Safety at work

Every week, wholesalers report staff and retailers being injured lifting news bundles. It is a very serious problem.

If you employ more than five people, you must have a written risk assessment on fire danger and health and safety. News totes and bundles outside your premises need to be included in this as a common cause of lumbar injuries and as flammable material for arsonists ( over half of all shop fires are caused by arson – FPA statistics 1999 ).

If you have a claim, your risk assessment could be evaluated to check that risks to employees had been minimised. Potential liability is easily minimised by meeting best practice recommendations and providing clear instructions.

Maximum recommended news bundle/tote box weight is 17kg. Best practice recommends a front-opening cabinet and load-lifting within Column A shown in the diagrams below.

Ri cabinets are totally front-opening, have no lip to lift over, and clear handling advice is provided. This allows packages to be slid right to the body so that all lifting is within Column A with no twisting of the torso.

Men can complete all lifting operations within Column A, allowing for lifting from the top of the tote or bundle. Maximum tote or bundle weights are more than that recommended for women, but Ri cabinets minimise the excess and also allow boxes to be pulled directly onto a trolley to totally eradicate lifting.

Other cabinets, even if partially front-opening, require lifting while bending, which puts the load into Column B and therefore well over the recommended lifting weights for best practice.

Each box in the diagrams shows guidance weights for lifting and lowering. The orange boxes are the safety zone. Observe the activity and compare it to the diagram. If the lifter’s hands enter more than one box during the operation, use the smallest weight. Use an in-between weight if the hands are close to a boundary between boxes. If the operation must take place with the hands beyond the boxes, make a more detailed assessment. The weights assume that the load is readily grasped with both hands.

Ri cabinets have the following standard features to meet regulations and ensure that your staff are protected.

• Metal tray drains any moisture away from your delivery and empties through a drain hole at the bottom.
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• High-security pop-out lock provides a convenient handle and clicks back into the cabinet so nobody can catch themselves on it.
• Tray is higher than the door sill so you don’t have to lift anything up and over a lip. Simply slide items to the edge and unload
  
• Front-opening door gives safe, easy access to a trolley or lift them with a straight back!

These methods of lifting are recommended by BackCare (registered as the National Back Pain Association) is an independent national charity that helps people manage and prevent back pain by providing information, promoting self help, encouraging debate and funding research into better back health.