OSHA Construction: Safe Materials Handling

This OSHA-developed training focuses on handling and storing materials involving operations such as hoisting steel with a crane, driving a truck loaded with concrete blocks, manually carrying bags, and stacking drums, lumber or loose bricks.

Improper handling and storing of materials can cause costly injuries.Workers frequently cite the weight and bulkiness of objects being lifted as causes of their injuries. Bending, twisting and turning are movements that cause back injuries.

Back injuries account for over 20 percent of all occupational illnesses. The majority of over-exertion cases with lost-workdays are due to lifting, pushing/pulling, and carrying. Those cases represent 27 percent of all lost-workday cases.

Workers can also be injured by falling objects, improperly stacked materials or by equipment. Potential injuries include strains/sprains from improperly lifting loads or carrying loads that are too large or heavy, fractures/bruises caused by being struck by materials or being caught in pinch points, and cuts/bruises caused by falling materials that were improperly stored or by incorrectly cutting ties or other securing devices.

This course trains worker to properly and safely handle and store materials at the construction site.

All construction workers.

• Manual and Machine Lifting
  • Lifting various load types
  • Powered industrial trucks
  • Dock boards / bridge plates
  • Cranes and slings
• Inspections
  • The Competent Person
  • Before using equipment
  • Davamaged or defective equipment
• Hoisting Materials
  • Wire rope slings
  • Eye splice
  • U-bolt wire rope clips
  • Synthetic web sling fittings
• Storage
  • Preventing materials from falling
  • Storing rules
  • Personal fall arrest equipment

• Be aware of injuries that occur during material handling, storage, use, and disposal.
  • List the three main injuries that occur during material handling, storage, use, and disposal.
• Prevent injury when performing manual lifting.
  • Explain how to safely lift.
• Eliminate hazards that may lead to injury when using equipment to handle materials.
  • Identify ways to eliminate hazards when using forklifts.
  • State ways to eliminate hazards when using cranes.
  • Explain how to eliminate hazards when using slings.
• Reduce or eliminate hazards when storing, using, or disposing of materials.
  • Describe ways to eliminate or reduce material hazards.