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If you have a business in an industry where workers have to lift heavy objects regularly, then you are in a unique position where safety is concerned. In addition to regular safety guidelines, you need to have specific safety guidelines in place for lifting.
While this may seem overwhelming at first, if you carefully and consistently make workers aware of safety guidelines, your employees can remain safe. Here are some lifting safety guidelines that you need to make your employees aware of:
Use Both Hands
Many injuries on the job can occur when employees fail to lift heavy objects with both their hands. However, using both hands is not the only safety precaution when lifting.
Whenever they are lifting, they also need to ensure that they have the proper stance. The strain of lifting should be on their legs, not on their backs. They can achieve this by crouching their feet and keeping their back straight when lifting a heavy object.
Testing Weight
Before lifting, heavy objects employees should be trained to first test how heavy something is. An easy way to find out whether or not something will be challenging to lift is to try to push it with your feet.
If it doesn’t budge then it is probably going to be too heavy for one person to lift.
Provide Safety Equipment
If your workers lift heavy objects and equipment constantly then, you might want to consider getting them a back brace for lifting. This is especially important for those workers who may have a sensitive back.
Even with back braces, workers should be careful when they are lifting heavy objects. They should lift smoothly and slowly. Train them to move their feet instead of their back when they want to turn while carrying a heavy object.
Although there is equipment for lifting heavy objects in many Industries, lifting heavy objects by hand is sometimes a necessity in many industries such as mining, construction, and trucking, to name a few. When accidents happen, your employees can sue you by hiring mining accident injury lawyers, personal injury lawyers, and trucking accident injury lawyers.
You may want to contact these lawyers to discuss how you can make your working environment safe and offset lawsuits. Again, this is a proactive move that will help to prevent liability for injuries workers may sustain on the job.
Take Care of Your Workers
Taking care of your workers is an important part of being a great employer. Often ensuring the safety of your employees when they are lifting heavy objects is just a matter of informing and educating them.
Always ensure that you have a clear safety policy, regularly inform and educate staff as it can help prevent your business from becoming liable should an accident occur.
Once you have a clear workplace policy about lifting heavy objects and constantly reinforcing the need for safety, your employees are more likely to adhere to safety issues in the workplace.
