Safety
The Multi-Directional Hand Truck 360 Safety Review
How the Hand Truck 360 Helps Reduce Injuries and Worker Comp Claims
By Josh Corbin, OTR/L, Licensed Occupational Therapist
Upon initial observation of this product, it is apparent that The Hand Truck 360 is the only multi-directional, easily maneuverable, hand truck in the industry today. There are two sizes of hand truck. The smaller Hand Truck 360 (with balloon tires) is also available with an optional double keg hook and bottom safety plate for secure keg handling (known as the Wheeler 360). The larger, Hand Truck 360 Pro model is available with either balloon tires for hard surfaces or semi-pneumatic tires for going over grass, rocks, dirt, etc. Every model has an attached multi-directional button activated retractable 10-foot Erickson retractable ratchet strap to allow for the ability to secure all objects either vertically or horizontally in preparation for transport. The fact that the strap is attached makes it convenient to use based on its constant availability with this product. The multi-position handles also have fingertip triggers that allow the user to free the spring-loaded pins and turn the entire handle/wheel assembly with ease for either free direction use or specific locked positions at 45 degrees, 90 degrees, and 180 degrees. Once pins are secured, the user must re-engage the triggers to allow the wheel(s) to change direction quickly, smoothly, and easily.
Hand Truck 360 Pro Hand Truck 360
Industry Workplace Injury Statistics
The Liberty Mutual Safety Index is published every year and is used by many workers’ compensation agencies to determine the yearly statistics around injury for writing regulations. The number one cause of injury for the past several years is overexertion, which consists of 22.7% of all injuries at a cost to the industry of $13.3 Billion (a statistic that continues to climb year over year). Injuries caused by overexertion, is followed by falls on the same level, struck by objects, and other exertion of bodily reactions (more statistics that together add up to an additional 35.7% and $20.9 billion in injury costs).
All the above listed injury categories are associated with hand truck and material handling use. The most common injuries seen in the workers compensation industry related to hand truck use consist of:
An employee trying to save an awkward load that shifts, risking product falling because of not using good body mechanics. (Potential injuries include bicep tear/separation, rotator cuff tears, shoulder dislocation, hand injury, wrist injuries, elbow injuries, knee injuries, neck sprain/strain and upper or lower back strain/sprain or injury.) *
An employee having to physically lift a hand truck and load to maneuver around obstacles or reposition. This often leads to a load shift which can increase the risk of an employee being struck by falling objects. (Potential injuries include bicep tear/separation, rotator cuff tears, shoulder dislocation, neck sprain/strain, hip injury, knee injury, upper or lower back strain/sprain, hand, wrist and arm injuries and amputation of limbs.) *
An employee being struck by items that fall from a stack while moving. (Potential injuries include bicep tear/separation, rotator cuff tears, shoulder dislocation, neck sprain/strain, hip injury, knee injury, upper or lower back strain/sprain, hand injuries and amputation of limbs.) *
An employee experiencing loss of balance, resulting in a fall from a potential awkward maneuvering challenge. (Potential injuries include head/CNS injuries, hip fracture, elbow fracture, wrist fracture, hand injury, shoulder dislocation, neck sprain/strain and upper or lower back strain/sprain or injury.) *
An employee suffering an injury when initiating load transfer/transport shifting weight from the hand truck’s center of gravity to balance on wheels. (Potential injuries include bicep tear/separation, rotator cuff tears, shoulder dislocation, knee injuries, hand injury, wrist injury, elbow injury, neck sprain/strain and upper or lower back strain/sprain or injury.) *
Cost of Typical Workplace Injuries
The injuries that result from the above-mentioned scenarios often result in an employee recovery time that ranges from two to twelve weeks, depending on severity. More severe injuries can cost insurance claims anywhere from $2,500 to over $150,000 if surgical intervention is required. These injuries often result in unnecessary increases in insurance premiums or a company’s out-of-pocket costs for injuries. Not to mention the decrease in productivity that results.
