This page is mainly for employers in food and drink manufacturing. It explains how to avoid manual handling and other injuries from roll cages, wheeled racks and other heavy units.
There is specific guidance on preventing musculoskeletal disorders in our page on occupational health risks in food and drink manufacturing.
Roll cages and wheeled racks
Manually propelled roll cages are mounted on 4 wheels and are used to transport goods within the factory, warehouse or retail store.
They are supplied in various heights, ranging from 1,550mm up to 1,830mm (most operators cannot see over 1,400mm). Fully loaded roll cages may weigh 500kg or more – common wheel sizes are 100mm and 125mm diameter.
Typical injuries
The movement and loading of this equipment result in many injuries, mainly related to manual handling. Some companies that use roll cages continuously have found up to a third of their accidents are related to them.
Injuries result from:
- pushing or pulling, especially up slopes
- trying to prevent roll cages overbalancing (and crush injuries where this was not successful)
- repetitive loading and unloading
- trapping hands and feet
- roll cages falling off lorries (for example from a tail lift) during loading or unloading
Design
Roll cage design and construction is important. The frame should be robust and rigid with shelf arrangements that will withstand long-term use.
Larger diameter wheels reduce pushing or pulling forces. For example, the force required to overcome a small step is typically 20% greater if using a 100mm wheel as opposed to a 125mm wheel.
Castors fitted close to corners improve stability. Handles should be incorporated at a height of approximately 1,000mm to move fingers away from corners of cages.
Castors and wheels
Robust wheel castors (for example made of stainless steel), with good quality wheel bearings, are important.
Ensure wheels and bearings are suitable for any harsh environment, such as high or low temperatures (for example in ovens or freezers) or pressure washing.
Select wheel material carefully – hard materials such as nylon will lower rolling resistance, polyurethane wheels are quieter on rough surfaces and high-temperature rubber wheels are often a good option and are quiet in operation.
Castors and wheels should have routine maintenance, along with the roll cage generally.
Safe working advice
To protect workers, they should:
- only move one cage at a time
- move the cage no faster than walking speed
- wherever possible, push the cage as this is ergonomically better than pulling it
- seek help on ramps and uneven surfaces
- stack heavier items at the bottom to lower the centre of gravity
- not load above the load line or above the level where the operator can see over the load
Mechanical handling of unit loads
To eliminate unit loads (sacks, boxes etc), consider replacing sacks, liquid ingredient containers, boxed ingredients etc with bulk storage arrangements. These could include:
- metal silos
- bulk liquid containers, or
- 1 or 2 tonne flexible intermediate bulk containers that can be raised into position mechanically, for example by forklift truck
Where bulk storage arrangements are not possible, consider installing full mechanical handling options for unit loads, for example:
- vacuum lifting devices
- conveyors
- computerised vacuum lift-assisted palletisers
Where full mechanical handling is not reasonably practicable, consider installing devices that assist manual handling, for example scissor lifts with rotating tables to raise or position loads at work height.
For sack handling, consider:
- platforms adjacent to hoppers to rest sacks on, or
- bag splitters that automatically cut open and tip sacks into hoppers
Manual handling unit loads
Many ingredient suppliers supply product in weights of 25kg or lower – a safe weight for most people to lift when held close to the trunk, though ergonomic assessment is still needed.
A commonly used 32kg weight of sack can also be safely handled with proper training by a fit, healthy person if:
- a more detailed risk assessment is in place
- there are no adverse factors such as awkward delivery access, stairs etc
Heavier loads should ideally be handled using mechanical aids or 2 people for a combined lift.
It is generally better to reduce the weight of unit loads, even if this means a greater frequency of lifts. For example, it is better to lift 100 containers weighing 25kg than 50 ones weighing 50kg. But the frequency should not be increased too far as the benefits are reduced by fatigue. When unit weights are decreased it is important that stack heights are not increased to above shoulder height.
Shipping containers
Unloading sacks from shipping containers can present particular difficulties due to settlement of sacks in transit and restricted working space.
Additionally, if shipping containers are coming from abroad, it may be difficult to control the sack weight. One method is using a tipper lorry which lifts the container to an angle so the load is tipped out or onto a conveyor.
Good practice
Ensure good practices are followed:
- not picking up loads from the floor if possible
- adequate space to prevent twisting or bending
- a clear, level work area
- rest breaks when needed
- not carrying 'double' loads
- job rotation with a non-lifting task
- boxes and containers have suitable handles or hand-holds