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Regardless of where you decide to move to, whether it be in the SW18 area, or abroad somewhere, it is absolutely essential that you know how to correctly handle and move your boxed up belongings. Most of the accidents and injuries that occur throughout the moving home process are related to manual handling, and are usually the result of someone not paying attention to how they should properly lift a box. Throwing out your back or hurting yourself in some way will only delay or put a temporary halt to you moving home, therefore, it is in your best interests to familiarise yourself with manual handling techniques.

Manual handling lesson:

• Consider the box before you lift it, don’t rush straight into lifting it up and over your head. Think about whether you are able to lift the box by yourself, how heavy is it? Where do you need to put it, is there anything in your way that could cause problems, is the distance close enough for you to be able to carry the box? Is there any kind of lifting machinery or device that you can use to make it easier for you? If you need to carry the box out to the van and am unable to park close to the entrance of the house, is there somewhere you can put the box down if it becomes too heavy or you need a rest?

• Put some thought into what you wear on removal day, make sure that your clothes are loosely fitted and allow you space to move around, avoid wearing tight clothes that are restrictive.

• When you pick the box up make sure you keep it close to your body, lift it to the same height as your waist (no higher, and definitely not over your head!) and rest the weight of the box against your body to give it some stability when you are moving it.

• Body and foot placement: place your feet about a should width apart from one another, this offers you a good balance, you may find it beneficially to have one foot slightly in front of the other for optimum balance.

• Use your back, hips and knees, bend slightly and use all three of these body parts to help you lift the box. Avoid bending over too much and putting all the work on your back, equally, avoid squatting and putting all the weight of the box on your hips and knees.

• Don’t try to grip the box as tightly as you can, instead, hug the box close to you, this will give it more stability.

• Do not twist your back when you are lifting or carrying anything heavy, if you need to twist, out the box on the floor move into a better position and then pick the box back up.

• When you are moving boxes try to keep a good posture and keep your head up, this will help you avoid causing damage to your back.

How you can help to make moving boxes much easier:

• Buy strong, high quality boxes, preferably with handles or holes for carrying.

• Consider buying plastic boxes they protect your things better and are easier to carry.

• When loading boxes make sure the weight is evenly distributed.

• Avoid putting too much weight in one box, if one person can’t lift the box on their own, it is too heavy.

• Put heavy items at the bottom of the boxes.

• Fill any empty space in boxes with some filler paper or packaging to prevent items moving around inside the box.