In most material handling organizations, there exists large equipment such as pallet jacks, forklifts, and other material handling tools that are designed for large spaces. All material handling jobs require a manual component that involves a much smaller and more maneuverable option which is often a hand truck to help the material finish the “last mile” of material transport.
Hand Truck 360 Solutions that Reduce Certain Workplace Injuries
The Hand Truck 360 material handling models have solutions for the above-mentioned injuries:
· Awkward load shifts are addressed in two ways. The hand truck tools have an easy-to-use attached retractable ratchet strap designed to secure loads either horizontally or vertically without having to place and hold a strap in place while using another arm to secure. The hand trucks have wheel positioning, easily accessible fingertip triggers on each handle with secure pin placement for positions at 45, 90 and 180 degrees to allow for non-lifting direction change and maneuvering that can be completed smoothly without applying unnecessary load shift force.
· Too many employees sustain back injury or strain when lifting a hand truck to reposition or position the load to change direction. With the Hand Truck 360’s easily transitioning individual wheels, an employee has multiple options to smoothly move a load without the need to lift an already secured load, which diverts potential injury from an unstable load directional transition.
· For shifting loads, the strap attachment, or even multiple strap attachments can serve to ensure that the load is safe for transport and the potential for injury from falling materials is avoided. The custom-made hand truck with its retractable ratchet strap has been able to safely transport 55-gallon barrels full of liquid helped by securely fastening the barrel to the hand truck (using either the barrel clamp or the multi directional strap). This configuration allows for multi-directional maneuvers without serious liquid shift that could cause injury. With the multiple wheel positioning options, the Hand Truck 360 models are designed for smooth transitions at any point in load handling without sudden movements that create turbulence, shifting center of gravity and causing potential strain or injury.
· Loss of balance frequently occurs when an employee is trying to manage close-quarter maneuvering with a uni-directional (only one direction of travel) hand truck, causing employee to contort his/her body to handle the load around difficult non-linear directions of travel. With the Hand Truck 360 products maneuvering on demand is easily accomplished with handle placed finger controls to change wheel direction.
· When an employee is initiating a load transfer, there is a moment when it is necessary to push the wheels forward while pulling back on the load handles. During this transition, the load’s center of gravity is affected by the foot kick and the pull as well as the employee’s attempt to gain control of the load as the center of gravity shifts away from upright to balance on one wheel. The strap attachment on the Hand Truck product will secure the load to avoid large shifts in transport. Additionally, the wheels can be placed in a perpendicular position to avoid the roll effect of a load transfer. Easy hand controls smoothly move wheels to linear movement pattern without the extreme force needed to initiate transition from stationary to transport ready.
The Hand Truck 360 thus provides an easy solution to avoiding thousands of dollars in workers’ comp claims and lost man hours in all material handling industries.
* According to the National Safety Council in 2019 the below costs were associated with potential material handling injuries. Each year the numbers have been climbing, according to metrics that are recorded yearly with other agencies.
Conclusion
The Hand Truck 360 product may be more expensive than the basic linear hand truck, but its features, including the ratcheting/retracting strap attachment can go a long way in preventing injuries in material management that can cost companies loss of labor, loss of income, and increased workers’ compensation premiums.
Author’s Medical Background
I am an ergonomic specialist, an expert witness in workers’ compensation cases, an active professional selected multiple times to review workers’ compensation guidelines for the State of Colorado, as well as a practicing workers’ compensation therapist. I believe that the extra investment in the Hand Truck 360 will help to create a culture of safety, productivity and risk management that is worth the investment in the employees’ and company’s future.
Josh Corbin, OTR/L
Occupational Therapist
How to Lift Safely and How to Move with a Hand Truck
May 2
The Hand Truck Company’s tag line is “protect your back, protect your products.” We know that there are several ways to prevent injuries when moving objects such as furniture, boxes, plywood, products, barrels, kegs, etc.
Not every company, delivery service, or warehouse is equipped with state-of-the-art robotics or technology that eliminates the use of actual humans. Even those companies that use technology to move items often have front-line team members using their backs to keep the distribution system moving. We’ll provide some safety tips that might alleviate or reduce injuries for your front-line team.
