Manual Handling in the Workplace
Legal Duties
The Manual Handling Operations Regulations 1992, as amended in 2002 apply to a wide range of manual handling activities, including lifting, lowering, pushing, pulling or carrying. The load may be either inanimate - such as a box or a trolley, or animate - a person or an animal.
Guidance
This guidance gives useful practical advice for employers, managers, and individual employees on how to reduce the risk of injury from manual handling.
Your Duties
The Regulations require employers to:
avoid the need for hazardous manual handling, so far as is reasonably practicable;
assess the risk of injury from any hazardous manual handling that can’t be avoided; and
reduce the risk of injury from hazardous manual handling, so far as is reasonably practicable.
Employees have duties too. They should:
follow appropriate systems of work laid down for their safety;
make proper use of equipment provided for their safety;
co-operate with their employer on health and safety matters;
inform the employer if they identify hazardous handling activities;
take care to ensure that their activities do not put others at risk.
Avoiding Manual Handling
Check whether you need to move it at all, for example:
does a large workpiece really need to be moved, or can the activity (eg wrapping or machining) safely be done where the item already is?
can you take the treatment to the patient, not vice versa?
can raw materials be piped to their point of use? Next Step
Assessing and Reducing the Risk of Injury
The assessment is the employer’s responsibility. You should be able to do most assessments in-house. You, your employees and safety representatives know your business better than anyone. Most situations will require just a few minutes’ observation to identify ways to make the activity easier and less risky, ie less physically demanding. Advice from outside experts may be helpful in difficult or unusual cases, or to get you started.
The purpose of the assessment is to pinpoint the high risk features of the work - and they’re the ones you should try to improve first. It is also important to remember to update the assessment when significant changes are made to the workplace. All employees covered by a risk assessment - including generic assessments - should be told about the risks it identifies.
The four main considerations when thinking about any manual handling task (known as TILE) are:
Task – look at the job you’re doing. Does it need to be done at all? Can it be made safer before you do it? Can you do the job some other time? Can you split the load into easier handling tasks? Could you store this load at an easier height in future?
Individual – what is it about you that makes this job more or less safe? Are you fit and healthy? Even if you are – are you capable of doing this specific job safely? Have you been trained to do this job? Do you have any existing back/shoulder/arm problems that might affect your ability to complete the job safely?
Load – look at the load itself. Can you make it smaller, lighter or more secure? Can you make it easier to handle by having a better grip or providing it with handles? Can you put the substance into a better container so that it is more stable?
Environment – look at the surroundings where the handling job is to take place. Can you clear the way of obstructions so you won’t fall while carrying the load? Can you use a ramp rather than awkward steps? Can you provide a cloth so that you can wipe a slippery load before you try to handle it?
Additional Services
EDP consists of the the following divisions:-
Contact Us - for full HSE Compliance and Risk Management in the workplace.
The Manual Handling Operations Regulations 1992, as amended in 2002 apply to a wide range of manual handling activities, including lifting, lowering, pushing, pulling or carrying. The load may be either inanimate - such as a box or a trolley, or animate - a person or an animal.
Guidance
This guidance gives useful practical advice for employers, managers, and individual employees on how to reduce the risk of injury from manual handling.
Your Duties
The Regulations require employers to:
Employees have duties too. They should:
Avoiding Manual Handling
Check whether you need to move it at all, for example:
Assessing and Reducing the Risk of Injury
The assessment is the employer’s responsibility. You should be able to do most assessments in-house. You, your employees and safety representatives know your business better than anyone. Most situations will require just a few minutes’ observation to identify ways to make the activity easier and less risky, ie less physically demanding. Advice from outside experts may be helpful in difficult or unusual cases, or to get you started.
The purpose of the assessment is to pinpoint the high risk features of the work - and they’re the ones you should try to improve first. It is also important to remember to update the assessment when significant changes are made to the workplace. All employees covered by a risk assessment - including generic assessments - should be told about the risks it identifies.
The four main considerations when thinking about any manual handling task (known as TILE) are:
Task – look at the job you’re doing. Does it need to be done at all? Can it be made safer before you do it? Can you do the job some other time? Can you split the load into easier handling tasks? Could you store this load at an easier height in future?
Individual – what is it about you that makes this job more or less safe? Are you fit and healthy? Even if you are – are you capable of doing this specific job safely? Have you been trained to do this job? Do you have any existing back/shoulder/arm problems that might affect your ability to complete the job safely?
Load – look at the load itself. Can you make it smaller, lighter or more secure? Can you make it easier to handle by having a better grip or providing it with handles? Can you put the substance into a better container so that it is more stable?
Environment – look at the surroundings where the handling job is to take place. Can you clear the way of obstructions so you won’t fall while carrying the load? Can you use a ramp rather than awkward steps? Can you provide a cloth so that you can wipe a slippery load before you try to handle it?
Additional Services
EDP consists of the the following divisions:-
Contact Us - for full HSE Compliance and Risk Management in the workplace.