Moving Safety Tips

By Scott Boone

Image courtesy JBA

I always talk about the stress involved with packing and moving.  These stresses can come from the angst of having your normal routine curtailed while you pack.  It can come from the cost and expense associated with making a move.  It can be caused by having to deal with the stress imposed on other members of your family.  However, one of the things you shouldn’t have to stress out about are the safety concerns associated with making a move.

Boxes, Boxes Everywhere

No sooner do you start packing, when your home turns into a warehouse. Overnight, boxes begin to sprout everywhere in your home like some kind of errant cardboard mushrooms.  Before you know it, you have more boxes than you know what to do with.  Aside from the clutter factor, there is another concern you need to keep in mind, anytime you work with oodles of boxes: Safety.

      1.      Boxes are a kid magnet – If you have young children at home, you need to keep them away from the boxes you pack.  Particularly if we’re talking infants or toddlers, you’ll need to sequester your boxes away from prying eyes and grasping hands.  The best thing to do if you have tots is to wait until they are in bed and then pack your boxes before them into an empty bedroom or garage.  If the tykes discover your stash, at best they’ll treat your belongings like treasures in Aladdin’s cave.  At worst, you’ll wake up to a mess or a crying child who has pulled a box down atop themselves.

     

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2.      Are your boxes turning into chew toys? – Pets too are drawn to boxes.  Dogs love to chew on the flaps; cats love to use them as a scratching post.  Cats have also been known to use a box for a place to hide or a litter box.  Tomcats will be sure to mark your boxes with their urine.  For your pet’s safety and your sanity, it’s best to do the same thing with your boxes that I recommended you do when you have tots around: Stockpile them out of sight of your pets.

      3.      Leaning Tower of Disaster – As you collect more and more boxes, the simplest way to save space is usually to begin stacking them.  The problem with stacks is that anything that goes up can come down with a crash.  While children can wind up being injured by falling boxes, so too can adults.  The hard and fast rule, if you must stack is to always put the heavier boxes on the bottom and lighter boxes on top.  Never stack boxes containing books more than two deep and never ever stack book boxes atop boxes containing anything fragile.

Lift with Your Legs

Another painful lesson many homeowners learn is not to lift heavy boxes by leaning forward, grasping the box and standing straight up.  If the box is full of books, the only person this tactic is going to work for is likely to be your chiropractor.  Lifting with your back is the quickest way I know to put the brakes on your move for several weeks while you recuperate from back strain.  The proper way to lift anything heavy is to squat down, grasp the box without leaning forward and use your legs to lift the box clear of the floor. 

Speaking of packing books, another way to injure yourself is to have the bottom of the box burst when you lift a book box.  This tends to happen when people either over-pack the box or do not use enough packing tape to secure the bottom of the box.  Either way, you can expect a nasty surprise when the box pops open, and ten pounds of books land on your feet. 

What to Do with Things that are Shiny & Sharp

Another typical injury can result from impaling yourself on things that are shiny and sharp.  These include knives and scissors, but you can also stab yourself by breaking glasses, dishes, lamps and/or knickknacks.           

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      1.      Sharp implements – Whether they’re found in the kitchen, the bathroom, the garage or the garden shed, anything sharp needs to be regarded as a deadly weapon and treated as such. I have seen people seriously stab themselves with everything from screwdrivers to garden spades that suddenly decided to poke through a flimsy cardboard box.  Anything sharp, shiny and pointy needs to be well protected by either affixing a cork to the pointy end and/or by wrapping it securely in bubble wrap. (By securely, I mean you need to either tie them up with string or use several stout rubber bands to secure the wrap around the blade.) Also, be doubly sure you pad the inside of the box with something durable like a bath towel to keep anything sharp from poking through the box.  (Don’t think bubble wrap, think bulletproof vest.)

      2.      Fragile things tend to break into sharp shards – Anything made of glass, porcelain, or clay tends to break into long, sharp shards that can be deadly, particularly if you fall on the box that contains them.  First and foremost, always make sure that fragile items are well padded. (That includes the top, bottom, and sides of the box.)  Also, make absolutely certain you prominently label these boxes FRAGILE.

Moving Shouldn’t Be a Minefield

Provided you use common sense and take a few time-tested precautions, packing for a move doesn’t have to resemble running through a minefield.  While breakage is always a possibility when you move, by taking the time to properly pack and pad all things sharp, shiny and fragile, you should be able to minimize damage and eliminate injuries.  While you might experience a minimal amount of breakage, these things can be repaired or replaced.  The only thing you don’t want broken during a move is your heart, and that can be accomplished by making sure nobody gets hurt in the course of your move.

With over 5,000 moves, Scott's Discount Movers has handled moves of all sizes, including local and cross country. If you are looking to move your home or office, you can depend on Scott's Discount Movers to provide a stress-free relocation.