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springtime safety at home

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Home building is physically demanding work, and manual material handling may be the most difficult part of the job. Manual material handling includes all of the tasks that require you to lift, lower, push, pull, hold, or carry materials. These activities increase the risk of painful strains and sprains and more serious soft tissue injuries. [15]

Soft tissues of the body include muscles, tendons, ligaments, discs, cartilage, and nerves. Soft tissue injuries cause workers pain, suffering, and lost income. They can also restrict non-work activity, like sports and hobbies. Builders' and employers' costs include loss of productivity and high workers' compensation insurance premiums. [15]

Employers must ensure their employees have a workplace free of recognized job hazards that can cause serious injury or death. Federal and State Occupational Safety and Health Administrations (OSHA) enforce job safety and health regulations to protect workers. [3]

Workers' safety \& health rights include taking action alone or with co-workers to protect your safety and health and contacting OSHA to request a safety inspection of your job site. [3]

Employers' safety responsibilities include informing employees about job hazards through training and other means, training employees in a language and vocabulary they can understand, and providing certain types of personal protective equipment (PPE), including fall protection. [3]

Poorly placed materials increase material handling and the risk of injury and decrease productivity. [14]

Material storing problems commonly include not planning where materials should be staged before they are delivered, staging materials far from where they will be used resulting in unnecessary handling, and storing materials too low to the ground or in confined areas makes handling more difficult. [14]

Placing materials near the work area decreases material handling and injury risk and increases productivity. [13]

Better material storage and placement includes planning in advance where materials will be stored when they are delivered, staging materials close to where they will be used and where they will not be in other's way, and storing materials off the ground and between knee and chest height. Leave walking space between materials. [13]

Stress on the body and risk of injury increase when you lift, carry, or hold heavy, unbalanced materials, especially far from the body, use jerking or fast movements to lift or place materials, and bend and twist your back when picking up materials. [5]

Stress on the body and risk of injury also increase when you hold materials overhead or away from the body for long periods, repeatedly lift, hold, and place heavy materials, and hold materials away from the body. [6]

Raising and lowering heavy materials increases the risk of soft tissue injuries of the back, shoulder, and neck. Struck-by injuries and falls from heights can increase when heavy loads are handled between levels. [4]

OSHA requires that one hand grasp a ladder at all times and prohibits holding materials while climbing up and down a ladder. [4]

Prevent injuries by handling smaller weights for less time. Use mechanical lifting equipment to eliminate unnecessary manual material handling. [10]

Repeatedly handling heavy blocks and other materials puts extra stress on your body. The weight of the materials and awkward body positions - like frequent bending, reaching, and twisting - increase your chance of a muscle or joint injury. [11]

Manually holding and placing heavy steel I-beams and wood or laminated beams increases workers' risk of strains and sprains, falls, broken bones, and crushed fingers. [12]

Place steel I-beams using skid steers with tele-booms, cranes, or other powered equipment. [12]

Raise roof trusses more than 20 feet long using a crane or other equipment. Comply with OSHA fall protection and crane safety regulations, and always follow the truss manufacturer's recommendations. [2]

Trusses shorter than 20 feet can be raised by hand. Use enough people so no one lifts more than 50 lbs. Raise trusses with cranes or other equipment when possible. Balance trusses between the ropes to prevent roll. [9]

Avoid bending down to lift long boards of lumber. Pad your shoulder to cushion the weight of the board. Lift only one end of the board before standing and walk to the middle of the board. Rest the board on your shoulder and raise the board. [7]

It's easier to lift sheet goods off a raised pile. But when they are closer to the ground, use your legs to lift, not your back. Get as close as possible to the sheet. Raise the sheet and then tilt it so you can get a firm hold in the center. Then let the sheet become level and raise it to a comfortable position. [8]

Lifting and carrying more than 50 lbs increases your risk of low back injury. [1]

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[1] Simple Solutions for Home Building Workers: A Basic Guide for Preventing Manual Material Handling Injuries

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