Trying to move heavy or large items can be hard on your body, especially if you are trying to move them by hand. When lifting the items you can put an unwanted pressure onto your back and this could cause a serious injury, which could take months to get over and possible keep you off work.

To make sure that you protect your back there are a range of industrial trucks available and they are capable of manoeuvring a selection of different items. If you use industrial trucks you are also capable of moving a larger quantity of items in one go; this save a lot of time and energy.

There are sack trucks, which are smaller storage units that are easy to steer. There are also industrial trucks that are designed especially to move large or heavy items up and down the stairs. If you use a standard sack truck up and down the stairs, you could cause an accident and the items will fall off of the truck and break.

There are a range of trolleys and these are better units as you can distribute a larger weight around the trolley, but they are harder to manoeuvre. For a larger industrial solution there are pallet trucks and these are ideal for the workplace. Pallet trucks are one of the most expensive industrial trucks on the market, but they are essential for any business to make sure that your employees do not injure themselves and issue an injury claim against the company.

Over 25% of accidents in workplaces each year are caused by incorrect manual handling techniques. Transporting, supporting heavy loads by hand, for example.

Fractures or strains, especially of the back, are not uncommon and most of these injuries could have been avoided with the use of correct techniques.

Other ways of minimising accidents include to redesign or automate the task to cut down the amount of manual handling needed, thorough risk assessment of the task and as far as possible reduce the risk of injury when manual handling is unavoidable. The in-house Health and Safety officer should carry out the risk assessment since they are going to be more familiar with the work being carried out there.

For instance, a job involving the stacking of shelves, the H & S officer would need to consider factors such as:

•    The height of the job and shelves or racking from the ground
•    The surface upon which the access equipment will rest. For example, the shelves or a partition wall
•    Whether the surface will be strong enough to take the weight of the equipment and the workers
•    The condition of the ground upon which the access equipment will rest
•    Lighting conditions in the work area

The job should then be carefully planned out. Heavier items should be stored lower down; other workers should be kept away from the area to avoid injuries from falling objects. Tools that will be used frequently should be kept close at hand and easily accessible. Frequent breaks, especially if working up a ladder, should be taken.

These days more than ever before, businesses need to cut wasteful and profit reducing aspects of their businesses as much as possible. Forklift or industrial trucks are essential to any warehouse operation but need space to move around. This floor space is going to cost the company in terms of potential storage room lost.

However there is now an industrial truck known as the Very Narrow Aisle (VNA) forklift truck. In a low bay warehouse, the VNA truck can increase the capacity of the warehouse by up to 30%. This machine can work in a space of 1.6 metres and lift a 1500 kg load to a height of over seven metres. Since the VNA truck needs very little room in which to operate, it will be possible for the warehouse manager to stack extra pallets closer together or erect more racking systems.

Typically, the VNA truck has a chassis of just over a metre in width and a narrow front axle. This allows it to be utilised in the block stacking of pallets. It also has tough cushion tyre and front wheel drive which make it perfect for use in slippery conditions. Some of these particular industrial trucks do not require guide rails which gives them added flexibility in that they are able to take pallets from the goods received part of the warehouse and stack them away or take full pallets to the processing area of the warehouse or take them to a road vehicle ready to be despatched.

The forklift truck is, without doubt, one of the most important assets a business that needs to move heavy goods around could own.

In a large warehouse such as the supply depots belonging to supermarkets, these industrial trucks will move pallets of produce onto supply lorries quickly and efficiently. There are many different types of industrial trucks now available but for the purpose of this article let us focus on the counterbalanced forklift.

Typically, the counterbalanced forklift will have as its counterweight a block of cast iron. Depending upon the weight of this iron block, the lift will have a set weight lifting capability when its forks are lifting to their maximum height. This weight must never be exceeded because of the danger of the truck toppling over. A plate fastened to the truck will provide appropriate information.

The truck’s mast is the vertical assembly set at the front of the truck and raises or lowers the load. It is also made up of interlocking rails. These rails give it lateral stability. It is operated by one or more of the hydraulic tilt cylinders attached to the truck’s frame and mast. Alternatively the mast may be chain operated using a hydraulic motor.

The carriage, to which the forks or other accessories are attached, is mounted the mast rails and moves up and down them either by using the chains or alternatively it might be attached to the hydraulic cylinder.

The forklift is usually powered by either diesel internal combustion engine or electricity supplied by batteries or fuel cells.

Flat-pack furniture, a retailer of this particular type of furniture can store larger amounts than he could if they were fully assembled. This represents a great saving in both storage space used and the number of times the retailer will need to reorder stock and the associated cost of transporting it from the manufacturer to the salesroom.

Many of us have wandered around these superstores marvelling at the variety of designs of furniture that will enhance our living spaces and at the same time allow us to utilise all the potential of wall space in accommodations that have very little to offer in the way of floor space. Having paid for the ideal shelving systems or storage cabinets that are going to make life so much easier, the customer is then faced with the task of assembling them.

Reading the instructions thoroughly is absolutely essential if this deceptively simple project is to be successfully completed. Study the accompanying diagrams carefully as well, they can sometimes clarify an instruction that may be open to misinterpretation otherwise.

There will be a checklist of components that needs to be read and then the items on the list ticked off. The screws and fittings seem to be the most common reason for something going wrong. If there are not enough pieces of dowel or screws then the retailer should be contacted immediately.

Make sure you have the tools needed to carry out the job as well. Typically, a screwdriver, drill and hammer will be among the tools required.

With the rising domestic fuel costs, it is always a good idea to invest in any way of conserving energy in the home. One such method is to build a porch to cut down the loss of heat when the front door is opened. Porches are also a useful way to provide extra space.

