Manual material handling poses many risks, particularly when it is done by hand. Lifting, pushing, and carrying can be dangerous for workers. Medical costs, loss of productivity, and a decrease in employee morale can be expensive when it comes to material handling injuries. You must prevent injuries and their costs. Here are six tips to help you with material handling.
1. Reduce Ergonomic Hazards.
Problems that lead to excessive physical fatigue among employees are ergonomic risk factors. These factors are often found in manual material handling environments. These three factors are bending, twisting, and other stressful postures when handling materials, repetitive movements such as reaching and lifting frequently, and strong exertions, like lifting or carrying heavy loads. To minimize ergonomic risks, identify all of them and implement control measures to limit employee exposure to all potential hazards.
2. Personal Protective Equipment.
By providing workers with protective equipment, you can reduce the risk of injury when they are moving materials manually. Basic protective equipment is eye protection, safety helmets, steel-toed boots, and metatarsal protectors made of metal fibers or plastic to protect the area under your foot from compression or impact.
3. Upgrade Your Equipment.
Upgrade your equipment to reduce manual handling. Instead of carrying materials manually, use conveyor belts and forklifts with conveyor belt scales. It will not only reduce material handling risk but also increase profitability and productivity.
4. Reduce Vibration And Noise.
It is important to protect the hearing of your employees from noise and vibration. Vibration can cause noise but also lead to musculoskeletal disorders at work and fatigue. You can reduce noise and vibration by using the correct equipment, like wheel materials. The vibration and noise can be reduced by matching the materials of the wheels to the surface. Use softer wheels and shock-dampening castors to reduce noise on a wheeled trolley.
5. React To Reports Of Employee Fatigue.
Manual material handling is a common task that can lead to fatigue and physical exhaustion. Even if you use an ergonomic system that is tailored to your workers’ abilities, manual work on a daily basis can be detrimental to their health. Cumulative fatigue will eventually lead to musculoskeletal disorders. You must encourage your employees to report signs of fatigue and discomfort so that you can take immediate action and implement control measures to prevent the fatigue from becoming a serious injury.
6. The Right Equipment.
Manual material handling can be dangerous, time-consuming, and difficult. You can improve the efficiency and safety of the process by choosing the correct equipment. Conveyor systems are a great way to handle weight loads in varying sizes and shapes. Storage equipment, such as shelves, racks, and pallets, and bulk material handling equipment in melbourne, including trucks, silos, and drums, are also available. Assign and train the right individuals to the correct procedures, and ensure that they follow them. No matter how simple or large the equipment is to use, only trained and authorized individuals should operate it.