Liftgates are a convenient and time-saving way to load heavy cargo from the ground onto the bed of your heavy-duty freight trucks. When using liftgates, it is vital to protect your personnel against safety risks such as slipping and falling loads.

Here are some crucial safety protocols that can help protect your employees from getting hurt during loading of freights using truck bed liftgates:

Maintain the operational integrity of your liftgates' surfaces

The presence of rainwater, ice, snow or oil on the surface of the liftgates is not an unusual thing. Because your workers may be in a rush to make deliveries in good time or may possibly just feel exhausted from loading and unloading tons of cargo during the day, they will expose themselves to the risk of tripping on the surfaces of the liftgates and even sustaining some injuries.

Visually inspecting and cleaning up the surfaces of your liftgates before use can help your workers avoid the looming danger that comes with slippery platforms.

Always secure your load properly

When using liftgates, it is vital to ensure that loads are secured well since failure to do so can be disastrous. All cargo must be strapped or banded properly so that it does not start moving towards the ground while your employees are going about their loading duties.

Constantly remind your employees to make sure that the path of travel isn't obstructed so that they can easily jump or dash away swiftly and safely in case of a mishap. Telling them to avoid being on the downward side when loading cargo into the trucks might help as well.

Don't overstretch the load capacity of your liftgate

Although sometimes unknowingly, some of your personnel may overstretch the capacity of the liftgates by standing on the liftgates when loading cargo. Adding extra weight beyond the maximum capacity of liftgates may cause the liftgates to break and cause bodily harm to the falling employees.

For instance, a worker might use a liftgate with a capacity of 1000lbs to load a freight weighing 900lbs and add his or her weight to the liftgate whilst forgetting that their own weigh may be more than the 100lbs weight allowance. Therefore, it is always prudent to ask employees to take account of their own weight to avoid exceeding the capacity of the liftgates.

Sure, your personnel will find it easy to use liftgates given time and experience. Until then, the three tips discussed above can help ensure that they stay safe.