Preventing Manual Handling Injuries...

Rob Jefferies guides us through the benefits of manual handling equipment...

Many accidents are caused by lifting heavy things too often, by twisting round to stack things at the side, or by pulling loads when ‘giving a good heave’.

Most can be prevented, in fact, employers have the legal duty to reduce exposure to such risks. “So far as is reasonably practical,” states the HSE Manual Handling Regulations, companies should “avoid the need for their employees to undertake any manual handling operations at work which involve a risk to their being injured'.

It’s not only in employers' legal interests to make sure their employees are handling goods and loads safely, it's also in their economic interests - millions of working hours are lost every year through injury, and personal injury compensation claims are on the increase.

Lifting something by hand is hard work, but there are ways of lightening the load.

Pallet Trucks & Stackers
Hand pallet trucks (HPTs) are a good handling solution where low load weights are involved, limiting manual stress for the operator when pulling and pushing the load. However, they are often restricted in overall capability.

HPTs should only be used on flat surfaces and over relatively short distances. If over used, or overloaded, operators quickly get fatigued, productivity falls, accidents rise sharply. Traditional electric powered pallet trucks reduce the risk of personal injury by minimising the manual effort required, however, many are inappropriate for the needs of many applications.

Many powered pallet trucks are built with these applications in mind. Powered pallet trucks are also available in pedestrian controlled and ride-on options.

Stackers are a high lift type of pallet truck, typically used for loading and unloading racking and vehicles. Stackers can also be manually operated or powered; pedestrian-controlled or ride-on versions.

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