Manual Material Lifting, Handling And Stacking

www.safetygoodwe.com 

SAFETY TALK

Manual Material Lifting, Handling And Stacking

Your back is a sophisticated piece of machinery made up of numerous muscles, bones, nerves, and supporting tissues. It’s a machine you use every day, probably in ways you don’t even notice. Just like the finest machinery, your back requires proper care to keep it working.

Points to be remembered while lifting;

• Don’t bend over an object you are lifting. Bend your knees, squatting in front of the object to reach it.
• Lift the object slowly and carefully, using your leg and arm muscles to lift, not pulling with your back.
• Keep your head up and look straight ahead while making the lift. - While lifting, keep the object as close to your body as possible.
• Keep abdominal muscles tight while making the lift.
• Use the same techniques when you put the object down.
• If the object is too big or too heavy to lift using these techniques, use mechanical assistance or get someone else to help.

Points to be remembered When reaching for objects;

• Do not reach for an object unless you’re sure you're strong enough to lift it. 
• Use a step ladder to reach objects above shoulder height.
• Avoid awkward stretches while reaching. These stress your back and could cause you to lose your balance.
• Don’t depend on structures to support you (e.g. a shelf support, a storage rack, etc.) These could easily give way if you pull or tug on them.

Exercise also plays an important role in keeping your back strong, healthy, and flexible. A properly exercised back is less likely to be injured. Always be alert for situations that could cause a back injury. Be kind to your back. Don’t take unnecessary chances. By following proper lifting and reaching techniques and exercising properly, you'll help keep back problems behind you !

Most common types of injuries:

Sprains and Strains account for about a third of injuries at workplace. These soft tissue injuries occur frequently, and are painful, disabling and often accompanied by lengthy recovery periods. Maintaining good physical fitness is essential in avoiding sprains and strains.

Sprain - an injury to a ligament, the tough, fibrous tissue that connects bones to other bones. Sprain injuries involve a stretching or a tearing of this tissue. Ankle, knee and wrist injuries account for the majority of sprains.

Strain - an injury to either a muscle or a tendon, the tissue that connects muscles to bones. Back injuries are the most prevalent in regard to strains. Depending on the severity of the injury, a strain may be a simple overstretch of the muscle or tendon, or it can result in a partial or complete tear.

SPRAINS AND STRAINS PREVENTION

To minimize the chances of sprains, observe the following practices:

• Practice safety measures to help prevent falls. For example, practice safe housekeeping by keeping work areas clear of clutter.
• Avoid strenuous activity on the job when tired or in pain.
• Use extra caution when working on slippery surfaces such as ice or wet floors.
• Always wear appropriate and proper fitting footwear for your job.
• Use extra caution when walking across uneven surfaces. These are areas where you could easily turn or twist an ankle or knee.
• When stepping off ladders, always look where you are placing your feet, before you put your full weight on them.

 

To minimize the possibility of incurring strains, observe the following practices:

• Whenever possible, arrange your work areas to minimize the amount of heavy lifting required.
• Before any heavy lifting activity, always warm up, using moderate stretching exercises. Do not stretch aggressively as you may over-stretch and injure yourself.
• Always plan the lift. Consider the weight of the object; how far you must carry it and your route of travel. When you approach an object on the floor, try to get an idea of how heavy it may be by moving it with your foot or cautiously lifting it off the ground. If the object is too heavy, seek additional help or use a mechanical lifting device such as a forklift, hand truck or winch.
• Lift objects in the “power zone”. This is the area between mid-thigh and mid- chest height. Avoid lifting objects outside this zone. Use your best judgment when lifting heavy objects.
• Do not attempt to lift an object that exceeds your strength, and use extreme caution when lifting objects exceeding 50 lbs.
• Always carry objects close to your body.
• Always lift slowly and smoothly.
• Avoid twisting. Always turn the whole body as one unit when changing direction while carrying a heavy object.
• Move heavy objects by pushing or pulling, whenever possible. Pushing is always preferable.
• Always stand close to the object that you are lifting and be certain that fingers and toes are clear when setting it down.
• Always lift with your legs and not your back.

