MATERIAL HANDLING

TECHNIQUES
OBJECTIVES
At the end of this Learning Element the participants will
be able to:-

Describe and Explain the various methods of Handling

Materials

Apply Safe Practice of Handling Materials

Identify and Use Special Conveyors and Memorial

Systems as well as Industrial Trucks.
Equipment, Aids Required:

Overhead Travelling Cranes

Elevators and Escalators

Pumps

Handlift Trucks etc.

RELATED LEARNING ELEMENT

Safety in Maintenance of Machine

Introduction to Common Mechanical Drive Components.

 INTRODUCTION
1. The subject of Handling Materials is an exceedingly
broad one. All raw materials, parts materials in
process, finished products, scrap and wastes used or
produced in industry must be handled. The means
used, therefore, must vary to meet such factors as
character of material. Size, weight, rate of handling,
distances moved, the purpose of moving or handling to
mention a few.

2. The methods and procedures used vary not only as

between plants, but also as between departments
within a plant, so that, whereas the handling of
materials is an important function of over-all planning,
the needs and problems of each department also must
be studied in detail and suitable methods decide upon.
Introduction Cont’d

3. The reports of the agencies administering workmen’s

compensation acts show that, on the average, at least
25 per cent of compensable injuries in the
manufacturing industries are connected with the
handling of materials and objects.

4. Accident experience also shows that the substitution of

suitable mechanical means of handling for manual
methods reduces accidents greatly. Also, it is faster
and more efficient, and if the relationship between
volume of goods moved and the cost of the equipment
required is within proper limits, the unit cost of moving
will be favourable also.
Introduction Cont’d

5. The factor of volume of material to be handled is vital,

for even in the most modern, best-planned, and best
equipped plant, much lifting, carrying and handling
must be manual in whole or in part.

6. Since the subject is so big, this discussion is of

necessary limited to certain phases of it that are of
major importance to safety.
METHODS OF HANDLING MATERIALS

7. General methods (in addition to hand handling) or

moving material commonly used in industrial
establishments, both large and small, are briefly by:

a) Hand Lift Trucks

b) Dragging or Sliding on Skids or Rollers
c) Wheelbarrows
d) Hoisting Apparatus
e) Hand Trucks, Power Trucks and Tractors
f) Overhead Travelling Cranes
g) Conveyors
h) Mechanical Shovels
i) Elevators and Escalators
j) Chutes (gravity or under pressure)
k) Pumps for Liquids.
Methods of Handling Materials Cont’d

8. The basic fact that the unsafe acts of individuals are a

factor in the majority of accidents justifies of itself the
substitution of mechanical for manual operations
wherever practicable. This statement implies, of
course, that the mechanical means used must be of
safe design and construction, suited to their purpose,
thoroughly guarded, properly qualified and adequately
supervised.

9. Typical hazards of the use of such equipment are

overloading, poor arrangement of material, operating
at excessive speed, lack of adequate space for
operation, lack of skill and improper attitude on the
part of the operator.
 SAFE PRACTICES AND METHODS SHOULD BE APPLIED
10. Those responsible for, and those who do the actual work should
have a knowledge of safe practices as well as methods.
Following are some ways to prevent accidents and injuries.

a) Men should lift with the leg muscles, keeping their

backs straight and their knees bent. One man should
not attempt to lift an object alone if two men are
required for safety.

b) When very heavy or long objects are

carried by two or more men, teamwork and motion in
unison is essential. One person should be the leader
and direct the work. Special tools should be used
whenever possible. Some times a whistle is used for
giving signals for lift, walk and let down.

c) In handling long material such as pipe,

lumber and ladders, the front end should be held high
and the rear end low. This is done so that the front end
is above the height of a person when turning blind
corners.
 Safe Practices and Methods should be Applied
Cont’d

d) A very heavy object should not be raised by hand if a

crane, hoist, or other method is available. Such objects,
especially if odd in shape or bulky, may get out of control
and cause an accident.

e) When rolling tanks or other heavy round parts either

up or down an incline, the motion should be controlled
with ropes or tackle, and men should never stand on the
downhill side.

f) Since many handling operations consist of loading

and unloading near machines or processes, safe practices
are likely to be overlooked because the pilling is
temporary. Actually, the hazard may be greater in such a
location than in a warehouse. Even if the hazard is light,
bad piling establishes a precedent which later leads to
injuries. Therefore, piling should always be properly done.
 Safe Practices and Methods should be Applied Cont’d
10. Those responsible for, and those who do the actual work should
have a knowledge of safe practices as well as methods.
Following are some ways to prevent accidents and injuries.

