Stock, Deliveries and Service Work

Receiving a delivery

• Check the receiving area is clear, dry and lit before the truck arrives
• Have the pallet jack, roll cage, sack truck or crate trolley ready — do not go looking for it with the driver waiting
• Do not accept a pallet or a stack of cartons left on the footpath or somewhere you would have to carry from; ask the driver to bring it to the dock or door as agreed
• Break a pallet down from the top, layer by layer, at waist height; do not dig heavy items out from the bottom
• Move stock from pallet to trolley, not pallet to floor and floor to trolley — every extra put-down is an extra lift
• Sacks of flour, rice and sugar go on a sack truck; crates of bottles and cases of milk stay close to your body and no higher than chest height when stacked
• Check cartons for damage, leaks and broken bottoms before you lift them
• The driver's schedule is not your risk assessment — if the delivery cannot be received safely right now, say so

Cartons, night fill and cutting

• Cut cartons open on the cart or shelf, not while holding them, and use a safety knife with the blade retracted between cuts
• Never carry a carton whose base has been cut or weakened — take the goods out where it sits
• Lift cartons by the base with both hands, not by the flaps, handles punched in thin cardboard or the shrink wrap
• Flatten cardboard at the baler or compactor as you go rather than lifting a mountain of it at the end
• Working alone on night fill, you still need the step stool, the kneeling pad and the trolley — and a way to call for help

• Check the wheels turn freely and the brake holds before you load or move a cage
• Load heavy items at the bottom and keep the load below the top rail so you can see over it
• Push, do not pull, with your hands inside the frame or on the handle, not on the outside where they can be crushed against a shelf
• Slow down at aisle ends and around end caps, where customers, prams and children appear without warning
• Never leave a loaded cage on a slope or a ramp, even for a moment; park it with the brake on
• Use the goods lift, never an escalator or travelator, for cages and platform trolleys
• Move one cage at a time; nesting or towing a second is not acceptable unless your procedure and equipment are designed for it

• Slide items across the scanner rather than lifting them; lift only what has to be lifted
• Do not lift heavy or bulky items — cartons of drink, bags of pet food, cases of water — over the scanner; use a hand scanner while they stay in the trolley
• Keep the bagging area close and the bags open before you need them so you are not reaching and twisting
• Alternate hands and turn your whole body rather than twisting at the waist to reach the belt or the bags
• Use the anti-fatigue mat and the chair or leaning support if one is provided; change position often
• Rotate off the register on the schedule your workplace sets, and take the breaks you are rostered
• Tell your supervisor early if a register makes you reach, stoop or twist more than the others

• Use the collection aid your store provides — a motorised pusher, a tow strap or a coupling bar — and stay within the maximum number of nested trolleys in your procedure
• A line of nested trolleys gets heavier and harder to steer with every trolley added; ten in a line can weigh several hundred kilograms
• Push from the rear, look ahead, and go around slopes, kerbs and speed humps rather than straight over them
• Check for trolleys with jammed or damaged wheels and take them out of service rather than fighting them
• Wear the high-visibility vest and appropriate footwear; car parks combine moving cars, uneven bitumen and weather
• Remove rubbish and left items from trolleys before you nest them, so the line does not jam

• Carry no more plates than you have been trained to carry and can hold securely — usually three; more is showing off, not service
• Choose a tray sized for the load and use a tray stand or jack at the table rather than holding it while you unload
• Keep trays close and level at waist to chest height, not held out at arm's length or balanced above your shoulder for long distances
• Do not carry loaded trays or stacks of plates on stairs if a dumb waiter or lift exists
• Bus tubs get heavy quickly with plates and glass; half-fill them and use a cart
• Behind the bar and coffee machine, vary your grip, use a tamper that suits your hand, and rotate tasks to give wrists and shoulders a rest

• Make beds from the sides, kneeling or lunging rather than bending double; lift mattress corners with both hands, close to the body
• Use fitted sheets and pre-folded linen where the property provides them, and strip beds by rolling linen towards you rather than pulling it across
• Do not overfill linen and rubbish bags — a half-full bag carried twice is safer than one you have to drag
• Push the room trolley rather than pull it, load heavy items low, and do not stack it above eye level
• Use long-handled tools and lightweight microfibre for baths, floors and mirrors to avoid kneeling and reaching
• Report rooms with heavy furniture that must be moved to clean, and beds that sit too low to work from