Sitepro Platform Trolleys

Welcome to the Sitecraft range of Platform Trolleys and manual handling trucks. Sitepro is a premium quality platform trolley that is available in a range of configurations and sizes. This includes warehouse trolleys, multi-deck trolleys and office trolleys. There are also 2 and 3 tier trolleys for sale. The Sitepro warehouse trolley all feature a strong and durable deck manufactured from pressed metal. They also have an anti-slip vinyl surface with a perimeter buffer to protect walls and fixtures from damage. For maximum manoeuvrability the folding platform trolley is supplied with two fixed and two swivel castors.

How Trolleys can help avoid manual handling injuries

Hazardous physical work continues to be the biggest risk to the health and safety of workers. Sitepro warehouse and office trolleys can help reduce the risk of manual handling injuries. They are widely used in office, store, warehouse, retail, and manufacturing areas.

Hazardous physical work causes around half of all injuries at work, and that costs the economy in lost productivity and high workers’ compensation costs.

Operators should be aware of musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs), which are injuries to the skeleton, muscles, cartilage, tendons, ligaments and joints. These parts of the body support and bind tissues and organs together, so the body can move and sustain itself to perform physical tasks such as lifting, pulling, pushing or other movements to carry, hold, move or handle objects during a working day. Manual handling aids such as a warehouse trolley can help in avoiding injury.

The risk of injury is likely when the worker struggles to do a task that involves one of these risk factors:

• Repetitive movement
• Repetitive or sustained force
• High or sudden force
• Sustained or awkward postures
• Exposure to vibration.

The risk factors create stress in the body. For special manual handling challenges Sitecraft can supply Custom Trolleys.

Reduce the risk of injury with a Sitepro Warehouse and Office Trolley

The most common manual handling tasks are lifting, pulling and pushing. Where workers continue to do these tasks, there is a risk of injuries such as serious sprains and strains if the task involves any of the known risk factors.

These injuries can be caused by lifting, pulling and pushing objects if it involves applying force repeatedly, using any high force or working in awkward postures.

Advances in materials handling equipment design and technology mean that the risk can be eliminated or at least reduced and that has the benefit of improving workplace efficiency and productivity that rewards the investment. The office trolley is a versatile manual handling aid. Available in many configurations the office cart features a folding, foldable handle for easy storage and handling.

Where the task cannot be fully automated, there is an increasing range of manual handling aids that workers can use to reduce the risk of injury. These include:

• Trolley of various sizes, capacity, designs and adjustability to help carry bulky, heavy and awkward loads
• Sitepro platform trolley.
• Powered tugs and electric trolleys to help pull or push heavy loads
• Portable conveyors to push items between locations
• Pallet lifters to load or unload objects at workstations
• Office trolleys for moving goods and equipment.

Adopting these solutions would reduce manual handling risks in many tasks where lifting, pulling or pushing is required. Where there is uncertainty about the benefits of the measure, a risk assessment is recommended to identify any risk factors of the task and determine:

• How effective specific types of manual handling aids would be in reducing the risk of those risk factors resulting in injury
• The workload and pace of work that may increase the risk
• The suitability of workplace layout and environment in which the work happens
• The possibility of introducing new hazards and risks e.g., others being physically struck by equipment
• The information, instruction and training needed to operate equipment safely.

Invest in Folding Platform Trolleys that are safe and compliant
Businesses and employees have obligations under work health and workers’ compensation laws. There are also specific legal requirements related to manual handling work. Sitecraft supply a wide range of materials handling equipment.

Advice on how to comply with those laws is published in a comprehensive code of practice available from the health and safety regulators in all states. Businesses are expected to follow the general instructions in the codes to make their working environment safe or implement their own safety measures to suit their own workplace, as long as they are as equally effective.

WorkSafe Victoria’s new ‘Hazardous Manual Handling Compliance Code’ has been made under the Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004 and the Occupational Health and Safety Regulations 2017

This new compliance code replaces the Code of Practice (No. 25) Manual Handling (2000)

This compliance code is to give practical guidance to employers about how to comply with their obligations under the Occupational Health and Safety Act and the Occupational Health and Safety Regulations.

