Moving is a demanding activity that often comes with high levels of stress if you’re no prepared. Some people prefer to undertake the move themselves, without the help of any professional movers. While it remains possible, it can turn out to be more hectic.
Lifting and moving big and heavy things is never a fun thing, and your moving day might quickly turn into a dangerous situation unless you’ve thoroughly prepared for the difficult work at hand and understand what it takes to ensure a high degree of safety on moving day.
If you don’t take rigorous safety precautions, the day of your move might turn out to be rather deadly. Here are safety tips that you should follow:
Wrap Your Knives and Other Sharp Objects
It would be best if you were careful when wrapping your knives, forks, or sharp objects that may cause injuries. Start by grouping your knives per category; bread, steak knives and so on… creating a different group will facilitate your wrapping. Make sure to separate your sharper knives.
You will need a bunch of packing paper. Lay at least three layers of your paper and spread the knives onto it. Make sure to space them correctly. When everything is fine, you proceed by rolling the paper. Add extra packing paper if needed, end by labeling the box to take extra care when moving the box.
Lifting Protocols
You should follow a good lifting protocol to avoid injury. When lifting a box, make sure to have a good posture. Always place your feet apart, and squat down to lift the box. Do not ever bend your back down to lift; you may injure your back. When lifting the box, make sure to do so slowly.
I know that moving and lifting boxes to ferry between the truck and the house is tedious. You may be tempted to lift a lot so that you minimize your movements but do not go over your body capacities. You will put undue strain on your muscles, and if you are not used to heavy lifting, you may injure yourself.
Clothing
For moving day, you will be on the go constantly, so you better be comfortable. You want to choose flexible and breathable clothes. I would go for joggers or leggings, that are very comfortable and won’t annoy you. Avoid skirts or any tight-fitting jeans. Refrain from anything too tight.
Keep in mind that you should be a hundred percent comfortable, be it the shirt, pants, or even the shoes. You will be on your feet for hours, so if you wear tight shoes, you will definitely have blisters and be unstable so that you might injure yourself even further.
Taping
When moving, some people make the mistake of putting everything in a massive box and then taping it shut. And, another common mistake is that we do not tape the bottom of the box. When packing appliances or even plates and other fragile stuff, you want to double tape everything; mistakes or accidents can happen anytime.
Before you start packing, double-check that you have all the required materials. You do not want to run out of tape mid-way through the process and have to waste time going to the store.
Keep Kids Away
Moving is a tiring experience for adults; now think how tiring it can be for kids. Children do not show how tired they are, and they seem full of energy all the time, but just like everybody else, they need rest. Make sure your kids can rest peacefully while you are packing for moving.
Leaving your child with a friend, family or having a babysitter look after them for a day may help you. You do not want your kid to be hurt with objects lying all over the place. Some kids want to help, and you may let them help but explain that they cannot help with everything. Look for something that they can do.
Moving can be pretty tough, but you want to do it the right way to avoid any incidents. Let us know in the comments how your current or last move went……
