Material Handling & Machine maintenance Safety Tips

Material handling is a process of moving items throughout the manufacturing, distributing and loading processes. It is one of the daily routines in any workplace. It could be a dangerous task if it is done falsely. It might expose human labor to certain risks and physical injuries to body parts like lower back, limbs, shoulders, knee and neck. It usually involved physical movements like stretching, bending, lifting or carrying. If goods can be loaded in appropriate way, workplace accidents can be reduced or prevented. So, training is compulsory for both management and workers who are involved in moving goods in order to understand the appropriate handling techniques.

Safety tips for material handling:

Self-protection
1. Wear hand gloves to prevent bruises or cuts while moving goods.
2. Wear proper footwear to avoid foot injuries from dropped items.
3. Don’t force yourself and always ask for help if the goods are too heavy or big to carry alone. Workers should cooperate and help each other to ensure a safe working environment.
4. Double check the items to make sure they are safe without nails, sharp or rough edges.

Move correctly
1. Make sure your back is straight and don’t slouch when lifting the goods.
2. Grab the goods firmly and use your legs to support the lifting.
3. Move your legs for turning and do not twist or bend your back.
4. Always move, lift and place heavy goods with help from others. Ask help from co-workers for direction if failed to see the front path.
5. Use ladder to reach goods that are above your shoulders. Stay close to the goods and slowly shift the goods towards you. Let your arms and legs to support the moving process and minimize your back movement.
6. For goods that are placed beneath the shelves, gently move the goods towards you and use your knee to support the lifting.

In addition, regular machine maintenance is needed to ensure the conveyor runs smoothly and decrease injury rates among workers. Overloading can cause mechanical damage to the conveyor. Thus, machinery should be operated by well-trained workers according to the standard operating procedures.

Prior training and regular machine maintenance could help employers and employees to understand the dos and don’ts for material handling. In this modern era, mechanical equipment is invented to ease the work and minimize the need of manual handling.