy equipment or if you feel necessary then selling the one off that you feel you may not need them any longer. If things does not become any better after taking these measures, then the last resort to keep your company floating would be to sack employees who are not so experienced but still have a good package. That will help a bit to cut down the cost and you can expect things to move on for few more months.

 

Selling construction equipment is tougher than selling any consumer durable item

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Many people consider the profession of a salesman to be one of the most difficult profession and they have valid reasons to counter it. The important question is why anyone would buy anything from a person that they have not seen or have not known before in their lives. It is very difficult for anybody to trust a person they are not familiar with and it becomes all the more difficult if the salesman is trying to sell things whose brand is not a known one.

There is still scope to sell a consumer durable product to a person but if you are dealing with selling heavy equipment your customer horizon gets further contracted. It is not everybody who will require buying heavy equipment. As long as the person is associated with the construction or mining industry, it makes sense for him to give his time listening to the talks of a salesman trying to sell heavy equipment but other than that, it would be a complete waste of time to pitch the product to people who have nothing to do with these industries.

Product knowledge should be up to the mark:-

Remember when you are dealing with heavy equipment, your product knowledge should be real good. People selling consumer durable products need not be that thorough with their product knowledge because just by creating the need for the customer, he can make the sale. Using the same tactic in case you are selling heavy equipment will definitely backfire at you and will never work for you. So, it is prudent that you do your own research about the product that you are trying to sell and gather as much information as you can that can be pervaded to the end user.

Selling is an art and by practice you’ll master it:-

It has never been easy to sell anything to anyone. Selling is an art and it takes time for one to master it. You got to meet as many people as you can and try to sell them your product. As far as selling construction equipment are concerned, your customer market gets contracted to people belonging to the construction segment. You got to reach them and try to make sure that you fix an appointment with them. Meeting them in person can make a lot good to you in learning how to sell stuffs to people. You can also take your senior along with you. Someone who is good in selling heavy equipment. Check his style, his posture and the way he speaks. You may not adopt everything he does but should pay attention on the way he speaks to the customer.

Do not lose heart if you fail to sell:-

You got to be strong mentally especially when you are failing to sell machines to people. Not everybody will need what you are selling at that point in time. They may keep your number with them and may call you when they feel the need. It is important that you always move to the next person and try to pitch the product in a better way.

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The Proper Ways of Preparations for Bad Ground

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The construction industry frequently suffers from various problems that result due to the poor conditions of the grounds that are often overlooked. It goes without mention that the affectivity of all construction equipment will rely heavily on how the condition of the construction grounds are. If you need to drive a heavy machine in the construction ground, it is very important that you make sure that the ground is strong enough to withstand the force and the weight of the machine. At the same time it is very important to put pads or cribbing under your feet so that the load could be spread out while deploying stabilizers or outriggers. This is a very important step as far as the reduction of the bearing pressure of the ground is concerned.

It is to be noted that a lot of problems regarding bad grounds could be avoided with proper planning. Therefore, it would be quite important to have a thorough knowledge of geology as well as soil mechanics. It is important that all the essential information regarding the construction ground are gathered and analyzed. Identification of the exact conditions of the ground is going to play a very important role in this regard. However, there are various other aspects such as the source of the information, verification and legal liabilities that have to be considered as well. It is also very important that the amount of money and time that is to be invested for the investigation of the site so that the ground conditions can be explored. Ill prepared grounds can be very dangerous for construction.

It is highly detrimental to take decisions based on assumptions in the construction industry. It is true that a lot of experience can bring the ability to judge certain situations. However, two situations are hardly the same and so it is important to run the tests on the ground conditions on a more applied level in order to ensure safety. Misinterpretations of assumptions can be simply asking for accidents in construction sites. It is not very unusual for operators with ample experience to be inexperienced or not so familiar with outrigger mats and the science of it. a good guide would know when to pick wood over plastic or why it is better to go with pads that are 100mm thick as compared to 50 mm ones.

It is important to stick to the guidelines so that you can construct with ease and safety. However, it would be not be wise to rely on any source that you find on the internet. Among a few important documents on the subject the following is a trustworthy source: Ground Conditions for Constructing Plant is a practice guide that has been developed by the UK Strategic Forum for Construction. Although it is at a developing stage at the moment, you can get the final version by the end of the current year. Although some of the issues pertaining to legalities are quite specific to the readership of the UK but the guidelines on engineering and physics are universal.

