The Hydraulic Jacks have been in existence for more than 200 years and have evolved throughout the time into various advancements and varieties. However, they’ve been doing one thing common for ages – raising loads with the help of pumping oil in a lift ram. This makes them capable of causing potentially high damage in case they’re used incorrectly. In this article, you’ll know about some of the most important safety tips that you need to follow while working with hydraulic jacks of any kind.

1.Manuals are Not Useless

Different equipment has their features, followed by detailed safety procedures and risks as well. Therefore, you must read the instruction manual thoroughly and even if any safety procedure contradicts with a tip listed here, make sure to follow the manual. In case the manufacturer didn’t provide you a manual in the packaging, you can download one for your model on the internet. Nowadays, companies are reducing paperwork and providing essential guides such as manuals online in printable format.

2.Oil is a Necessity

As in virtually every other machine, the oil fluid in Hydraulic Jacks gets degraded over time and needs to be replaced. In case you keep it running, you’ll find a limited performance problem from your jack. In some cases, it can even cause the jack to fail and never get repaired again. Consider finding detailed information about how to change the oil of your hydraulic jack on the internet. On a general note, the oil in your jack needs to be replaced every two three years.

3.Safety Precautions at work

The reason why this not-so-fascinating tip is on the list – people still do it. Don’t ever put anything you don’t want to lose under a hydraulic jack in operation, especially your fingers. Moreover, you should never even think about crawling under a hydraulic jack while lifting a load. Additionally, you also need to stay away from the pump and make sure you always use axle stands. Hydraulic Jacks are known to cause human injury and you should always inspect the tool properly before working.

4.Cleanliness is Complementary

Several studies reveal the reason behind the majority of work-related injuries – cluttered and untidy space. Due to improper inventory management, the obstacles hinder your work and may lead to a serious injury anytime. Therefore, you need to make sure that you keep your workspace and floor area clean. Store your belongings in a storage cabinet or a box and keep the work area free from clutter to avoid any uninvited injury.

5.Hose Doesn’t Like to be Bent

While you carry your hydraulic jack, make sure you never carry it from the connected hose. It may cause damage to the couplers and the hoses and would require repairing. Moreover, there are several risks associated with using damaged hoses and couplers, and some of these may even cause serious injury. Hence, you must ensure that you never bend the hose of your jack. Moreover, consider lifting the tool from its middle body instead of any other part.

6.Connecting the Hydraulics

No matter what you do, never try to disconnect the hydraulic hoses forcibly by applying pressure. All you need to do is unload the ram and loosen the release screw on the hand pump. It allows you to access all hydraulic controls that you can change according to your preference. In case the system is equipped with a gauge, you just need to double-check it to make sure that the pressure has been released completely from the system.

7.Keep the Load Equal

If you’re using multiple ram lifts, you need to determine the number and the location of lifting points on a priority basis to allow the load to be distributed equally among all the rams available in the Hydraulic Jacks. The technique is also known as load balance and considers several things such as the center of gravity, size, and load geometry to correctly determine the required load balance. This results in better performance and lesser chances of injuries.

 

The Takeaway

 Nobody knows what could happen next, and the only thing you can do is take precautions. With the safety tips listed above, you can make sure that you enjoy a safe user experience while operating your hydraulic jack.