The new Victorian code states: “A formal risk assessment is unnecessary if knowledge and understanding about the risk, and how to control it already exist e.g. an employer who knows there is a risk of MSD associated with carrying an item over a long distance and knows that the risk can be eliminated through the use of a height-adjustable four-wheeled trolley, can put the control in place immediately.”

This reflects the greater understanding of the risk and the ranges of readily available equipment and machinery to reduce that risk and, at the same time, improve materials handling efficiency. It also avoided relying on the technical and sometimes time-consuming ergonomic assessment that is beyond the capacity of some employers and may reach the same solution.

Significant new content in the code includes advice on workload and pace of work, a current topic of concern as workplaces change, and recognition that worker “discomfort” from doing a task should be taken into account as an early identifier of risk. Workers should not be expected to work at a rate that is at the limit of their physical ability.

The new code also doesn’t prescribe specific limits on what is the maximum weight a worker can lift. Work that involves hazardous manual handling includes more considerations other than the weight of the object being moved. Factors such as frequency and duration of actual tasks being performed must be considered, also posture, movements and forces involved need to be considered.

The code is available free to download from WorkSafe Victoria’s website www.worksafe.vic.gov.au

These manual handling actions often continue in many workplaces every day out without any problems until the extent of lifting, pulling or pushing exceeds a worker’s capacity to do the work. This may result in a range of serious and potentially permanent injuries.

The Risk Management Process

Employers need to be alert for any trends or common manual handling problems emerging in the workplace. The sources of many risks at work are well known and documented. They include poorly planned work processes, unsafe workplace layout and tasks done unsafely.

The recommended way to manage risk from lifting, pulling or pushing is a process, businesses use to manage any risk – “The Risk Management Process” In OHS terms this means.

Identifying risks connected with hazardous manual handling. The “hazardous point” might simply be a worker reporting “discomfort” from performing that particular task or the pace of the work is unreasonably fast and is becoming strenuous and fatiguing. Assessing if there is any risk of (MSD) connected with the hazardous manual handling task. This includes looking at postures, movements and forces for each task that might pose a risk and then determining at what point they may become “unsafe”. Controlling the potential (MSD) hazard involved in the particular task Continued reviewing and monitoring and revising risk controls as necessary.

The basic question employers need to ask is what is happening and what needs to be fixed?

This requires a team effort. Workplace safety law requires employers to be aware of such potential problems. They are required to talk to workers about any safety problem and listen to those who raise any concerns about the safety of that work. If any of the risk factors can be identified in the work, then it is likely to be hazardous.

Often the solution is a collective one. Such a discussion may make a detailed risk assessment unnecessary if the risk is known and the solution obvious e.g. upgrading old pallet jack to a more ergonomic design to make them easier to push.

If a detailed risk assessment is required, this will determine the extent of the problem and help determine how much needs to be done to avoid injury or at least minimize the risk as much as possible. A well-designed work area, improved work procedures, ergonomically designed tools and equipment will help eliminate or reduce risk factors associated with hazardous manual tasks.
The best and most cost-effective way to manage the risk is not to have it in the workplace in the first place by “designing it out”. This requires redesigning the workplace layout to avoid manual handling risk. If the workplace can’t be changed, the same planning can be applied to re-designing the actual work processes to minimise hazardous lifting, pulling or pushing tasks.

If the solution is to invest in the latest labour-saving devices employers need to be sure that products provided by manufacturers, importers or suppliers are verified as safe and are used for the purpose for which they are intended, or new hazards might be introduced into the workplace.

Buy Sitecraft Folding Platform Trolleys

Sitepro folding trolleys and office trolleys are available to be purchased online from Sitecraft, Australia’s leading platform trolley suppliers.
Sitecraft offers free shipping Australia wide for Sitepro-branded trolleys and carts. For more product information, please call 1300 363 152 to speak to one of our material handling experts. With offices in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane, Sitecraft provides a Australia wide service for trolley for sale.