Manual handling, which is “any transporting or supporting of a load (including the lifting, putting down, pushing, pulling, carrying or moving thereof) by hand or by bodily force”, is the main function, and a necessity, for many jobs in the UK. When you lift, pull or push anything at work, you must ensure you follow the Manual Handling Operations Regulations 1992 to avoid any painful injuries. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) states that “work-related musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs), including manual handling injuries, are the most common type of occupational ill health in the UK.”
These types of injuries are particularly problematic when the work is repetitive and causes repeated strains and injuries to a particular muscle, causing ill health over a long period of time for the injured party.
The HSE summarises the Regulations measures for dealing with risks from manual handling as:
* Avoid hazardous manual handling operations so far as reasonably practicable
* Assess any hazardous manual handling operations that cannot be avoided
* Reduce the risk of injury so far as reasonably practicable
Following these basic principles and with the use of common sense should help to avoid some manual handling injuries. But when an employer does not provide suitable equipment for an employee to safely handle goods, it provides scope for a potential injury.
Times and Star reported in December 2008 that a man in Maryport, Cumbria was awarded £10,000 from a Workington factory after injuring his back while at work. Gerard Mayne, slipped a disc in his back when he attempted to lift a half-tonne stainless steel end cover while working as a mechanical fitter at Eastman Chemicals.
This injury could have been avoided had the employer carried out a risk assessment and provided appropriate lifting gear.
A poll of 1,000 people taken by the UK’s biggest union Unison, found that ambulance workers were most at risk of developing problems with their back and that half the accidents in nursing and residential homes are a direct result of manual handling. In the statistics reported by the BBC, more than a third of respondents (38%) said there was insufficient space for safe handling procedures and over a quarter (26%) said there were slippery, cluttered or uneven floor surfaces in their workplace. One in five of those questioned said they had been forced to take time off work in the past year because of back injuries. One homecare worker told the union: “I don’t tell my employers about my back pain because we don’t get any sick pay.
In contrast to these incidents, some employers have changed their policies to prevent manual handling injuries. On the 1st April 2005, Manchester Airport lowered its baggage limit for travellers to reduce the likelihood of injuries to its baggage handlers; the airport no longer accepts single items of luggage weighing more than 32kgs.
All employers have a duty to asses and provide the correct environment and equipment for employees when undertaking manual handling tasks to avoid any injury that could cause permanent damage.