170
18.3.2 Making a Manual Handling Assessment
Depending on the complexity of the activity, an assessment may be best carried out by those most familiar with the operations, e.g. supervisors and
operators, or it may be conducted by professionals in health and safety, occupational hygiene or ergonomics, or by a team.
An assessment should consider the entirety of an operation. It should address four critical factors:
the task; the load;
the working environment; the capabilities of the individual.
Source: Steve Bailey
Figure 18.2 - Manual Handling Risks from Lifting and Twisting
171 A simple assessment might proceed as follows:
Is the operation essential? Can it be avoided? Consider the shape, size, weight and special difficulties of a load.
How is it handled? Where is it moved from and to and how often? Repetitive bending,
tw isting movements increase the risk, as does lifting w ith extended reach.
Does the working environment add to the risk of injury? Are floors slippery, uneven?
Is the environment cramped, hot or badly lit? Are the task and the workplace adapted to the individual? At its
simplest this may simply involve considering w orking heights of benches, tables, stillage sizes and so on.
Consider possible remedial measures, e.g. it may be possible to use mechanical aids or breakdow n the load, or the task may be re-arranged.
18.3.3 Methods of Reducing Risk
As with any occupational hygiene risk, there is a hierarchy of control. The preferred approach is to eliminate the handling operation altogether if
possible. For example, it might be possible to buy materials in pre-weighed amounts so that the need for a weighing operation is eliminated. Or,
co-locating two operations might avoid the need to transfer materials between them.
Solutions may involve changing the position or height of the task, e.g. by providing adjustable tables or seating to improve posture. Often solutions
involve the use of handling aids: whilst an element of manual handling is retained, bodily forces are applied more efficiently, thereby reducing the risk of
injury. For example: A hoist can support the weight of a load, thereby leaving the handler free
to control its positioning; A sack truck or roller conveyor can reduce the force required to move a
load horizontally;
172 Chutes are an efficient method of using gravity to move loads from one
location to another, Suction pads and hand-held hooks can simplify the problem of handling
a load that is difficult to grasp. Remember that introducing new working practices can create new risks that
need to be managed, for example by proper maintenance of the new equipment.
When everything possible has been done to adapt the task to the worker, there remains the need to provide information, instruction and training about
the residual risks.
18.3.4 Information, Instruction and Training Information - Where it is reasonably practicable to do so, employees involved
in manual handling operations should be provided with precise information about the weight of each load, and about the heaviest side of any load whose
centre of gravity is not positioned centrally. Where this is not reasonably practicable, general advice should be given about the range of loads to be
handled, and about how to handle a load whose weight is not evenly distributed.
Training - Knowledge and training alone will not ensure safe manual handling
but are an important aspect of a safe system of work. A suitable training programme should address:
how potentially hazardous loads may be recognised; how to deal with unfamiliar loads;
good handling techniques, including the proper use of handling aids; the proper use of personal protective equipment;
features of the working environment that contribute to safety; the importance of good housekeeping;
factors affecting individual capability, including fitness and health.
Employees should also be trained to recognise loads whose weight, in conjunction with their shape and other features, and the circumstances in
which they are handled, might cause injury.
173
18.4 Repetitive Tasks
Kategori