Warehouses and production facilities alike depend on the workers who unload supplies and load completed products onto trucks for shipment. However, these workers can experience a wide variety of injuries as part of their work. What injuries might workers experience when loading or unloading cargo?
Heavy lifting can lead to a variety of sprains or strains.
Because of the quantity of materials involved when loading or unloading cargo for a business, workers must often lift heavy pallets of product or materials. This heavy lifting can cause sprains or strains in the workers performing these tasks.
Repeated motions can cause strain over time.
Loading and unloading trucks often requires workers to perform the same tasks over and over during the day. Even if workers use a forklift to handle heavy loads, the repeated motions they perform to operate the forklift and the long hours spent seated can still put strain on their body. Over time, these motions can lead to repetitive strain injuries to the nerves and muscles in the parts of the body performing these motions.
Loading accidents can come in a variety of forms.
While heavy lifting and repetitive motion are everyday hazards for those working on a loading dock, accidents can create further risks. Workers might become caught between a pallet and a wall or be struck by falling or improperly secured cargo. As one manufacturer notes, loading docks often bring workers between 46 and 52 inches off the ground, and a slip or fall from this height could cause serious injury.
While any of these accidents could keep an employee away from work, they can still get the support they need to recover. Workers’ compensation may offer support to offset both the cost of their medical care and the wages lost as they take time away from work to recover.