I just started working a job requiring a lot of heavy lifting (assembling/disassembling playsets). Some of these things are practically mansions and cost around 60 g's so you can imagine how much building material goes into the construction of a big one. Within the first few hours i noticed a sharp pain on the right side of my back and stretching to my side. I figured it was due to the lifting, so was basically wondering if there are any techniques that are helpful to prevent injury when dealing with lifting heavy materials in general. Any advice will be appreciated, thanks.
If the pain doesn't go away see a doctor. Try doing a few bodyweight squats and some high-knees and butt-kicks before you start.
I don't really know how heavy the stuff you're lifting is, but I did work at UPS for three years in a very high paced sorting center. I had to move stuff around anywhere from the size of a letter to automobile parts weighing up to 150lbs. In general, you want to try to: don't twist whenever you're moving, whether its to pick something up, or put something down. Pivot. Step with your feet, don't ever twist. Whenever you pick something up, try to keep it as close to you as possible. At UPS they called this your "power zone" (I know, its hilarious) but you want to keep what you're picking up generally as close to your hips as possible. (But I'm assuming you're not going to be lifting anything overhead). Anytime you reach out when you pick something up and its far from your hips, you run the risk of straining something. If what you're picking up is something oddly shaped, try to grab it by opposite corners/edges. That way it'll still be close to your body, as well as being secured by your hands on opposing sides, rather than just on one side. Its a little safer because you have less chance of it slipping and dropping it on your foot, plus it doesn't put as much strain on your wrists/fingers. Hope all of that helps. Like I said, this is all crap that UPS teaches to people when they first start working for them and I moved all kinds of weird shit generally by myself (kayaks, auto parts, tires, boxes and boxes and boxes) and I never got injured. Oh yeah, and do a light stretch/warm up before you really start going.
Something that dovetails with what The Colonel said -- if you're moving an object that's not uniformly weighted (ie. some parts are heavier than others), try to position it so the heaviest part is lowest and/or closest to you.
Make sure you stretch your back out every night also make sure you focus on lifting with your legs or in other words lift things from a squatting position and don't lean backwards.
Is it possible to find a partner to lift with? If you are moving/lifting something large or awkward shaped having someone to help can make all the difference. Also, everything the Colonel said is spot-on.
"The key is to put it all in your groin and your back. Take your legs totally out of the equation. Lift with your lower back in a jerking, twisting motion."
