Material handling residential roofing safety talk
There is plenty of room for error when it comes to material handling. Ensuring the safest material handling practices are in place can be challenging due to equipment available, location and convenience. Below are some tips to safely move equipment.
Ladder lift/ forklift/carts
- Only trained and authorized employees should operate material handling equipment
- Use equipment to aid in material handling when possible such as ladder lifts, forklifts, carts etc.
- Ensure route of travel is clear
- All material and equipment should be secured before transporting
- Ladder lifts should be placed on flat footing and secured before operating
If manual lifting is required:
- Weight that a worker can carry should be limited with a maximum weight set
- Practice safe lifting techniques such as keeping back straight and bending at the knees
- If an item is to large or heavy such as large sheets of material that may act as a sail, ask for assistance from a team member
- Wear gloves with a good fit and grip when lifting material
- Do not carry items up the ladder in hands; pull items up after
