Materials
Handling: Staging & Housekeeping
Everybody benefits when employers encourage proper
staging and housekeeping practices; productivity rises,
quality improves, profits increase, and the risk of
injury is reduced. Workers can spend less time moving
materials and more time performing skilled tasks:
| Staging |
Figure 1
Materials placed on a raised stand for easy
access
Figure 2
Materials placed on a mobile
rack
| Potential
Hazards:
- Poorly-planned staging may result in workers lifting materials from awkward
locations or carrying materials longer than necessary.
Possible Solutions
- Place materials on stands, racks, or other devices (Figure 1) that allow
them to be in the power
zone, minimizing the need to bend or reach to access materials.
- Try to stage materials at close proximity to the point of use. This reduces
walking distances, an element that affects risk factors, efficiency, and
productivity.
- Plan staging so that materials and equipment can be placed in a central
location so workers have good access to materials.
- Preplan, in the bidding stage, the space and type of racking needed (Figure
2) to store conduit and spools of wire at a central location, allowing easy
access and locating materials in the power
zone.
|
| Housekeeping |
Figure 3
Poor housekeeping
Figure 4
A clean, organized site with
aisles
| Poor housekeeping (Figure 3) creates
a disorderly workspace, which increases the risk of ergonomic and other injuries
and decreases productivity.
Possible Solutions
- Make housekeeping a priority by performing housekeeping tasks daily or more
often if necessary.
- Plan to create a work space that is easy to maintain (Figure
4).
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