Neck muscles can be strained or torn if:

• heavy loads are not lifted properly

• sudden jerky movements are made while handling heavy loads

• loads are carried for a long period of time.

Getting a sore neck is a sign that you may have damaged your neck muscles.

Shoulder muscles can be strained when a heavy load is lifted, carried, pushed or pulled. This can lead to soreness in your shoulders. If this continues, then you should stop handling any heavy loads and have a rest. Always carry loads close to your body to avoid straining your shoulders.

Lifting, carrying, pushing and pulling loads can strain the muscles of your chest. A sign of strain is a feeling of soreness in your chest. To prevent this, make sure you follow the correct methods for handling heavy loads and always carry a load close to your body to avoid strained muscles.

Injury to the lower back is caused by incorrect lifting and carrying of heavy loads. A warning sign of this injury is a twinge in the back but usually there are no immediate warning signs. Your back just gets sore a day or so later.

A back injury can take a long time to heal and can affect your ability to work, so make sure that you always follow safe lifting and carrying methods when handling loads. You should always keep your back straight when lifting, carrying, pushing or pulling to avoid damaging it.

Incorrect lifting could damage your knee joints. Always bend your knees when you need to get down to grip a load, then straighten your legs to lift the load. Try and avoid getting into a full squat position when you do this, or you could hurt your knees.