How To Prevent Injuries When Moving Furniture
Dec 12, 2022
Are you moving homes soon on the Sunshine Coast and have a heavy load of furniture items to transport? To avoid injuries, you must exercise caution while moving and loading these items on your rental vehicle. The most common injuries you can face while moving furniture are
back injuries and strains, broken toes/ feet, scraped knees and cuts and abrasions.
If you have heavy furniture items you cannot break down or carry on your own, you should hire professional removalists on Sunshine Coast to help you out. These experts know the proper techniques and have the right equipment to prevent injuries and keep your furniture safe and intact.
However, if you are opting for a DIY move, it is important to learn the right technique to move furniture and how to make the process easier to avoid aches and pains. Here are some common injuries when moving furniture and how to avoid them.
Common Injuries And How To Avoid Them
1. Back Injury
If you already have a severe back injury or problem, you must avoid lifting furniture on your own or else you could end up with a herniated back muscle. You should hire expert Sunshine Coast furniture removalists who use the proper equipment and techniques to move your furniture safely and efficiently.
However, if the items are not too heavy and you don’t have any previous back injuries, then you should take the following precautions to avoid straining your back:
- Always lift with your legs and not your back, so the strain is on your leg muscles.
- You should use proper lifting techniques by keeping your spine straight and letting your lower limbs handle the object’s weight.
- Arrange moving dollies, utility dollies and rolling racks with moving straps so that it is easier to move furniture items and you won’t strain your back.
2. Broken Fingers And Toes
If you are moving a furniture item and trip over something on the way or are not holding it properly, it can slip and fall on your toes or harm your fingers. You should avoid this situation in the following ways:
- Try to disassemble your furniture items into as many pieces as possible so that it is easier to carry. You can keep all the parts in one box or tape them to the underside of the furniture item.
- Always wear heavy-duty gloves and closed-toe shoes so that the injury will be less if something falls on your feet.
- You should also wear appropriate clothing that will not make you trip and fall.
- Lastly, always map out your path in advance and clear any clutter and obstructions in advance.
3. Knee Injuries
It is common for your knees to get worked up when lifting furniture items. This can lead to serious knee injuries, but you can avoid this by using preventative measures, such as:
- You should wear knee pads and braces to protect your kneecaps from serious injuries.
- Always lift the furniture from your legs and keep heavy items below your chest to hold them properly.
- If something is too heavy for you, ask your friends and family for help.
- You can also use a removalist in Queensland to help you carry all your furniture to your moving truck and unload it in your new home.
- These experts also know how to load and unload your furniture items and will wrap them with proper moving equipment to prevent them from getting damaged.
4. Muscle Injury
If you start moving your furniture and feel a pull in your muscles, it could be a sprain or a more serious injury. These injuries occur when your body is not used to carrying such a heavy load. These injuries can cause tears in your thighs, calves and foot arches. Here are some useful tips to help you prevent muscle injuries and sprains:
- You must prepare your muscles for this heavy lifting weeks in advance by stretching exercises, planks and lifting light weights.
- You should rotate your joints, do some light aerobic activity and twist your torso, so your muscles become more flexible and agile.
- Hold your stretches for 30 seconds to make your muscles more dynamic to avoid tears and sprains.
- Before moving and loading your heavy furniture items on moving day, you should eat a nutritious breakfast.
- Enjoy some oatmeal and eggs to get the nutrients and proteins to keep you energetic while moving your muscles.
- Drink plenty of water to stay hydrated and alert when lifting and loading heavy furniture onto your moving vehicle.
Some Additional Tips
- You must wear long-sleeved shirts and pants to avoid minor scrapes and cuts.
- You should use equipment like dollies, rolling racks, moving blankets and plastic wrap when moving heavy furniture items.
- You should also plan your move so that you know what items you are packing and moving by when so that you can stay alert and avoid injuries.
- Make sure you keep track of the weather conditions and avoid moving furniture in rainy conditions, or you may slip and fall on wet pathways.
- You must always keep your feet shoulder-width apart and keep the furniture item close to your body to avoid any sprains.
- Lastly, you should always know what you can handle and what is too heavy for you and avoid injuring yourself. You should get professional removalists on Sunshine Coast to help you move these heavy furniture items to avoid spraining your back or tearing a muscle.
Conclusion
You can avoid injuries when moving furniture items by being aware of your limitations and using the proper techniques and preventions. If you have a history of injuries and ailments, it is better to let furniture
removalists Sunshine Coast load and unload your items.
They will use advanced equipment and proper lifting techniques to ensure your furniture is loaded safely onto the moving truck.