Key Important Point To Be Remember _ _ _ _ _ _

1. Where assessed gloves should be worn to protect against cuts, scratches, or punctures.
2. Wear safety footwear to protect feet from falling loads.
3. Size up the load and if necessary, make a trial lift of a few inches.
4. Do not attempt to lift alone any load that is too heavy, too large, or awkward. Do not attempt to lift anything weighing 25kg or more alone.
5. See that there are no obstructions in the direction you will be going.
6. Take up position, feet hip breadth apart, one foot slightly advanced pointing in direction it is intended to move.
7. Bend the knees; back muscles should be relaxed. Keep your back straight.
8. Get a secure grip of the load.
9. Lift, keeping the back straight, arms close to body, leg muscles taking the strain
10. Step off in the direction advanced foot is pointing, load held close to body
11. Do not carry a load which obscures the vision
12. When lifting to a height from the floor do it in two stages
13. Ensure any medical condition that you have, or have had in the past, that may affect your ability to carry out manual handling operations safely is brought to the attention to the site management. This will enable allowances to be made in ascertaining the safest method of manual handling.

Material handling Injuries

Material handling injuries are not limited to any specific locationsor jobs. Strains, sprains, bruises and cuts are the most common. They are caused primarily by unsafe work practices, not unsafe conditions. People will lift improperly, carry too heavy loads, incorrect gripping, failure to observe proper foot or hand clearance, and fail to wear proper PPE. Most of such injuries occur to fingers and hands.

The following few general points may help prevent such accidents.

• Inspect materials for slivers, jagged edges and burns, rough or slippery surfaces. 
• Wear proper PPE.
• Get a firm grip on the object.
• Keep fingers away from pinch points, especially when setting down materials. 
• When handling long objects like pipes, keep hands away from ends.
• Wipe off greasy, wet, slippery or dirty objects before trying to handle them.
• Keep hands free of grease and oil.
• Wear safety shoes to prevent foot injuries in case you drop something. 
• Get help if the load is heavier than half of your own weight.
• Use mechanical devices for lifting heavy loads.

Manual handlings activated are a significant of injuries in the construction sector.

Main Points

• You must take reasonable care of your own safety and the safety of others.
• The primary aim is to eliminate manual handling so far as is reasonably practicable (i.e. use mechanical handling).
• Where manual handling must be carried out, then it must be assessed and proper procedures must be used.
• Plan deliveries and storage to take into account load sizes, locations and distribution.
• Assess all loads: are they heavy, bulky, unstable, difficult to grasp, sharp etc? Size up the load and, if necessary, make a trial lift by rocking it from side to side and then lifting it a few inches.
• Can you handle the load yourself or do you need assistance?
• Wear suitable clothing and PPE such as gloves and safety boots to protect against cuts, crushed toes, etc.
• Is there sufficient space, suitable lighting and a clear route to where you are taking the load?
• Do not carry a load that will obscure your vision.
• If necessary, move loads in stages

Always use a good handling technique:

• Stand reasonably close to the load, feet hip width apart with one foot slightly forward pointing in the direction you’re going.
• Bend your knees whilst keeping your back straight and get a secure grip on the load.
• Breathe in before commencing the lift.
• Carry out the lift smoothly using the legs to take the strain, keeping the back straight, chin up, and arms close to the body.
• Step off in the direction the advanced foot is pointing, keeping the load close to the body.
• If necessary, stop for rests en-route and avoid any jerky or twisting movements.

MATERIAL STACKING

Many accidents occur when materials have to be taken from stacks. When this is done by hand.

Care taken when material is stacked initially can help prevent many of these. SAFE MATERIAL STACKS SAVE INJURIES

1. When handling materials wear protective clothing e.g. Helmet, gloves and steel toed boots.
2. Only stack material in authorized areas, NEVER near doorways, access ways or on fire routes.
3. Stack on a level surface and provide packing.
4. Never make stacks higher than 3 times the minimum base width.
5. Materials stacked by machine may have to be removed by hand, consider this in the method of placing. MACHINES CAN LIFT GREATER LOADS TO A HIGHER LEVEL
6. When handling materials by hand, check weight, if in doubt ASK. Do not attempt to lift anything weighing 25kg or more alone.DO NOT ATTEMPT TO LIFT MORE THAN YOU FEEL ABLE. Keep your back straight and knees bent.
7. If material is being lowered by machine, keep hands clear of load and / or sign.

SHEET MATERIAL

• Stack flat where possible. If corners are sharp - PROTECT (examples: - reinforcement mesh, steel sheets).
• If stacked vertically, use suitable racks to prevent collapse - material stacked vertically against walls can collapse whilst being removed or may overload walls etc.