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Being intoxicated doesn’t mix well with heavy equipment

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Ever imagined how difficult it was for you to drive your car the last time you were intoxicated. Well, it is not at all possible for anybody to do anything right when he/she is under the influence of alcohol or any substance that has the potential to intoxicate our system We may have no control on our self and it becomes all the more difficult to do any small piece of work. Driving vehicle can become far more dangerous for us as well as for people around us. Now, imagine that you are working in a construction company and are given to operate the heavy equipment. You somehow wished to take few drinks and you turned up to the site. You thought that you would be doing fine even after having those drinks. But the moment you begin to work, you start feeling dizzy and your head starts spinning. You tend to lose control over yourself and in this process you find yourself nowhere in the position to operate the machine and if you still stress yourself and work on the equipment, you stand with higher chances of committing accidents thus probably injuring or even killing people on the site.

The construction company needs to take stern steps to ensure that all of its employees are doing well and are in their proper state of mind. If possible conduct tests on employees that they find skeptical. However, under no cost that they should allow their men or women to work in intoxicated state. It just does not go well with heavy equipment.

Conduct various trainings informing people the dangers of working in an intoxicated state:-

Many people are of the opinion that they can work better when they are intoxicated. They feel that they become more attentive and can do their work well after having few drinks or after having some sort of drug. Therefore, they tend to take few shots of drinks before they enter the cabin of the machine. It is really important to tell them that their very thought is completely incorrect. You find yourself to be more attentive because you feel sleepy but still at the back of your mind you know that you have to work all day and therefore you try hard to keep yourself awake. There is a need to impart trainings at every construction site on the hazards of working in an intoxicated state. Show them some real life pictures of the aftermath after working in an intoxicated state. That might open their eyes and they will realize how perilous it is to continue working in that way.

Install detectors that will detect if people are intoxicated:-

Construction companies for the good of its employees can install detectors that shall be used on employees who will be working on heavy equipment to detect if they are intoxicated. In case if they are, then they shall be asked to leave for the day. If possible, give them a notice and a stern warning stating that if they come to work again in this condition then they shall be expelled from work.

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Equipment Safety Tips

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Heavy equipment being such an important part of the construction industry, it can be said with no doubt that one needs to take good care of the machines he possess. He can’t just play around with things because if machines fail to function when it is supposed to, he will be into some real serious trouble. Therefore it is important to say that before the start of any project, check the health of your heavy equipment and if you find something not so correct, you better get that fixed first and then put them to use. Concurrently, one also needs to follow quite religiously the safety procedures when it comes to their heavy equipment. When safety procedures are followed it only lengthens the life of the machines making things more comfortable for you.

There are innumerable incidents that get highlighted on a regular basis that happens due to not following all the safety tips leading to heavy losses to property and at times even to life.

We will be discussing few heavy equipment tips that we all can follow to keep our machines healthy and simultaneously incur less cost on the repairs and fixtures.

Get good trained men on your machine:-

You should realize that you are dealing with big heavy machines that can turn dangerous if not operated by trained men. Give it to a newbie and he will make a big mess out of it. Therefore, it is of immense importance that you let your construction equipment to be operated by trained men who have sizeable experience in dealing with such huge stuffs.

Communicate with people around you:-

When you are working on the machine, it is imperative that you keep on communicating with people who are around you. It would be foolish to assume that they will understand your next move and will move away from your path. They may be engrossed with their work and if you fail to talk to them and ask them to move away you might find them exactly on your way and that might lead to some serious eventualities. Get your walkie-talkie out or 2-way radio so that you can ask people to get out of the way. Do not make a situation where things will become difficult for you to take care of.

Check your machine at the end of the day:-

You might be working very hard all day along and do not get the time to check if everything is ok with the equipment even though you get a slightest of hint of some problem. In a situation like this, you should check the machine at the end of the day and see what could be the problem and if it is a serious one try to report it to the people in charge. The repair team will take it from there and will fix whatever issues it had.

Regular maintenance is the key:-

This is perhaps the most critical and also the most ignored thing. Due to enough load of work, regular maintenance of machines can be easily forgotten. However, that will make matter worse and therefore try to get some time out of your busy schedule and ensure that you service the machine on a regular basis.

