The Right Tools for the Job
It’s important to have the right tools to move heavy items around, or your employees could risk injuring themselves. Having a powered hand truck to move heavy items long distances on flat surfaces not only saves time but makes it easy for employees to move heavy items, reducing stress and risk in the workplace. An appliance hand truck can handle smaller heavy items, such as a washing machine. Lifting straps and team lifting are great temporary measures, but should be used sparingly and with proper training.
Team Lift if Necessary
If necessary, heavy items can be moved via team lift. However, unlike using equipment, this requires more than a single person, decreasing the efficiency of your employees. It also opens them up to injury, especially if one employee accidentally trips, or drops the item. Team lifting is sometimes necessary, so make sure that employees are trained appropriately, and provide tools to reduce the need as much as possible.
Maintain Spatial Awareness
Employees who are not experienced in moving heavy items may not realize how much spatial awareness they need to maintain. If they aren’t aware of their surroundings, especially in a warehouse, they could run into other inventory or shelving, or step on something on the ground. This could result in damage to the inventory and additional risk for employees.
Lift with the Knees
Sometimes, small items will need to be transferred from a hand truck and lifted in order to be stacked or stored. Investing in a hand lift truck is vital for heavier items, but your employees may need to simply pick lighter items up. This is also the case if there’s a short distance to move the inventory. In this case, your employees can avoid back injury by crouching and lifting with their legs, knees, and waist, instead of their back. Be sure that every employee receives the appropriate lift training.
Break Items Into Smaller Pieces
If possible, break the inventory item into smaller pieces. This could mean separating boxes or disassembling inventory for easier storage. Move individual pieces, and if needed, put them back together at the destination. If your employees have the right equipment, they may not need to do this. However, if your business offers a delivery service and you have a powered hand truck but no way to bring the heavy equipment in the delivery vehicle, your employees may still need to disassemble the item prior to delivery.
About Magline
For more than 70 years, Magliner hand trucks have been an essential staple of the material handling industry. The Magliner name is so well known that it is often used as shorthand for any brand of hand truck. Unfortunately for other brands, only an original Magliner comes with the dependability, durability, and ease of use the name offers. The equipment offered by Magliner includes the legendary traditional hand truck, as well as a heavy duty hand truck selection, a stair climbing cart collection, a motorized hand truck line, a hand lift truck collection, and more. When you need something delivered, moved, or lifted, you’ll find Magliner equipment that’s right for the job.
Get everything you need to move heavy inventory at Magliner.com
Original Source: https://bit.ly/2YV71s9
