Whether or not you’ve encountered a walk-behind floor sweeper before there are always a few things you can learn about how to effectively use one. Knowing your equipment inside out isn’t about swotting up and being the perfect employee, it’s simply a means of making your job that little bit easier. With that in mind here are eight tips for operating an industrial walk-behind floor sweeper.
Read The Manual
This may seem an obvious or unnecessary step for some, but the fact is that many new industrial floor sweepers come with a range of new features, and they won’t always handle as the old one did.
Practice Using Your Walk-Behind Sweeper
If you’re going to be using a walk-behind on a busy shop floor or warehouse the last thing you want to do is career into an old lady or a stack of pallets. Find an open space and give yourself time to practice the unit’s basic functions and turning corners.
Consult a Professional
Most companies will have a customer advice line you can use to enquire about best practice, and if any of your colleagues have experience it makes sense to tap into that. Also one of the benefits of walk-behind sweeper hire is that the rental company will have a thorough knowledge of how newcomers interact with their equipment, so get in touch and ask for some tips.
Clear the Area
Before tackling the area which needs your attention you’ll need to remove any objects that will hinder your progress and efficiency first. Then you should start slow, ensuring compatibility between the sweeper and the surface, and gradually build up the confidence to move around more swiftly.
Avoid Moisture
Most manually-powered walk-behind sweepers are designed for use in dry areas only, and the last thing you want to do is return an industrial sweeper hire unit damaged. Check the area for spillages and tend to these before undertaking your sweeping duties.
Empty the Collection Container
Before long your collection container will become full of all the grime and grub your efforts have acquired, and whilst a loaded container won’t necessarily impinge on the unit’s functionality, it will make it heavy and more unwieldy to use. Empty the container at regular intervals to make your job ten times easier.
Monitor the Work
It’s easy to switch off while you’re lugging around a walk-behind sweeper and assume everything’s going fine, but it’s the worst feeling in the world when you think you’ve finished a day’s work only to look back and see the sweeper wasn’t doing the job properly. Keep a close eye out to see if material is being picked up efficiently, watch for signs of cleaning solution liquid, and don’t forget to replenish the cleaning cartridges if the machine uses them.
Keep a Routine
The more frequently you clean an area the faster and more efficient your next pass will be, so make sure that the floors you are tasked with sweeping are regularly tended to. You should also get into the habit of putting the sweeper on charge every time you finish, because the last thing you want is for your working day to be extended by several hours just because you forgot to plug the thing in!
