Preventing Injury While Moving: 5 Tips
Preventing Injury While Moving: 5 Tips
The moving process is definitely stressful and annoying. But it’s also a prime time for injury. If you’re a DIY mover, you’re even more likely to become injured in some way during the moving process. And if you’re having volunteers help on moving day, you need to be especially sensitive to these potential issues. That’s because any injuries that take place on your property can trigger liability issues for you, so you’ll want to ensure that your volunteers are taking every precaution!
So if you want to avoid injury while packing or moving, take these five tips from the experts at your Garden Grove moving company:
1.Go slowly.
With so much to do leading up to moving day, it’s not unusual for DIY movers to rush through the process. There’s just so much to do, and likely not enough time to do it in. But rushing only leads to problems down the road. For instance, it’s easier to break fragile items – exposing sharp edges – when you’re rushing. And it’s much easier to suffer strains related to fatigue when you’re trying to move too much in a single day.
The best way to begin preventing injury during your moving process is to start early and work slowly. You should plan to begin DIY packing at least a month before your moving day – if not more like six weeks. And give yourself at least one full day, if not two, for the actual move.
2.Leverage proper body mechanics.
Besides rushing, the next most common reason DIY movers suffer injury is improper body mechanics. Professional Garden Grove movers have loads of practice using their bodies properly, and are in good condition for moving heavy items. They also use tools like dollies for moving extra heavy items, preventing unnecessary physical strain.
You can adopt some of these practices to prevent back injury due to improper body mechanics. You’ll need to learn to protect your lower back, which is the most vulnerable part of your body when moving heavy items. Basically, you have to learn to transfer the weight of heavy items from your back to your legs, which are built for the strain. Not sure how this works? Consult with a licensed physical therapist or another expert for some advice. Avoiding a long-lasting back injury will be well worth the time this could take!
3.Use gloves.
Keep a pair of gloves nearby for each person helping you pack and move. They’re great for moving furniture, which can often have tacks or other things sticking out unexpectedly, or rough edges right where you need to place your hands. Using gloves can protect hands in these instances.
Gloves are also great when picking up broken pieces, just in case something breaks during the packing process. All around, they’re just a good item to have nearby when you’re packing and moving.
4.Keep pathways clean.
When you’re DIY packing, it’s easy to let things get out of hand. Things tend to get a bit messy, and that’s understandable. This is one reason you should go slowly. Rushing at breakneck speed around a messy house can be a recipe for disaster.
But it’s possible to keep your house at least somewhat clean during packing. You should stack packed boxes along a wall, to keep them out of the way. And strive to keep pathways to major areas clean, and especially to avoid crowding up narrow hallways. Even if these areas get messy during a long Saturday packing marathon, take time to tidy up at the end of the day, so you can easily get where you need to go without tripping at night.
5.Have movers move the heaviest items.
Most of the best Garden Grove moving companies will allow you to customize your moving package. So you might decide to have movers just take care of the heaviest and hardest to move items in your home. This, alone, can save your back on moving day. Or you could do all the packing on your own, but let the moving company do all the heavy lifting to get all your stuff from point A to point B when it’s time to move.
Remember, it’s important to take steps to prevent injury for both yourself and any volunteers who help you move. The professional movers will know these tricks to prevent injury, and they will also be covered by workmen’s compensation plans, so you won’t have to deal with liability for any injuries they might sustain while on the job. But for your volunteers, this isn’t the case, so take extra precaution when it comes to these helpful people.