How much discomfort are you in right about now?

At the end of the day, when you get home, your back is just aching, your knees are in bad shape, and your wrists make you feel at least 20 years older. This is just common when you are employed in a factory setting, or in a facility that requires a lot of physical exertion.

The important thing that you must do is to adapt to the situation. This requires everything from sporting the proper attire to using certain aids that can minimize the agony you experience.

Let’s face it: you love your job, you enjoy your colleagues, you appreciate your boss, and you like the pay. But the only aspect that is causing bodily anguish is the material you handle on a day to day basis. Want to change it?

Here are four material handling solutions to keep you safe at work:

1. Utilize Any Handling Aids

Manual labour is tough work. But you don’t have to work in constant frustration and pain. How? It’s simple: use a wide array of handling aids as you move, relocate, or shift the materials.

Some of the most common handling aids would be a dolly, straps, thick gloves, handling pallets, and the list goes on. These material handling solutions will ensure that you’re not breaking your back, or causing strain in your knees, as you lift heavy items.

2. Too Heavy? Get Help from Colleagues

Sometimes, you just need a helping hand.

When a box, a product, or a container is just too heavy, you should seek assistance from your colleagues. This can be reciprocated throughout the work setting, too. If you see others who are having a great deal of difficulty handling an item, then you can take the initiative to help them.

3. Know How to Lift the Materials

It’s simple, right? You pick up the materials and carry it from point A to point B. Well, this rudimentary way of looking at it has caused a lot of injuries, missed time, and early retirement.

There are many different ways to lift the materials. Here are a few tricks to keep in mind:

• Refrain from lifting materials as you sit down or directly from the ground.
• Don’t use sudden movements to lift the materials.
• Carry items in areas with plenty of lighting and open space.
• Avoid bending or twisting when lifting objects.
• Attempt to limit the repetition of lifting materials.

By incorporating these suggestions into your daily routine, you can stay healthy, and ensure that you’re still valuable to the organization.

4. Stay in Good Shape All the Time

Finally, when you’re involved in a heavy-duty industry with a lot of movement, the best step you can take is to stay in good shape at all times.

Without a shadow of a doubt, the last thing you would want to do when you finish for the day is to go to the gym, go for a run, or perform some pushups. But that is exactly what you will need to do moving forward.

If you have the stamina, the cardio, and the muscle to complete many of these daily tasks, then you can survive the daily grind.

A century ago, manual labour was the absolute worst, and they didn’t have any of the modern conveniences we have to day. A century later, manual labour remains tough, but there are many products to complement the weekday regimen. By adding these recommendations, you don’t need to be concerned about having to put some ice packs on your shoulders. You’ll just say: give me more!