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Warehouse Health Hazards – Cargo Trolley Vs Manual Handling

When handling materials in a warehouse, especially if done manually, safety should be your main concern. As the most common activity in warehouses, manual handling of materials involves a lot of movements: lifting, loading, lowering, pushing, pulling, carrying and even holding a load. You may end up with various injuries to the neck, back, shoulders, arms, hands, legs, fingers and other body parts.

These injuries could occur instantly as a consequence of gradual wear or prolonged manual activity. To recover from these injuries, you will need to spend some time off work. Therefore, it is important to know the health hazards and how you can prevent or at least minimize the risks. The best way to prevent safety risks is to use a cargo trolley and reduce the manual handling as much as possible.

cargo-trolley

Manual handling of heavy or bulky loads is dangerous. If you lift heavy loads on a regular basis, you may end up with a back injury. Bulky loads are even more difficult to handle, since you cannot hold them close to your body, thus forcing you to put your body in an unbalanced and awkward posture. However, when using a cargo trolley to handle bulky or heavy loads, there is only manual lifting necessary.

If you are in an awkward body posture, an increased stress on the muscles and ligaments is very possible. One example of awkward posture is when you are bending your back during lifting or lifting loads with your arms above shoulder height. With cargo trolleys, there are definitely less awkward postures and the overall process of handling materials is easier and safer.

A poor workplace design can also increase the possibility of injuries. Slippery floor, poor lighting, lack of storage space and unsuitable dimensions of equipment can make the handling more difficult regardless of whether you are manually handling or with a cargo trolley. Also, untrained or/and inexperienced employees are at greater risk of injury.

With a cargo trolley, you will complete your tasks quicker, more efficient and safer. Prolonged and repetitive tasks increase the risk of injury, since you will probably take less breaks and and set unrealistic targets. To avoid injuries made in a hurry, set realistic targets and develop a good time management scheme.

Besides cargo trolley, there are other pieces of material handling equipment that can increase safety in your warehouse and help you be more efficient. Use such equipment wherever and whenever possible to minimize the manual work. Also, change the warehouse layout to decrease the risks of stooping, stretching, twisting and slippage.

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