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Heavy equipment safety topics

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Since we consider heavy equipment to be the most important tool in the construction business, we should also give some importance to the safety of this equipment. It is undoubtedly because of these equipment that the construction industry is able to make so much money. Hence, they must ensure that they keep the machines healthy, secure and safe from any sort of hazard. Big construction companies have adopted a number of measures for the safety of their heavy equipment. The mid-size and small companies are also doing their bit in make sure that their machines are always in order.

Few very basic yet important things that can be done to keep the machines safe are discussed herein.

Machines do fall sick if not checked in time:-

Heavy equipment like humans may fall sick if they are not checked at regular intervals. They do give signs of not feeling well. It is just that the one who is operating the machine should be able to catch those signs and treat it well. Signs like too much noise from the engine are clear indication that the health of the machine is deteriorating and it needs to be checked as soon as possible. Ideally once should make sure that he services the equipment at regular interval and while the machine is being given for servicing, the mechanic should inform the owner if he finds any part of the machine as faulty. Then it becomes the call of the owner to replace the faulty part at that point in time or during the next servicing.

The mechanic should reveal how urgent it is (if at all it is) to change the part. Just in case if it needs urgent attention of the owner, then that should be communicated and needs to be replaced immediately.

An expert mechanic should be the one working on your machine:-

Always try to ensure that you get your machine checked by an expert mechanic who has loads of experience in servicing as well as repairing machines like yours. A newbie will definitely take more time to repair the stuff and there are high chances of him doing a blunder which may not happen if it is worked by the expert guy. You can generate a good rapport with the mechanic so that every time you have him working on your equipment.

Take necessary steps to keep the equipment safe from extreme weather conditions:-

Extreme weather is another cause of worry that many heavy equipment owners have. They need to treat their machines differently at different weathers. Like during summer, they need to ensure that the engine of the machine remains cool and ensure that it does not get overheated. During monsoon, they need to check that the machine is cleaned regularly or else there are high chances of huge portion of dirt making its way to the interiors of the machine causing wreckage. Winters are again a headache. Due to huge blocks of snow all over the road, it becomes almost impossible to work at a site. There the heavy equipment owners should make it a regular business of checking if the machine is in order and if there are any issues that needs to be sorted with immediate effect.

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Construction equipment manufacturing companies putting stress on producing environment friendly machines

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Innovation is the key for any industry and so it is in case of heavy equipment manufacturing companies. They give a lot of importance to innovation and work relentlessly to make better products for the end user. They understand that in order to survive in this industry, they need to come out with products that are little different from others and especially when they have already established a brand name they do not want that to get ruined. Recently, their focus is to produce machines that are environment friendly and the reason they feel they should be putting their focus there is because of the tremendous increase in air pollution.

Air pollution has been a major cause of concern for everybody and more so to the owners of the construction companies. Many construction workers are falling sick due to inhaling toxic air and many are coming up with various kinds of serious respiratory ailments. They just can’t afford to lose their workers to such respiratory ailments and hence they are also looking forward to machines that are eco-friendly. Construction manufacturing companies are already in the process of producing machines that runs on gas and not diesel. What they came to know through various surveys is that diesel machines are major contributor or toxicants in the environment and if they can be replaced by eco-friendly machines then that will make things far better for everyone.

Government is setting laws to reduce release of intoxicants:-

Governments of many countries are also aware of the menace diesel run machines are causing to the environment and hence they are also making laws that could prevent the release of toxic gas in the environment. They have urged to the construction and mining companies to take due notice of this issue and to act accordingly. These companies on the other hand have moved to the heavy equipment manufacturing companies and specified their demands to them. It is quite evidently going to take some time for them to produce bio-friendly machines in large numbers especially when there are still some small companies that would prefer to work with diesel run machines. They say that they do not work on a larger scale due to which they do not do more harm to the environment. Government is also not going too strict with them but is keeping a close watch on what the big companies are doing.

Will save a lot of money that is otherwise used to buy diesel:-

Construction companies spend a fortune for buying diesel to run their machines. If they switch over to environment friendly machines, then they save a lot of money that they otherwise spend on buying diesel. The price of gas required to run such machines are not much and hence the day is not far when most of the construction companies will demand for these kinds of machines. Though the price of eco-friendly machines are quite higher than the ones that run on diesel but still it is worth buying in order to keep our workplace safe and healthy for everyone.