Team members are like robots in that they can physically break down at the most unexpected times. Strains, sprains, and back injuries often occur when moving products or heavy items. Illnesses can pop up at any time.
It is the responsibility of company leaders to prepare for the potential injuries and illnesses that will occur. While businesses have to make a profit, too many do it at the expense of the front-line workers. On-going safety training will reduce those occurrences.
Push, don’t pull a hand truck! Not only is it harder on your back and shoulders, you can’t see where you’re going!
Hand Trucks or Dollies
Whatever you call them (the two-wheeler is technically a hand truck), millions, if not billions, of hand trucks are used daily throughout the world. The following suggestions apply to most hand trucks, whether your company is using a basic two-wheeler or a specialty hand truck.
Here are a few tricks to using a hand truck that may make moving just a bit safer:
1) Use a hand truck that is appropriate for the job or load to be carried. Check for the load limit if you are moving something over 250 lbs.
2) When stacking boxes, place the heaviest load on the bottom. DO NOT stack the boxes so high that you can't see where you're going
3) Position the load forward over the axles so the truck, not the handles, carries the weight
4) Clear your path
5) Don't walk backwards. It's safer to push rather than pull (I see way too much of this!)
6) Keep the hand truck under control, especially if going downhill or down a truck ramp
7) Tie or secure any bulky, awkward, or delicate objects
8) Wear sturdy shoes with nonskid soles
9) Let the hand truck do the work for you
10) Allow your team a sufficient amount of time to move items safely and securely.(1)
Don’t do this: NO! Scary falling boxes
Do this: YES! Protect your front line team with our Attachit Strap with an Erickson retractable ratchet for most dollies and hand trucks
How to Lift Properly
Everybody should know that you lift with your legs and not your back, but a young team member might not know or another might have something else on his/her mind and not be thinking about the job at hand. Remind them in a safety meeting of the following that the Mayo Clinic has published (2):
Don’t do this! Start in a safe position.
NO! Always Lift with your legs
Before you lift a heavy object, think through your task. Decide where you're going to place the object and how you'll get it there. If an object is too heavy to lift safely, ask someone to help you. If possible, break down a load into smaller units.
When lifting an object from the floor, stand close to the object. Don't lift from a standing position with your waist bent or your knees locked.
One option for proper lifting is to kneel, resting one knee on the floor. Click on the links below for a slide show from the Mayo Clinic:
How to Prevent Muscle Strains
With all the work activity going on, sometime the basic prevention of muscle strains and sprains is often overlooked.
Ample rest between strenuous jobs is a simple prevention. Anytime a team member does arduous activity, you have to allow for time to recover. Not doing so increases the likelihood of muscle fatigue, strained muscles, and stress fractures. (3)
Safety Meetings
Hold regularly scheduled safety meetings for your team. Or better yet, have a quick daily talk since material handling is the number one source of on-the-job accidents.(4)
The ABC 2020 Safety Performance Report found that companies that conduct daily toolbox safety meetings reduce the total recordable incident rate (TRIR) by 82%, compared to companies that hold them monthly.
An effective safety toolbox talk contains four key topics that can be covered in 5-10 minutes:
goal/management expectation
personal protection equipment expectation and usage
best practices
post-accident response expectations
For additional advice on conducting daily toolbox safety meetings, click here: https://www.constructionexec.com/article/reduce-workplace-injuries-with-five-minute-toolbox-talks
Make sure that your meetings are interactive. Listen to the concerns and suggestions that the front-line workers have for the team and management.
Equipment
Who really knows how many hand trucks are available for that last mile material handling? A basic two-wheeler with an available ratchet strap might just be what your team needs to get the job done safely.
The Only Multi-directional Hand Truck 360 Available for Safer Moving
But-now I’m giving a little sales pitch here-there are many specialty hand trucks manufactured for a specific job. We have the only available multi-directional Hand Truck 360 that safely moves items of all shapes and sizes by one person in tight spaces, saving both time and money. And, it’s made in the USA. Look for a whitepaper coming soon on how our products can reduce sprains, strains, and worker comp claims.
