In the world of warehouse operations, there is a range of equipment that can be used to both enhance operational efficiency and workplace safety when it comes to lifting, handling and managing heavy loads. One such piece of equipment is the lifting trolley.

Lifting trolleys are an incredibly useful piece of equipment to have to hand, however, it’s important that they are handled properly to ensure user safety. We’ll cover this in and more in this article, so keep reading to find out how to operate a lift trolley safely.

What is a Lift Trolley?

Before we go onto how to use a lift trolley, let us first define what these actually are. A lifting trolley, sometimes referred to as a hydraulic lifting trolley, is a manoeuvrable trolley on four wheels with a loading platform that can be lifted or lowered using scissor lift technology. Essentially, they are portable, smaller-scale scissor lift tables.

Similar to how a scissor lift table would work, these feature hydraulic cylinders that allow the trolley’s platform to be raised and lowered to the desired height for loading and unloading purposes. These hydraulics are often operated using a foot pump attached to the trolley, for ease of use.

Their Uses & Benefits

The main purpose of a lift trolley is to transport heavy loads with ease and efficiency to various workstations, whilst streamlining the loading and unloading process depending on user requirements thanks to the hydraulic foot pump.

Typically, they are used to transport cumbersome loads, whether that be transporting raw materials from delivery to the production line, or finished products from the warehouse to the loading bay.

As for the benefits of lift trolleys, these are plentiful. One of their key advantages is that they improve worker safety and reduce the risk of accidents from occurring. This is thanks to their ergonomic design that allows users to adapt the working height for easier loading and unloading without causing physical strain or overexertion on the body.

This also improves operational efficiency, as reduced accidents and improved worker health mean reduced downtime, whilst the safety and speed associated with lift trolleys are much greater than manually lifting and transporting loads.

Not only do lift trolleys improve worker safety, but by reducing the need for manual handling they also protect any goods which are otherwise often susceptible to damage.

Thanks to their compact design, hydraulic lift trolleys are incredibly flexible. Compared to other solutions, these are ideal to use in areas where space is limited, as is often the case in busy warehouses.

There are also hygienic advantages to using lift trolleys; because they are designed to be easily cleaned down, lift trolleys are often suitable to use in workshops and facilities that operate with strict sanitary requirements.

Safety 101: Operating a Lift Trolley

Risk Assessment

Before even using your lifting trolley, it’s important to carry out a risk assessment of your workspace. This will allow you to determine what risks, if any, are present that may affect the safety with which you can use your lift trolley and that may need to be rectified beforehand.

Some of the considerations you’ll want to think about in particular may include:

• Are there any obstructions along the proposed route that will need to be cleared?
• Are the ground conditions suitable for the trolley to be moved smoothly and seamlessly?
• Is the trolley designed for the task at hand?
• Can the load be moved without risk of damage to either the load or injury to personnel?

Loading

When loading your lift trolley safely, there are some things that are important to remember. Firstly, you want to ensure that the height of the trolley’s platform is ergonomic for you and appropriate for the object(s) you’ll be loading onto it, which you can adjust using the hydraulic foot pedal.

It’s important that the trolley is stable when loading and that you ensure that load placement is also stable and distributed evenly, reducing the risk of anything falling during transit. Similarly, you should also make sure that you don’t overstack loads so that they obstruct your line of vision when pushing the trolley, nor should you place loads so that they are overhanging the trolley, as this could hit other objects or people whilst you’re moving the trolley.

Another essential factor is that you don’t overload the trolley’s maximum capacity. As such, you should familiarise yourself with what this is and keep this in mind when loading, although many will come with inbuilt overload protection.

Unloading

When you’re ready to unload the trolley, ensure any brakes are applied to stop the trolley from moving as it’s being unloaded – especially if you’re on sloping or uneven ground. You should then adopt good manual handling techniques to gently and safely unload the trolley, seeking assistance from others if it’s required.

The platform can again be lifted or lowered before unloading so that the goods are at the optimum height depending on where they’re being unloaded.

Trolley Maintenance

One aspect that is crucial to remember when it comes to using lift trolleys is not just how you use them in operation, but how you care for them outside of operation.

It’s important to maintain your lift trolleys so that they stay in good and safe working condition, which subsequently can expand their lifespan and reduce the need for repairs.

To do this, you should regularly check that all parts are in good condition, are lubricated well and work as they should, noting any problems that need further inspection or repair work. Proper storage is another factor to consider, with clean and dry conditions being the best place to store lift trolleys to avoid the rusting of any metal hardware.