a) Men should lift with the leg muscles, keeping their

backs straight and their knees bent. One man should
not attempt to lift an object alone if two men are
required for safety.

b) When very heavy or long objects are

carried by two or more men, teamwork and motion in
unison is essential. One person should be the leader
and direct the work. Special tools should be used
whenever possible. Some times a whistle is used for
giving signals for lift, walk and let down.

c) In handling long material such as pipe,

lumber and ladders, the front end should be held high
and the rear end low. This is done so that the front end
is above the height of a person when turning blind
corners.
 Safe Practices and Methods should be Applied Cont’d

g) Tools and equipment such as shovels, forks, crowbars,

wheelbarrows, hand trucks, hooks and other handling gear
should be kept in good operating condition.

h) Protecting the hands by gloves, leather pads, and the like

and protecting the feet by safety shoes and foot guards are of
value when handling lumber, metal in various forms, boxes
and any other articles heavy enough to injure the feet.

i) Holes and unevenness in floors cause material to be shaken

from loaded trucks.

j) Aisles should be clear and wide enough to allow ample space

for all traffic they are called upon to carry. Sometimes traffic
should be re-routed.

k) The piling of material must include proper tiering and

securing, as well as proper provision for its safe and efficient
removal.
 Safe Practices and Methods should be Applied Cont’d

l) When using wheelbarrows, the load should be placed well

forward to make it easier to lift and push the barrow.
Overloading should be avoided and the runaway should be
smooth, steady and strong.

m) Proper slings should be used and placed correctly when

making a lift. Loads should be secured to prevent tipping and
sliding.

n) Hand lift trucks are in general use throughout industry.

It is important that the proper typed of truck be selected for
task that it be kept in good condition. Care must be exercised
to keep the centre of gravity of the load as low as possible to
prevent tipping, shifting, or falling off of material, push, rather
than pull, should be the rule. Handles should be left in a
vertical position when not in use so that no one will trip over
them. Counter weights, springs or hooks may be installed for
this purpose. Maintenance is particularly important with the
hydraulic hand lift trucks to prevent “dropping” the load. It
a brake can be applied to advantage, this should be done.
 INDUSTRIAL TRUCKS
11. Industrial Trucks usually powered by storage batteries or
internal combustion engines, are used extensively in
industry for the handling of materials to and from stock-
piles, to and from machines and on through to warehouse
or loading platform or car. These trucks are of many
types, weight and capacities.

12. Some weight several tons and have a capacity of several

tons. The power is carried through simple operating
controls to the travel motors, which drive the trucks and
operate the lifting devices at the will of the operator.

There are 3 types:

a) The Platform Type

b) The Elevating Type
c) The Forklift Truck
 Industrial Trucks Cont’d
13. The Platform Type, which is used to carry load from one
place to another required either manual or mechanical
handling for loading and unloading.

14. The Elevating Type of platform truck makes use of a skid

or pallet on which the load is placed. The platform is
inserted under the skid, elevated to lift it from the floor
and the truck carries it to some other point.

15. The Forklift Truck makes the lift by means of a two-prong

fork instead of a platform. It is designed to lift the load
up to about ten feet from the floor, permitting high piling
to conserve space. Since this involves heavy floor
loading, floor strength must be considered when planning
for the use of these trucks.
 RACKS FOR TIERING SKIDS
16. The primary function of fork trucks or other elevating
mechanisms is to place skids, drums, bales, or pallets
either in racks or on top of each other in order to save
storage space.

17. Skid tiering racks aid stability and give greater flexibility.
They provide for the placing of two, three or four skids
one on top of another on a rack or track so that the lower
skids may be removed without disturbing the upper ones.
They are in stock rooms, accumulation areas, machines
shops, fabrication shops, and outdoor storage. By proper
planning and layout of floor space, utilizing wherever
possible existing aisles and open area ways, more
materials can be placed in a given area, and each unit
load is readily accessible at all times.
 MISCELLANEOUS METHODS OF HANDLING MATERIAL

Far-seeing supervisors will plan to use special tools and

fixtures to simplify the handling of materials used in the
department. Examples of these are:

1. A tote box handle that is attached to the tote box so that

it can be dragged along the floor.

2. A special fixture in which to place compressed gas

cylinders so that they can be lifted or hoisted on a crane.

3. Rope used for snubbing to act as a brake when unloading

heavy drums from trucks.

