Did you know that 30% of construction materials go to waste? This totals to a big amount of money that could easily be saved and used for other projects. Don’t be part of the construction industry that carelessly partakes in such waste. Know how to handle and store your construction materials properly.

To help you remove waste from your daily business practice and operation, we collected top material organization and management tips from experts. All you need to do is take note of the following and we assure you that you’d experience 0% waste on all your projects at all times.

Material Handling and Storing

Material handling involves the following tasks during the entire construction process:

1. Moving of materials

2. Protecting of materials

3. Storing of materials

4. Controlling of materials

Storage is an essential part of material handling as it involves the careful and safe management of materials from the time it is delivered, used, and finally disposed of. Most construction sites use forklifts for the easy handling and storage of materials.

6 Pro Tips on Handling and Storing Construction Materials

PRO TIP #1: Training is essential.

Experts agree that this is the most important undertaking that any construction manager should ensure. All your staff, laborers, and workers should undergo prior safety training. It’s best if you work with the same team throughout as you only need to update them and remind them of protocols for every new project. Prior training is a must. Days should seriously be dedicated to training everyone when it comes to:

• Safety protocols
• Risks involved in handling materials
• Risks involved in storing materials
• Hazardous circumstances
• Best safety practices

Training should be continued. Every single member of your team should undergo it. Every new recruit should go through it. Review and updates should be done regularly. All members of your team should should be fully aware of:

• Materials that you handle
• Nature of the materials that you handle
• The proper way of handling different kinds of materials
• The proper way of storing different kinds of materials

With proper training, you can ensure that no materials go to waste. This is because every single person on the field will know how to handle them. Training also ensures that all members of your team don’t suffer from any form of injury.

PRO TIP #2: Prioritize waste disposal.

Proper waster disposal should never be overlooked. A proper overseeing of disposal also ensures that all materials are fully utilized. A supervisor should dedicate time and effort in ensuring that all thrown materials are no longer usable.

A good waste disposal protocol ensures that all used materials are collected as soon as possible. The collection should not be delayed. Delay in the disposal can affect the productivity of your daily work. Your workers can even be injured. To ensure proper waste disposal, place a solid schedule that everyone can easily follow.

PRO TIP #3: Storage strategy

You should store similar materials together. Using pipe storage racking will allow you to easily do this. You can also use labels and color codes for easy organization. This is an important strategy because some materials should never be stored together. Incompatible chemicals can easily interact and cause damage to all your stored items. No one wants that. So you should make it a point to only store similar material together. Highly flammable materials should be handled with extra care and solid safety protocols. Ensure that materials and chemicals are stored separately.

PRO TIP #4: Know the weight

You should be aware of the weights of your materials. Overlooking this aspect causes massive damage. Storing really heavy objects on high areas that can easily fall on workers is not the way to go. Always know the weight limits of your storage racks and storage space. Light objects should be elevated while heavy ones should always be placed the closest to the floor.

PRO TIP #5: Choose the best space

Your construction materials are at the mercy of daily weather changes. This is why you should have a dedicated space that can keep all your materials fully safe, dry, and protected. Have a storage space that is solid, versatile, and strategic. It should be a space that will easily allow for room temperature conditions at all times.

Your materials should never be placed on bare ground. Bare ground placement is never good for it can expose materials to moisture. Moisture can easily affect the quality of materials. Since you want to ensure that you’re only using top-notch materials at all times, moisture should never be welcomed. You should also avoid placing your materials on uneven areas that can ruin structure fidelity and cause breakage.

PRO TIP #6: Secure the area

Place tight security protocols. Construction materials are expensive. They should always be fully protected and secured at all times. No one wants to spend double on replacing lost materials that could have easily been safe if only proper security protocols were placed.

Your storage space should not be easily accessible to intruders and thieves. If most of your materials are already placed on the construction site, ensure that locks, surveillance cameras, and sound alarms are fully placed. Never transfer materials that will not yet be used on your construction site. That is poor space management that can easily create overcrowding and expose you to security risks. Your warehouse should also be fully equipped with CCTV cameras and a strong security system.