Employers – Get to the Bottom of Safe Lifting

According to the National Safety Council, manual handling of objects causes an estimated 25% of all occupational injuries. While there’s no one rule to eliminate lifting-related injuries, there are a variety of tried-and-true best practices for both employees and employers. For the latter, one such practice is establishing administrative controls to reduce overexertion.

Consider these organizational controls to reduce lifting/handling injuries:

• Examine and correct workflows for unnecessary lifts and long load distances.
• Allow workers to alternate between lifting and non-lifting tasks and provide breaks for essential rest time.
• Mark heavy and unstable loads.
• Avoid twisting motions when lifting objects.
• Pack boxes to evenly distribute the weight of their contents. Consider reducing the number of items in each box or using small, lightweight boxes.
• Avoid storing materials on the floor.
• Place materials at a height where employees can lift from above the knees and below the shoulders, while keeping loads close to the body.
• Make safe lifting a priority through supervisor-employee communication, training programs and visual reminders – like our safe lifting techniques poster.