How to prevent work-related injuries when manually handling goods

Operations with lots of material handling tasks need a safe process for lifting.

According to the National Safety Council (NSC), injuries are most commonly caused by overexertion from handling materials. Next, injuries happen from falls, slips and trips.

In most cases, the risk of injuries can be reduced or eliminated. Fixing process and havign the right equipment can improve staff health, job satisfaction, and efficiency.

This article explores:

• The impact of work-related injuries
• Tips to prevent work-related injuries
• Remove manual handling injuries with lifting equipment

Understand the impact of work-related injuries

Work-related injuries have a big cost for businesses. In the United States, the total cost of injuries from work-related accidents and other events is more than $170 billion, according to the NSC.

Businesses face medical expenses, productivity losses and administrative expenses. According to Libery Mutual, disabling workplace injuries cost businesses more than $59 billion per year.

According to NSC statistics, the most common work-related injury events that cause lost workdays are:

• 33.5% from overexertion when lifting, lowering and repetitive motions
• 26% from contact with objects and equipment, such as being struck by or caught between materials
• 25.8% from slips, trips and falls

The resulting injuries are usually sprains, strains or tears, soreness or pain, and cuts, lacerations or punctures. In the private sector, most injuries occur in the logistics, manufacturing, construction and maintenance/repair industries.

Learn more about the 3 most common types of manual handling injuries.

 

Tips to prevent work-related injuries

The most effective way to reduce the significant human and economic costs of workplace injuries is prevention. But where to start?

All businesses and logistics facilities are different and require unique approaches. However, many will benefit from these general preventative strategies:

1) Ensure adequate training

Insufficient training for how to safely operate equipment, machinery and vehicles causes many accidents. Always make sure that staff members who operate potentially hazardous equipment have the right training to do so.

A high safety standard also needs to be cultivated by management staff and kept up to date.

2) Develop a safety plan - and use it

A safety plan is essential to prevent injuries and have a safe working environment. Assess potentially hazardous procedures at your facility and ensure workers follow industry regulations. 

The safety plan should have rules and checklists for operating equipment, procedures for reporting hazardous behavior or practices, emergency response instructions and other relevant guidelines.

3) Investigate and follow up on safety vulnerabilities

Identify what specific procedures or situations in your facility lead to the most accidents. Investigate the cause of the accidents. Then, develop a strategy to prevent them from happening.

4) Prevent risky behavior

Accidents are more likely to occur when employees push themselves too hard. An example is taking shortcuts to improve output. 

Productivity should not compromise safety. Explain that the company is better off when employees stay safe and healthy and they should not take unnecessary risks.

5) Use protective equipment

Provide and enforce the use of personal protective equipment when it is needed. Examples are hard hats, face protection, safety shoes and earmuffs.

Make sure to train employeee, so they can properly use them.

6) Safety maintenance of equipment and vehicles

Not doing equipment maintenance is costly and a common cause of severe accidents. Create a plan, so vehicles and equipment are serviced on a schedule.

7) Supervise and support employees

All employees should have access to a supervisor if they have questions. Supervision will also help employees perform the right tasks. This helps avoid uncertainty and unnecessary risk-taking. T

For large facilities, this is even more important because staff members are not always aware of each other's roles.

8) Provide the right tools and equipment

Repetitive or heavy manual handling of materials is often the cause of exhaustion and work-related back injuries (shoulder pain, wrist pain and other debilitating issues). Using vacuum lifters, hoists, cranes, conveyor systems and other handling equipment will reduce the risk of injuries.

 

Remove Manual Handling Injuries with Lifting Equipment

Many ergonomic hazards in material handling are due to heavy or incorrectly performed manual lifting. Lifting heavy objects, twisting and other motions causes strain and exhaustion that may lead to back pain.

Education in proper lifting techniques is an important first step to lessen the risk of injury. But that won't eleminate the risk of manual handling. 

A proactive solution is to decrease manual handling as much as possible. This can be achieved with lifting equipment.

How the Right Equipment Can Help 

Employing a tailored vacuum lifting and handling solution, will help: 

• Greatly reduce staff exhaustion by eliminating most of the effort needed to lift heavy loads. 
• Reduce stress on back and shoulders, which is otherwise a central cause of acute and long-term injury. 
• Facilitate easy staff rotation. Since anyone can now lift heavy goods, streamlined staff rotation will mitigate the risks of work-related injuries caused by repetitive tasks. 
• Improve ergonomics  – vacuum lifters may be built for effortless tilting and swiveling. This means that workers can reduce twisting and bending motions. 

Other than the major ergonomic benefits and reduced risk of accidents, vacuum lifters also considerably reduce cycle times. TAWI's bespoke lifting solutions can be complemented with tools to suit any workflow. Don't hesitate to get in touch today to take the first steps in reducing the risks of work-related injuries in your facility. 

Making an Investment 

Lifting equipment helps businesses with safety, efficiency, and staffing. It’s an investment that can reduce operational slowdowns and improve productivity. 

Lifting aids like vacuum lifters can remove negatives like: 

• Lost-time injuries and claims 
• Delays from fatigue and having to re-grip 
• Staff turnover in physically demanding roles 

Lifting aids can add positives like: 

• Higher productivty & thoroughput 
• Consistent speed & quality 
• Retain experienced staff longer 

Which Equipment to Choose? 

There are different kinds of lifting equipment available. The solution you need depends on what lifting task you want to do. 

Match solution to task: 

• Fast box handling → high-frequency vacuum lifter on a jib or overhead crane system 
• Bag handling → multi-functional lifter on a jib or overhead crane system 
• Drums or reel handling & tilting → lifting trolley 
• Transporting items around a facility → mobile vacuum lifters like mobile order picker 
• Unloading a truck/container → container unloader 

TAWI’s solutions can be added into your existing workflow. Our experts can discuss your lifting situation and help you find a solution that fits your needs. 

Don't hesitate to get in touch today to take the first steps in reducing the risks of work-related injuries in your facility.