Industrial Stock Trolley Safety Guidelines

Using industrial stock trolleys for handling bulky, large or awkward items is not risk-free. Indeed these mechanical tools significantly reduce the risk of getting muscle injuries when lifting large items, there is still a threat with pulling and pushing. You can easily crush your fingers, hands, feet and lower legs if not properly operating your industrial stock trolley.

There are few key factors that must be considered when designing stock trolleys both for pushing and pulling tasks. What is surprising is the fact that the weight of the load (or equipment) being pulled or pushed is not that important. The horizontal pushing force is the most important matter, but with the right design selection, you can efficiently and safely move thousands of kilograms.

Pushing is more preferable than pulling for few reasons. When pulling industrial stock trolleys, workers often run over their feet. When you are pulling in the travel direction, putting your arm stretched behind your body and placing the shoulder and back in a very awkward and painful posture. If you are pulling the stock trolley while walking backwards, the risk of an incident is big, given the fact you are not viewing the travel path. Also, it has been found out that people have greater push forces than pull forces.

Operating an industrial stock trolley has four phases: starting (or initial) force, rolling (or sustained) force, turning force and stopping force. To start moving the stock trolley, you must overcome the friction and inertial forces, and all other physical forces that may be caused by some factors on the floor (debris, flat spots on wheels, etc.). Once you start moving your industrial stock trolley, not much force is required. The sustained force may even go to zero once the trolley is moving at a relatively constant velocity.

When the industrial stock trolley is turned, two primary forces are combined: inertia and friction. The momentum of the trolley (related to its weight) has a tendency to carry it in the direction it is traveling. To do so, you need to apply higher forces in the new direction. Depending on the weight of the stock trolley, the turning forces can be great. This means that you will need to apply new forces in new directions, putting you in awkward body posture and increasing the injury possibility.

The fourth phase of operating an industrial stock trolley is the stopping force. Once you and your stock trolley are to the desired place, you simply release it and let it roll to stop, without any need to apply force. But if you need to stop or position it to a specific place, you may need to use great turning forces in new direction.