Safe Material Handling Notes

Safe Manual Material Handling

Basic Safe Material Handling

  • Workers must be knowledgeable and cautious when handling materials.
  • Workers require thorough training on all equipment they may operate.
  • Common hazards include:
    • Manual injuries
    • Vehicle reversing incidents
    • Unstable racking
    • Personnel slipping, tripping, and falling

U.S. DOL Definition of Manual Material Handling

  • Manual material handling involves:
    • Seizing, holding, grasping, turning, or otherwise working with the hand or hands
  • In logistics, this includes workers using their hands to move individual containers or products by:
    • Lifting
    • Lowering
    • Filling
    • Emptying
    • Carrying

Safety Issues

  • Manual handling can expose workers to physical conditions leading to:
    • Injuries
    • Wasted energy
    • Wasted time
  • It's important to improve the fit between work task demands and worker capabilities, considering differences in:
    • Age
    • Physical condition
    • Strength
    • Gender
    • Stature

Matching Tasks and Capability

  • Matching tasks to capabilities:
    • Reduces or prevents injury
    • Reduces workers’ efforts
    • Reduces risk factors for muscle and bone disorders
    • Increases productivity, quality, and worker morale
    • Lowers costs by:
      • Reducing material handling bottlenecks
      • Decreasing error rates and rejects
      • Lowering workers’ compensation claims and medical treatment expenses
      • Reducing excessive worker turnover and absenteeism

Physical Risk Factors

  • Key physical risk factors include:
    • Awkward positions (bending, twisting)
    • Repetitive motions (frequent reaching, lifting, carrying)
    • Forceful exertions (carrying or lifting heavy loads)
    • Pressure points (grasping or contact from loads, leaning against parts or surfaces)
    • Static postures (maintaining fixed positions for long periods of time)

Consequences of Physical Risk Factors

  • Consequences of exposure to physical risk factors include:
    • Fatigue and discomfort
    • Musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) = injuries to back, shoulders, hands, wrists or other body parts over time
    • Poor environmental conditions such as extreme heat, cold, noise and poor lighting may cause other types of problems

Training

  • Effective training should:
    • Provide hands-on practice when introducing new tools, equipment or procedures
    • Use several types of visual aids showing actual tasks in the workplace
    • Hold small-group discussions and problem-solving sessions
    • Give ample time for questions

Guidelines for Safe Lifting

  • General guidelines include:
    • Stretching before starting work
    • Checking tags on loads
    • Testing the load for weight and stability
    • For unstable or heavy loads:
      • Use equipment properly
      • Reduce the weight of the load
      • Repack to increase stability

Safe Lifting Techniques

  • When lifting:
    • Wear appropriate shoes and gloves
    • Work within your capacity
    • Work within your "power zone" = above the knees, below the shoulders, close to the body
    • Get a secure grip
    • Use both hands
    • Avoid using single quick motions of short durations
    • Use legs to push up, not upper body
    • Do not twist body; step to side to turn
    • Alternate heavy lifting with other tasks
    • Take rest breaks

More Safe Lifting Guidelines

  • Additional guidelines:
    • Avoid lifting from the floor
    • Do not bend at the waist
    • Use team lifting or mechanical assistance
    • Raise or lower the work surface
    • Store heavier or bulkier containers so that they can be handled in the power zone
    • Use angled shelves to improve access
    • Add extra handles for better grip and control

Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)

  • OSHA requires the use of gloves, safety goggles, and hard hats where necessary.
  • Employers must:
    • Determine required PPE through hazard analysis and provide the equipment
    • Provide training on:
      • What PPE is required
      • How and when to use it
      • How to wear and adjust it
      • How to dispose of it

Examples of PPE

  • Examples of PPE include:
    • Hard hat
    • Work gloves
    • Mask
    • Work boots

Types of PPE and Their Uses

  • Head protection:
    • Protects from falling objects, water, dirt, and sparks
    • Insulated hard hats are for workers exposed to electrical shocks
  • Hand and arm protection:
    • Protects from burns, cuts, pinches, chemical or biohazard exposure
    • Different types of gloves protect from specific hazards
  • Lung protection:
    • Protects from airborne dust, fiber, and particles
    • Dust mask = lower part of face to filter out large particles
    • Respirator = face piece, hood or helmet with replaceable cartridge to filter smaller particles and dangerous fumes
  • Foot protection:
    • Most common PPE is steel-toed boots
    • Protects from falling or dropped items
  • Eye/Face protection:
    • Safety goggles shield eyes from heat, impact hazards chemicals and dust
    • Should form protective seal around eyes
    • Face shield may be required
  • Ear protection:
    • OSHA requires ear protection and annual training for employees exposed to noise at or above 85 decibels for an average 8-hour day
    • Earplugs or earmuffs reduce noise levels 15 to 30 decibels
    • Extremely noisy areas may require both together

Safety Checks of Equipment

  • Forklift accidents account for 85 deaths per year in the distribution business.
  • Proper use of safety checklists can help reduce accidents.
  • When using heavy industrial equipment, there is no substitute for good headwork.
  • Proper certification is required.

Equipment Safety Features

  • Safety features include:
    • Wheel chocks or trailer restraints
    • Communication lights, interior and exterior of dock
      • Interior = notify personnel of location of trucks and railcars relative to doors
      • Green light signals vehicle is waiting and safe to open the door
      • Exterior = green means safe to dock; red means reason not to pull up
    • Capacity limits for forklifts and racks
      • Too heavy load on rack may cause rack to fail
      • Limits based on weight / or volume
    • Audible alarms sound when:
      • Door is about to open or close
      • Vehicle back-ups
      • Lifting equipment over capacity
    • Flashing, rotating beacons on moving equipment
    • Overhead guards on most lift trucks
    • Photo-eye or other emergency shut off for conveyors
    • Kill switch for forklift impact

Equipment Maintenance

  • Routine maintenance must be performed on all types of logistics equipment.
  • The three types of maintenance are:
    • Corrective
    • Preventive
    • Predictive

Corrective Maintenance

  • Also called “repair.”
  • Deals with a malfunction or failure after it has occurred.
  • Must be prompt.

Preventive Maintenance

  • Care and servicing of equipment to ensure satisfactory operation and provide early detection of possible failures.
  • Must stay on schedule.
  • Keep accurate records.
  • Associated with Operating Equipment Checklists.
  • Checklist is provided by the manufacturer or the employer.

Predictive Maintenance

  • Analyze equipment data to determine when certain parts may fail.
  • Replace those parts prior to failure.

Maintenance Checklists

  • Daily equipment checklists for most lift trucks.
  • They should be kept as simple as possible to ensure daily use.
  • Enforcement is a problem.