Using the Right Picking and Stocking Equipment Will Reduce Retail Hazards

You might think that working in a grocery store or a big box retail store poses minimal safety risk. In most cases, that is true. However, some employees, including stockers and order pickers, face potential hazards daily. Simple tasks like bending down to grab a specific product or reaching up to stock shelves can cause injuries, especially if proper safety procedures aren’t followed.

Employers are responsible for providing a safe environment for their workers and customers. Part of that responsibility includes supplying well-maintained equipment. Moreover, that equipment should allow employees to perform their job safely. Read on to discover how the right equipment can reduce the risk of employee accidents.

Common Workplace Injuries

Overexertion injuries caused by improperly lowering or lifting merchandise are among the most common types of workplace accidents. Extreme physical effort sometimes causes these injuries, usually found in soft tissues such as strained or pulled muscles, ligaments, and tendons. Recovery from these types of injuries may require physical therapy and/or surgery leading to high medical bills and time away from work.

According to the Centers for Disease Control, slip, trip and fall situations are the third-highest cause of lost time for retail and wholesale workers. These causes often result in fractures, sprains, strains, bruises, back injuries, cuts and lacerations.

Other common workplace injuries are:

• Lacerations from common tools such as box cutters.
• Employees running into objects or something falling and hitting them may cause minor to severe injuries such as bruises, cuts and broken bones.
• Merchandise stacked on pallets falling and striking workers causing serious harm.
• Pallet jacks and forklifts striking employees causing bruises, broken bones, and other serious injuries.

Providing the right equipment
PROVIDING THE RIGHT EQUIPMENT IS ESSENTIAL
Even with safety programs implemented, employee error is unavoidable. They use an unstable ladder or stool to reach high shelves, use a damaged stocking cart or even climb shelves to reach the top. , but employers can reduce the risk of accidents by supplying safe, well-maintained equipment.

Cannon Equipment developed several types of equipment related to retail operations including stocking and picking needs. They use sturdy materials to build every piece of equipment they sell and incorporate safety features into every design.

Cannon Equipment supplies safe stocking equipment to businesses. They design and engineer equipment to address specific customer needs, then manufacture those products. Although they offer standard equipment, they also work with customers to create custom solutions for their customers unique needs. Learn more about Cannon Equipment.