4. Tongs and pliers for handling hot metal.

5. Hand hooks for freight handlers.

 Miscellaneous Methods of Handling Material Cont’d

6. Hooks for rolling logs.

7. Rollers for heavy, bulky materials.

8. Special slings

9. Chain hoists

10. Travelling, grantry and wall cranes

11. Clamps for handling sheet steel, barrels, boxes and so on.

12. Special hand trucks for drums.

 CONVEYORS
18. Special conveyors and Monorail Systems are use in many
instances to eliminate manual labour, expedite the
movement of material, and also to facilitate the
processing or assembly. Examples of these are:

 The automobile assembly line

 Conveyor systems on which to hang and move material to be
painted so that the spraying operation can be done at the
exhausted-spray booth.
 Roller conveyors at certain points that allow for loading baskets
and then passing them through the degreaser, washer, or dryer
areas.
 IMPROVEMENT METHODS AS THEY APPLY TO SAFETY

19. If up-to-date improved methods are used in all cases of

handling material. We remove, to a great extent, the
human element by using mechanical devices to replace
manual labour. This phase of plant operation is often
neglected in spite of the fact that time and money in
consumed in the handling of materials.

20. Such weakness decreases the efficiency of the

organization and increases the number of accidents. The
installation of proper methods, therefore, reduces the
hazards as well as the cost.
 Improvement Methods as they apply to Safety Cont’d

Typical indications of out-of-date or faulty methods are:

 Lack of Orderliness: Improve sequence of operations and

arrangement of machines makes it necessary to move stock
back and forth rather than in a direct line to the finished
product.

 Lost Material: Lost material makes it necessary to provide

additional expenditors or searcher to locate materials in process
that has gone astray.

 Manual Lifting: Any excessive amount of hand lifting of heavy

objects indicates the need of such mechanical aids as lifting
devices or special trucks.

 The Absence of Suitable Traffic aisles or Storage Space:

In adequate aisle space and insufficient storage space will
inevitably create disorderliness. Therefore, provisions for aisles
and storage spaces and a place for everything are of prime
importance.
 Improvement Methods as they apply to Safety Cont’d

 Skids, Boxes and Containers Overloaded or

Carelessly Loaded: This might indicate poor
supervision, poor training or lack of suitable containers.

 Equipment in Poor Repair: This includes wobbly truck

wheels, broken truck bodies, faulty power equipment,
floors in poor condition, worn cables and slings, worn or
broken tools, which indicate the results of lack of
maintenance.

In most of the larger organizations we find that attention

has been paid to these things. Establishments that
haven’t done so would improve both safety and efficiency
by applying suitable remedies.
 Improvement Methods as they apply to Safety Cont’d

21. If the layout of a plant is designed to provide for an

eventual increase in production capacity, it must be
flexible enough to accommodate volume fluctuations in
all lines. In this way, congestion will be relieved and
better operating efficiency will be obtained from
manufacturing and storage area and from improved
arrangement of machinery and equipment.

22. Since production is materials in motion, low costs, can be

achieved through the proper equipment, engineered to
the correct procedure, at the right shop to enable the
manufacture of the unit in the most efficient manner, in
the shortest possible time over a minimum distance.
 Improvement Methods as they apply to Safety Cont’d

23. Because production is material on the move, we must

consider the fundamental requirements necessary in a
well – planned shop. These must include:

I. Adequate facilities to receive, inspect and

distribute incoming material.
II. Short, direct routes to and from principal raw
storage of material.
III. Proper arrangement of machinery and equipment
in each department provide ample room to place
material within easy reach of workers.
 Improvement Methods as they apply to Safety Cont’d

IV. Free access to machines and assembly benches for quick

delivery of material within department and for fast pick-
up of outbound material and waste.
V. Grouping of machines and departments so movement of
material between operations is as short as possible, with
a minimum of back-tracking.
VI. Adequate storage facilities for material in process
between operations.
VII. Stock rooms and tool cages with facilities to receive,
store, inventory and disperse parts and tools with
minimum handling and effort.
VIII. Facilities to pack or create finished product efficiently and
to ship by all classes of carries.
CONCLUSION
24. If these basic requirements are satisfied, the plant will
have a materials-handling system that can move and
store material efficiently with the least possible effort,
greatest safety and in the shortest possible time
consistent with economy.

25. Naturally each service department employs non-

productive labour-labour which adds cost to the product
and to the possibility of accidents resulting in injuries.
By reducing the number of people exposed by using
suitable equipment, careful planning and supervision,
we can show reductions in cost, time and accidents.
SUGGESTED PROCEDURES FOR AN EFFECTIVE
MATERIALS HANDLING SYSTEM

Analysis of past injuries resulting from handling material

Analysis of existing methods with a view to improving them

Improved supervision and training of every worker, bringing

to light the hazards involved in material handling.

Enforcement of rules and instructions in safe handling

practice.

Checking up on the maintenance of material-handling

equipment.
26. Following through with this procedure
helps us to progress along well-founded practices
and effective principles.