Some of the benefits of having a porch include the fact that in bad weather muddy shoes and boots can be removed and left there to avoid tracking mud onto the lounge or hallway carpet, and a well-designed porch will add to the market value of the house. Installing shelves in the porch will give extra storage space for odds and ends, such as shoes, gardening items, spare light bulbs and a tool box, for example. As well as shelves, the householder might benefit from using a shoe rack. In wet weather, the porch is also an ideal place for coat hooks and an umbrella stand.

A porch should be design to blend in with the house’s appearance. For instance, its roof must be the same as the existing house’s roof. If a sloping roof is to be used, it should have the same angle of pitch as that of the house. The materials used to build a porch have to match those of the house.

The internet is a source of a wide range of porch designs, as well as storage solutions for these areas, such as shelving units and storage racking.  You can examine different styles until you find one that interests you. This done, you can contact a reputable building company for a quote.

A popular way of enhancing the home is to build a conservatory. Conservatories sometimes need planning permission, specifically if the area of land they will occupy is over 50% of the land occupied by the house.

DIY conservatories are cheaper to build; however, it is best to purchase them from Trading Standards approved websites. The least expensive type of conservatory is the ‘lean-to’. This style of conservatory is attractive and offers maximum storage space for minimum cost. For instance, a typical lean-to, without steel base, measuring 2.5 x 2.5m will probably cost approximately £1,500. A larger conservatory, for example, 4m x 4m will cost between £7,000 and £9,000.

Once built, the conservatory may fill a number of functions. It could be used as a small greenhouse, a den, a dining area or simply a spare room to relax in. Modular sofas that can be arranged to suit are available with built in storage space. Mobile racking could be used to hold plants along the edges of the room to take best advantage of the light.  Mobile racking with adjustable shelves is flexible because it will be possible to store various items such as plant-pots, pesticides and gardening implements under the shelf used to display plants.

Shelving units with wood finishes will be an attractive and functional addition to the conservatory.

Self assembly furniture of all types can be found through the internet, but make certain that home delivery service is offered and factor in the cost of this service when planning to furnish your conservatory.

In bathrooms, it is surprising how much extra shelf storage space can be created. For instance, there are under sink organisers. These are available in different styles but are designed to fit under the bathroom sink; generally they consist of one or two shelves and will be constructed from chrome or plastic. Bathroom cleaning materials such as bleach, cream cleaner and cloths may be stored in them.

Radiator rails are very handy as they can be simply hooked over the radiator and used to dry towels or clothes. A radiator shelf will create another shelf storage space.

The shower and bath areas might also be utilised. An over the bath organiser will accommodate soap, sponge and bath-salts. These may have extendable or fixed widths. Shower organisers such as the bathroom pole model will hold one or more adjustable corner shelves to hold shower gel, sponge and soap. The pole is telescopic and can be extended from bath side or shower floor to the ceiling and locked into place. The pole fits together easily and may also be used where a bathroom shelf is available, making use of wall space to fix corner shelves.

Alternatively, a single corner unit with suction cup fittings could be used in the shower and may be added to. A low stool to hold the laundry basket or hamper creates storage space beneath it for spare toilet rolls.  Bathroom cabinets are available in different designs and sizes, some as simple shelving units, others with mirror doors.

Cheap shelving – Making merchandise stand out

Shelving in retail shops is central to the process of making the products for sale stand out and there and get noticed above all the competition. There is often no need to splash out on brand new shelving, which can be very costly, when cheap shelving or second hand shelving can perform the role just as admirably. Obviously, if a company’s budget can stretch to the purchase of brand new shelving units for their retail outlets then this is clearly the best choice, but cheap shelving units are a much more economically viable option for those businesses that are endeavouring to keep their costs to a minimum. Cheap shelving will likely emerge as the storage unit of choice for the majority of retailers in 2010, as the credit crunch takes its time in subsiding and cutting outgoings  remains of paramount importance. As a business trying to keep costs down, or even a home owner looking for the least expensive option, cheap shelving might just be one of the answers to some of the pressing financial troubles.

Cheap shelving – Choosing shelving to suit a particular industry

Types of cheap shelving can include: zinc wire shelving, galvanised steel shelving, melamine shelving, document storage shelving and plastic shelving. The choice of shelving will be dictated by the sort of stock that the retail outlet displays but, regardless of the industry, it is possible to find an array of cheap shelving units that more than cope with the storage and space requirements.

Of course, it goes without saying, almost all retail shops require some form of shelving to display the products that they have for sale. A large percentage of businesses will eventually turn to the cheap shelving option in 2010 as they endeavour to make their operations as cost effective as possible.

Cheap shelving has improved significantly over the last few years, both aesthetically and physically, and it is possible to pick up second hand or cheap shelving units that are virtually indistinguishable from brand new ones. This is, of course, music to the ears of the retailers who need shelving and racking units to display goods in their shop windows. By making use of cheap shelving, it is possible to make a notable saving and this saved expenditure can then be utilised for other facets of a business such as marketing or buying stock. Cheap shelving is likely to emerge in all manner of retail stores in 2010 as the many tangible benefits that occur from using cheap shelving continue to reveal themselves. It makes sense, particularly for new businesses within the retail sector, to use cheap, or at least, more practically priced shelving units because it will save considerable amounts of money which simply cannot be overestimated.

At the end of the day, a business is all about making investments that will pay dividends. Reducing the amount spent on shelving means money saved that can be spent on more stock. If the economic recovery does gather momentum, a business needs to be equipped to exploit the improved conditions.