CC Apex Wheels: Ergonomics and Noise Reduction in the Medical Environment
The maintenance department of a hospital uses carts that encounter various types of floor environments, requiring casters that are durable, quiet and easy to push and pull. A Caster Connection Regional Solutions Manager (RSM) was approached by a hospital maintenance department client that was using a standard polyurethane on iron wheel which they found to be difficult to push and noisier than they desired for their environment. The client desired a more ergonomic caster that would use quieter wheels than they currently employed, as well as a wheel that would roll easily on various types of flooring surfaces.
Wheels That Reduce Noise and Push/Pull Requirements: CC Apex
Based on Caster Connection’s RSM’s many years of experience and knowledge of various caster and wheel options, the RSM recommended that the maintenance department switch its wheels to Caster Connection’s 8” wheel from the CC Apex line: the CC Apex 8" diameter caster. The CC Apex is a donut tread, polyurethane on aluminum wheel that has solved problems like those described above in numerous industries including medical, manufacturing and metal fabrication.
The introductory phase of the CC Apex 8" diameter caster involved the installation of the wheel on one maintenance cart. After several maintenance department employees experienced the ease of pushing the cart with the CC Apex wheels, they greatly preferred to use that particular cart rather than the others with the original polyurethane on iron wheels. In addition to improvements in ergonomics, the CC Apex was an improvement over the department’s original wheels by reducing decibel levels and showed no signs of abnormal wear from the hospital’s various flooring surfaces.
Since this trial period, the maintenance department has begun phasing the CC Apex line into all of its carts. Said one maintenance employee after 10 months of using the CC Apex line: “We wish we had these 20 years ago".
