Happy New Year to all our Clients
The subject for this months update is manual handling.
Manual Handling
As an employer, you must protect your workers from the risk of injury from hazardous manual handling in the workplace. Manual handling means transporting or supporting a load by hand or bodily force. It includes lifting, putting down, pushing, pulling, carrying or moving loads. A load can be an object, person or animal.
The law sets out how employers must deal with risks from manual handling:
- avoid hazardous manual handling, so far as is reasonably practicable
- assess the risk of injury from any hazardous manual handling operations that cannot be avoided
- reduce the risk of injury from hazardous manual handling to as low as reasonably practicable
The weight of a load is important, though the law does not set specific weight limits.
In some cases, you must provide information about the weight and position of the centre of gravity of each load, if there is a risk of injury and it is reasonably practicable to do this.
You can avoid hazardous manual handling operations by:
- redesigning the task to avoid moving the load
- automating or mechanising the process
The best time to decide about mechanisation or automation is when you design plant or work systems. Design the layout of a process so there is very little movement of materials.
Consider introducing, for example, a conveyor, a chute, a pallet truck, an electric or hand-powered hoist, or a lift truck to reduce the risk of harm. Mechanical aids can also help reduce or eliminate risks from manual handling.
Assess the risk of injury from any hazardous manual handling operations that cannot be avoided.
You should consider the task, the load, the working environment and individual capability, for example:
- the postures adopted
- how far the load is lifted, lowered or carried
- the frequency of the task
- the weight of the load
- the nature of the load (for example hot, sharp or slippery)
- cramped work areas
- poor floor surfaces
- poor lighting, extremes of temperature
- workers’ strength, fitness and underlying medical conditions (for example a history of back problems)
Also, look out for:
- workers breathing heavily and sweating
- workers who complain of excessive fatigue
- reluctance to do a particular task
- the availability of equipment to help with the lift
Measures to control risk will vary depending on the task. Reduce the risk of injury from hazardous manual handling operations you can’t avoid. Where possible, provide mechanical help, for example a sack trolley or hoist. Where this is not reasonably practicable, explore changes to the task, the load and the working environment.
If manual lifting is the only option then there are things you can do to reduce the risk, including:
- make the load smaller or lighter and easier to grasp
- break up large consignments into smaller loads
- modify the workplace to reduce carrying distances, twisting movements, or the need to lift things from floor level or above shoulder height
- change the work routine to avoid excessive work rates and tight deadlines
- improve the environment – more space, better flooring, extra lighting or changing the air temperature can make manual handling easier and safer
- make sure the person doing the lifting has been trained to lift as safely as possible
If you have any questions then please do not hesitate to contact me.