ABOUT THE COURSE
Heavy materials which are not safe to handle manually must be handled by
mechanical means and this includes lifting, transporting, stacking, loading
and unloading by means of palletizer, chain pulley block, forklifts,
conveyors or cranes and hoists. Mechanical material handling avoids a high risk
of musculoskeletal disorders resulting from manual material handling.
Mechanical material handling
helps increase levels of productivity in the workplace. There is no doubt
that machines can do many tasks more quickly and efficiently in less time
which human cannot do.
To operate these machines and tools, great skill is required, otherwis e there is a potential risk of harming the personnel.
Inspection, preventive maintenance and testing are very necessary to
maintain these machines and tools. All lifting machines must have a valid
OSHA inspection certificate by a competent person. The validity of most
tools is six months, while lifting machines, including the forklift, have a
certificate validity of one year.
