Working in a warehouse consists of a lot of intensive physical labor. Between moving weighted supplies and operating heavy machinery and equipment, many tasks on the job put your body to the test. When it comes to heavy lifting and body exertion, backs tend to take on the most strain due to their middle ground placement. Here are five ways to protect your back as a warehouse worker without hindering your quality of work.
1. Seek Help When Needed
As with many things in life, it’s OK to seek help when working in a warehouse. Sometimes people like to push themselves as a challenge, for pride, or because they’re too afraid to ask for assistance. However, pushing your body too much creates numerous risks, catapulting into a domino effect of issues. Over-exertion harms your body, puts your carried items at risk of damage, and decreases your warehouse’s productivity as they become one man down on the job. Seeking help from coworkers or a machine protects your body, cargo, and operations in numerous ways.
2. Lift With Caution
Weightlifters often require a spotter because manageable, single-person tasks still involve as much risk as a two-person or physically intensive job. The wrong body alignment, posture, weight distribution, and hold puts your body in harmful positions. No matter the weight of the cargo, lifting with caution at work ensures you protect your back from pulling a muscle, snapping, or getting hurt.
3. Wear Comfortable Clothing
Although all warehouses enforce a specific dress code for work-appropriate attire, there are numerous ways to improve your outfit to benefit and protect your body at work. Physically demanding jobs mean lots of movement. Wearing constrictive clothing pieces hinders one’s flexibility, minimizing movement range and increasing the risk of damage to your body. Comfortable clothing items maximize your mobility, add body support, and allow you to complete jobs with ease. Z-Coil’s fashionable orthopedic shoes provide work-appropriate footwear that supports your back and feet, administering comfort on the job. Orthopedic footwear paired with a well-fitted shirt, durable pants, and other necessary work accessories ensures you stay safe at the warehouse in style.
4. Optimize Your Breaks
For many work enthusiasts, it’s easy to work through breaks. However, all workplaces provide regular rest periods for a reason. Pushing people to work for long hours nonstop violates ethical labor laws and creates health and safety hazards. Break times provide the perfect opportunity to mentally and physically rest. Relaxing your body allows it to take the time to heal itself and rejuvenate your energy supply. The more you optimize your breaks for rest and downtime, the less strain you put your body through and the fewer the risks of hurting your back.
5. Regularly Strengthen Your Body
Strength training and regular exercise prepare your body for the intensive demands of work. Stronger muscles make certain jobs easier and provide added body support. As you strengthen arm muscles, legs, shoulders, and cores, carried weight gets evenly distributed across your body. Releasing strain and pressure from your back with other body parts protects your back and body from harm.
Implementing different ways to protect your back as a warehouse worker ensures you handle the various intensive demands of the job with ease and free of risks. Z-Coil provides a range of footwear that helps you look after your body in numerous circumstances. Like with many aspects of life, taking care of your body allows you to optimize other attributes, such as your work performance.