3 Things You Might Not Know About Vending
You probably already know that PPE vending machines are a great way to give your workers 24/7 access to the products they need to stay safe. But did you know that vending can also provide important information to improve your safety program? Here are three things you probably know … and three you might not know about vending.
Tracking PPE Compliance
You Probably Know
Vending machines can limit workers to a certain number of products per day, per week, etc.
You Might Not Know
You don’t have to stop there. Since workers need to punch in an identifying code or swipe an ID card to get their PPE, you can manage who has access to what. So you can ensure that welders can only get the welding gloves they need to stay safe and general assembly workers can get general purpose gloves, but not a pair of welding gloves for a job that doesn’t require them. This not only helps ensure compliance and safety, but it can save you money too!
Choosing the Right PPE for the Right Application
You Probably Know
Vending reports are handy for tracking product usage.
You Might Not Know
Vending reports can tell you more than you might think. If your report shows that you have two areas in your facility using a particular glove and you see that the gloves last a week in Area A, but they only last two days in Area B, take a closer look. Does Area B need a different glove that might last longer? Are gloves lasting longer in Area A because workers are leaving their gloves off for some reason like overheating or to use a touchscreen? If you see discrepancies in usage, double-check that everyone is using the right PPE for their application.
Increasing PPE Efficiency
You Probably Know
Vending reduces the time managers spend handing out PPE.
You Might Not Know
There might be more to the story. What happens when workers hit their maximum allowable vend for the day or the week? Chances are, they’re looking for a supervisor or crib manager and asking to get an extra pair of gloves. This is another opportunity to get clues from your vending reports. If you’ve allocated three pairs of gloves per week for a job and everyone in that area gets all three pairs every single week, you might want to ask if they’re using more than you realize. If you find out that a good amount of supervisor time has been spent getting extra PPE for workers, you may want to ask if you need to increase your vending allowances or maybe look for a new glove.
It might be tempting to think of vending machines as nothing more than PPE storage lockers, be sure you’re tapping all the valuable information they collect every time your people use them!