PIPES AND TUBES

• Where small diameter stack in racks or still ages.
• If large diameter secure chock at base and at subsequent cross bearers. Pyramid stacks can quickly spread and ‘a rolling tube damages toes’

In general: - Be aware of your working circumstances, use your judgment and act safely. Look before you leap, check before you start

BACK INJURIES 

Minor back strains and sprains, usually associated with lifting or handling tasks, occur often to workers. These injuries usually manifest as upper or lower back pain. Low back pain is second only to the common cold as the most frequent cause of absence from work. Most low back pain incidents abate quickly, and generally allow workers to return to work. However, severe sprains and strains, which may be associated with incidents such as falls from heights or automobile accidents, will usually require longer periods for recovery. 

In addition to the many minor sprains and strains which are common in industry, low back pain cases are also the most chronic and costly back ailment. 

Chronic cases usually are not attributable to a specific event, although many in industry mistakenly attempt to relate such cases to particular events. These back injuries can be viewed as cumulative trauma, developing over a period of weeks, months, or years, and result in nonspecific low back pain. Because of the tendency to relate all back injuries to a single traumatic event, usually the activity being performed at the onset of symptoms, workers suffering from low back pain may be seen as malingerers, especially when this activity is lighter work. 

LOW BACK PAIN 

Unlike common sprains and strains, which are known to involve muscles, tendons, and ligaments, non-specific low back pain is termed “idiopathic”, having no known specific cause. 

The condition is painful and can seriously impair a person's ability to function. Although low back pain is usually episodic in nature, chronic or residual pain due to cumulative trauma may develop. Chronic, rather than episodic pain most often affects workers in their 40's. Among still older workers, those in their 50's and 60's, the incidence of low back pain tends to decrease.

INCIDENCE

The largest incidence of low back pain for males occurs between the ages of 20-24, and for females between 24 and 34. However, younger workers tend to have less severe disorders than their older counterparts. Usually, the condition improves quickly in younger workers. The most severe cases tend to occur to workers in their late 30s and 40s. The average age of patients undergoing diskectomy (surgery to the discs to repair damage) is 42. 

Low back pain is pervasive throughout our population, 80% of the general population experience some form of the condition at some point in their lifetimes. Sciatica, a neuritis of the sciatic nerve running through the back of the thigh near the low back, affects 40% of the general population at some time in their life. Sciatica and low back pain are often linked, and sometimes are difficult to differentiate. Fourteen percent of the population are experiencing low back pain at any given time. Low back impairment (reduced ability to function) affects about many  working population each year. 

Low back disability (lost time or restricted work) affects about most of the industrial population each year, which accounts for heavy of compensation claims for lost wages. In terms of low back cases overall, relatively few cases account for the vast majority of costs. 

Total annual costs for low back injuries are more, Low back pain is clearly a serious and prevalent problem in our society. Only few of low back cases account for the costs. Larger insurance carriers pay out millions per working day for low back claims.

TRAINING 

Employee training in safe lifting practices, while a part of the corrective action process, should not be considered the sole remedy. Several studies indicate that current industrial training by itself has limited to no effect on low back injury rates. Since uninjured workers are more difficult to motivate, training may be more appropriate for: 

• Injured workers - who are more motivated to act safely following an injury. 
• Management - who require information about low back injuries, and the need for offering encouragement and follow-up, not requiring 100% recovery before allowing a return to work, and providing modified, alternative, or part-time work. 

Some jobs, where the tasks performed and risk factors to which workers are exposed may vary considerably during the work shift, may be inherently difficult to design or control (i.e., firefighters, police, beverage or other delivery). For these types of jobs worker selection and training can be used to help control injuries. Emphasis on high quality technical training on safe lifting procedures relating to specific job tasks should yield the best results. 

EQUIPMENT 

Many new equipment designs now account for ergonomics considerations. Easily available are such devices as various types of lift tables, turntables, spring or pneumatically loaded leveling tables, mechanical lifts which can be loaded flat on the ground ("zero-lifts"), mobile or portable conveyors, inverters which turn or orient materials, and myriad other devices. In addition, height adjustable worktables and angled bin or tote racks are inexpensive and available.

PERSONAL PROTECTION 

An effort to afford workers personal protection in the form back belts which workers wear around their waste has been a popular attempt to control back injuries. However, mounting scientific evidence suggests that belts are very little, if any, protection to workers. Nor have belts been found to offer a psychological or motivational advantage to workers. There is some concern that belt wearing increases a worker’s blood pressure, and therefore introduces new risks, especially to workers with compromised cardiovascular systems. A better approach is good job design.

https://www.safetygoodwe.com/safety-telegram