If you have a job where you do a lot of heavy lifting, whether it’s working in a grocery store shelving products or as a professional freight unloader, it’s vital that you know how to best protect your body when you’re doing this heavy lifting to ensure that you don’t get injured. It’s very easy for your body to pull or strain something when you’re lifting heavy items. So to help ensure that this doesn’t happen to you, here are three tips for protecting your body when doing heavy lifting at work.
Come Up With A Plan Beforehand
When you know you have heavy items that you’re going to be moving, the first thing that you should do is to come up with a plan for how you’ll move them.
As part of this, you’ll want to get a good understanding of what you’ll be lifting and moving so that you can use the right tools to help you with the job. Determine how heavy the load is and if it’s something that will be easy for you to pick up and carry in your arms or if you’ll need something else. You should also make sure that you have a clear path for where you’re moving this item so that you don’t have to set it down and pick it back up again to move anything out of your way.
Slide Items When You Can
Ideally, if you’re having to move something that’s very heavy and you don’t have someone right close by to ask for help, you should see if it’s possible for you to slide this item rather than having to pick it up to move it.
If you’re able to slide an item as opposed to lifting it, you reduce the chances of injuring yourself. Just make sure that the item will be able to retain its integrity as it’s being slid. And if you’re planning to slide the item, it’s going to be best for your body if you push the object rather than pulling it.
Use Proven LIfting Techniques
For those times when you do have to pick up a heavy item to move it, you should always use proven lifting techniques so that you can best protect your body.
These techniques include things like lifting with your legs rather than bending to use your back, not twisting or turning when holding something heavy, keeping the heavy item close to your body after you’ve gotten a good hold of it, and tightening your core muscles to help protect your back from stress and strain.
If you lift heavy items as part of your job, consider using the tips mentioned above to help you learn how to best get this job done without sacrificing your body.