Workplace Safety Tips for the Front-line Team--Because Robots and Pallet Jacks Can't Move Everything
Jan 22
“OSHA has confirmed that for every dollar spent on an effective safety program, an employer can expect up to six times return on investment.” (weeklysafety.com)
At the Hand Truck Company, LLC, we see essential workers having difficulty moving products or other items every day, potentially injuring themselves or damaging their loads. Whether you or your team are moving equipment, products, furniture, appliances, barrels, or kegs, employee safety should be the number one concern. Moreover,a safe working environment can lead to higher profits and happier and healthier team members.
Team members are like robots in one way—they can physically break down at the most unexpected times. Strains, sprains, and back injuries often occur when moving products or heavy items. Illnesses (especially during these pandemic days) can pop up at any time. While businesses have to make a profit, too many do it at the expense of the front-line workers. It is the responsibility of company leaders to prepare for the potential injuries and illnesses that will occur. On-going safety training will reduce those occurrences.
The three leading causes of work-related injuries treated in an emergency department are: contact with objects and equipment, over exertion and bodily reaction, falls, slips, and trips without a fall. (cdc.gov/niosh/injury/fastfacts.html) Furthermore, “every day, more than 9,000 workers suffer a serious, job-related injury. Workplace injuries impact both employees and employers. Injured employees face potential physical, emotional and financial harm. Employers face the direct costs of workplace injuries—medical care related to the accident and some portion of an injured employee’s pay—and the indirect costs, including hiring temporary employees, lost productivity, and quality disruptions.” (Liberty Mutual Workplace Safety Index, 2017)
Fortunately, at a time when technology tracks just about every human move, there are still those companies who genuine care about their humans. Strong, profitable companies take care of their team members with ongoing safety training, weekly safety meetings, and providing the right ergonomic equipment.
The cost of NOT having training and regular safety meetings and emphasis on daily safety can have an immense impact on a business, not to mention on the morale of your team.
A safety program will result in cost savings in a variety of areas, such as lowering workers compensation costs and medical expenses, avoiding OSHA penalties, and reducing costs to train replacement employees, and conduct accident investigations. (weeklysafety.com)
So, protect those essential workers and remember, they’re not robots!
Safety First When Moving Items
Feb 21
FACTS:
Back injuries are often caused by unsafe lifting and carrying of heavy or awkward objects (Bureau of Labor, 2016)
Back injuries account for 20% of all injuries and illnesses in the workplace (BLR)
Material handling injuries account for 32% of all worker comp claims (The Travelers Company, 2016)
Strains and sprains resulted in 57 missed work days per incident in 2016 (Travelers)
Injuries impact quality of life for those affected as well as time and money for employers. According to the Brewers Association, the cost to a person with a workplace injury may include:
Medical treatment
Physical therapy
Lost wages or career
Mental therapy
Effect on family
ERGONOMICS: An applied science concerned with designing and arranging things people use so that things and people interact most safely and efficiently.
According to the Material Handling Industry Association, to reduce injuries, strains and sprains, ergonomic systems are employed/should be employed to support workers performing processing and handling tasks in a variety of areas to include:
Assembly—securing and elevating products for production processes
Picking—lifting a container to a comfortable height for removal and placement of items
Positioning—Angling or rotating a load so the operator can perform required tasks without bending, stretching, or reaching
Transportation—Facilitating load movement with wheels or powered propulsion
Storage—Transporting heavy items to and from storage areas
Whether moving kegs, boxes, heavy or light objects/products in any of the above mentioned areas, it is important for companies to provide their team members with a safety program and ergonomic equipment that may help prevent catastrophic or nagging injuries.
For additional safety information, go to:
www.mhi.org
www.brewersassociation.org
www.travelers.com/resources/workplace-safety/creating-a-safety-culture-in-the-workplace