How Council Road Crews Cut Injuries with Purpose-Built Sign Carts

Client: City of Blainville public works department — 85 employees · Sector: Local government / Public works · Result: work-related injuries down; recognised with an occupational health & safety award

The challenge: hauling road signs out of a truck bin

The municipality's road crews carried signage to and from installation sites loose in a truck's bin. It looked practical; it wasn't. Lifting awkward signs over the bin walls caused knee, back and head injuries, cuts and pinched fingers — and every injury meant lost time and workers' compensation exposure for a department of 85 people.

The solution: purpose-built signage carts

The department built modular carts purpose-designed for road signage:

• Signs load vertically at waist height — no lifting over bin walls
• Carts roll from depot to truck to site, so the sign is handled once
• Sized to the truck deck and secured for transport

The results

• Work-related injuries reduced — the redesign directly removed the highest-risk manual handling
• The initiative won a occupational health & safety award (Grands Prix santé et sécurité du travail)
• A repeatable pattern for any council depot task involving awkward loads

What this means for Australian councils and utilities

Australian councils carry the same manual-handling duty of care under WHS legislation, and depot tasks — signage, barriers, tools, irrigation parts — are full of awkward-load injuries waiting to happen. Purpose-built carts are a low-capital, high-visibility safety win your crew can help design. Flexpipe Australia works with depots on bespoke cart and storage designs, delivered as kits.