In all activities performed within a warehouse there will be a need to use Material Handling Equipment (MHE). MHE includes any equipment or machine that is used for the horizontal or vertical movements of materials in or out of the warehouse.
According to the HSE, “Incorrect manual handling is one of the most common causes of injury at work. It causes work-related Musculoskeletal Disorders (MSDs) which account for over a third of all workplace injuries.” Therefore MHE devices should be used, wherever possible, to reduce or avoid manual handling operations.
The primary objectives of MHE are to:
- Safely transport or move stock items
- Safely position stock items in a desired location to ensure that it is in the correct position for future handling
- Reduce the amount of human effort required to move loads
- Contribute to the efficient flow of materials within a warehouse
- Optimise the use of space within the warehouse
- Reduce handling time taken to move loads
Before the type of MHE is selected, an assessment of the operation is required. The TILE approach, as illustrated in Figure 5, is an appropriate way of assessing a material handling operation:
Figure 1: The TILE Approach to Material Handling