One of the most common injury a person can have is back pain which can be caused by old age, sports activities and lifting heavy objects in the wrong way. Back pain can be caused by most work situations but the cause if often unclear and can be a result of many things.
Lifting heavy objects is one of the main causes for back pain, if you lift a heavy object that exceeds your personal limit - SNAP! There goes your back. This is why it is so important to carry out the right precautions and use the correct equipment if the object exceeds the weight limit.
One piece of equipment that can help lift heavy objects is a Sack Truck. They are 'wheelie' good for lifting heavy loads and are 'wheelie' easy to use! It is a great and useful addition to any workplace that involves moving items and will help reduce the risk of injury to the workforce.
Our Range of Sack Trucks
The Workplace Depot have a full range of sack trucks from economy, collapsible, P handle, universal, heavy duty, Ecoline, *breath*, narrow, warehouse, cargo, folding and lightweight! Phew! Each sack truck has it's own limited capacity, ranging from 90Kg to 300Kg. Having a range of sack trucks with individual capacities means that you can buy the right truck for the job, e.g. you would use the 300Kg sack truck for warehouses and packaging companies and the 90Kg sack truck for an office environment. The trucks are made of robust steel or aluminium with either solid rubber wheels or pneumatic wheels.
The collapsible truck, car boot folding truck and the folding truck are ideal for delivery driver, why? Well the clue is in the names, they can be compacted and put away in the vehicle without it toppling over and getting damaged or damaging any products.
The cargo sack truck is an interesting truck as it is not like the other two-wheeled sack trucks, the Cargo has 4 wheels and can be transformed into a trolley - we have named this Ladybird, we hope Bumblebee will appreciate a smaller, much slower companion for the Transformer's team.
To view all of our Sack Trucks click here
Share the Load
But before you use a sack truck, you need to make sure it is safe to use. Workers shoulder always check the condition of the sack truck, the maximum capacity, the balance of the load and more things. Check the following points:
- Are the wheels running freely?
- Is the truck well maintained?
- Are the wheels suitable for the job and the floor surface? e.g. tyre type and wheel diameter
- Are the hand grips comfortable and in good condition?
- Are the handles between waist and shoulder height?
- If the truck is fitted with brakes, do they work?
- Is the truck load capacity suitable for the job?
- Is the load unstable or too heavy?
Once you have checked through these and everything is in working order, then you can use the sack truck safely. The amount of body force that is required to move an object using a sack truck is 2% of the load weight. So, if the load is 250Kg, then the force required behind the sack truck will be 5Kg. However, this will only count for use on a flat surface and using a well maintained truck. If the conditions are not up to scratch such as the wheels not being inflated enough, then the required force will be greater. If you ever need to push a load up a slope, then two people should always be enlisted whenever the required force is very high. Example, if the same 250Kg needed to be moved up a 5° slope, then the force required would be around 18Kg - even in perfect conditions.
Remember - you should always push a sack truck - never pull!
Posted in News, Health and Safety