5 Tips to Make Your Material Handling Operation Safer

Material Handling Facility
Improve Material Handling Safety

From lifting heavy items to pushing large loads, material handling can put employees at a high risk of being injured. These workplace injuries can cost your business significant money in terms of decreased productivity and workers’ compensation. Making the following changes in your workplace can help reduce material handling risks, while also boosting employee morale.

Invest in Safer Equipment

Using forklifts and similar types of equipment to pull or lift loads comes with an increased chance of accidents and injuries. A motorized trailer dolly can handle these loads safely and with greater efficiency. This helps protect your employees from potentially serious injuries in the workplace.

Provide PPE

Personal protective equipment (PPE) is an important part of keeping your staff from injuries. Gloves, eye protection, and other kinds of PPE can greatly reduce the risk of injuries as employees handle material handling tasks. Make sure your employees know how to correctly wear and use PPE on the job.

Reduce Ergonomic-Related Risks

Having to do repetitive lifting or carrying heavy items can lead to physical fatigue and a higher risk of injuries in your material handling operation. Take time to identify these risks, so you can implement measures to reduce the risk of injuries.

Encourage Employees to Report Fatigue

Employees can develop high levels of fatigue on the job due to the physical strain of material handling tasks. Over time, this fatigue can raise their risk of ending up with musculoskeletal problems and serious injuries. Provide a way for employees to report fatigue and encourage them to do so. You can then ensure that fatigued employees have a chance to rest and recover.

Minimize Vibration and Noise

Vibration and noise in a material handling environment can increase the risk of fatigue and injuries. They can also serve as distractions for employees, which also raises the risk of accidents. Use equipment that helps keep vibration and noise to a minimum, such as softer wheels, in order to protect employees from workplace injuries.

If you need a trailer dolly to make your material handling operation safer, please contact DJ Products. Our team can provide you with the perfect solution for improving workplace safety.

Our Top 5 Safety Tips for Material Handling

Two Material Handling Managers Talk Through How to Improve Safety
Industrial Material Handling Safety

Material handling can be a dangerous task in warehouses. Accidents and injuries can easily occur when forklifts and similar equipment are used to move heavy loads or vehicles around. Finding ways to improve material handling, such as using motorized trailer dolly products, can boost safety in your warehouse. The following tips can help you make this task safer.

Ensure Proper Training

No matter what type of equipment your warehouse uses for moving heavy loads and vehicles, it’s important to make sure staff are properly trained. Warehouses workers should know how to use this equipment correctly and as safely as possible in order to reduce the risk of accidents. Instead of one-time training, plan continuous training to promote safety when using equipment for material handling.

Set Up Clear Pathways

Your warehouse floor should provide clear pathways for loads to be moved from one location to the next. Poor planning for your warehouse floor can lead to obstructions and other challenges that make material handling less safe. Make proper floor planning part of your strategy for improving material handling safety.

Schedule Predictive Maintenance on Equipment

The equipment your warehouse workers use to move heavy vehicles and loads around can develop flaws or damage that’s hard to spot right away. Predictive maintenance on this equipment helps ensure that these problems are caught early. You can then have equipment repairs done as needed to ensure safe material handling.

Encourage a Culture of Safety

Safety is something that workers should be aware of at all times when handling heavy loads or moving large vehicles. Encouraging s culture of safety among staff helps ensure that everyone is on board with maintaining a safe work environment. All workers should be familiar with safety policies in your warehouse.

Use Remote Monitoring

Having supervisors monitor material handling on the floor can create obstructions that make this task less safe. Use remote monitoring methods instead, so that supervisors aren’t standing on the warehouse floor.

For more information about our motorized trailer dolly products to help improve material handling, please contact DJ Products. We can help you choose the right solution for better safety in your warehouse.