Manual handling is a common activity that many workers are exposed to in the workplace. However, this can lead to musculoskeletal injuries.

To prevent these accidents, employers should prioritize the health of their employees. This can be done by implementing manual handling safety measures in the workplace.

Safety Measures

Keeping the right safety measures in place is vital to reducing the risk of manual handling incidents. The Health and Safety Executive estimates that more than a third of all workplace injuries are related to manual handling work.

In addition to ensuring that workers receive training and appropriate equipment, it’s also important to ensure they know the correct techniques to use when lifting objects. This can reduce the chance of muscle strains and sprains, back and shoulder injuries, and hernias.

Employers should carry out risk assessments when carrying out manual handling tasks to ensure that they’re carried out safely. The assessment should consider a range of factors, including the weight of the object, its size and shape, the surface it’s being transported on, the space where it will be placed, and the route it will take.

Taking these safety measures can prevent manual handling incidents and improve the working environment. However, it’s important to remember that accidents can happen at any time.

Physical Requirements

According to the Health and Safety Executive, more than a third of all workplace injuries and work-related repetitive strain injuries, and musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) are caused by manual handling.

A key area to consider when assessing manual handling is the physical requirements to meet the needs of the task, individual, load, and environment. This is known as TILE and can be done using our assessment tool.

Workers should be assessed for their physical capabilities and be given training and assistance to ensure that they can perform their work safely. They should also be trained in first aid in the event of a physical injury or illness.

The European Union (EU) has a Directive that sets out the minimum health and safety requirements for lifting, lowering, pushing, pulling, or carrying loads by hand. The European Commission has also developed a new method to assess the risk of musculoskeletal injuries from manual handling activities. This method was validated against different criteria including face validity, criterion validity, and reliability.

Training

Manual handling training is vital to provide employees with a basic knowledge of the safest techniques they can use when lifting, carrying, lowering, or pushing items in the workplace. These techniques can prevent injuries, such as back pain or strains in the shoulders and arms.

Employees can also learn about the legal responsibilities they have in this area. This includes making sure they do not exceed their physical abilities, planning their work properly, and taking appropriate breaks.

The safe weight of an object should be determined by the employer, taking into account factors such as body strength and how far it needs to be lifted. Risk assessments should also be carried out and the weight limit reduced if necessary.

There is no legal maximum weight that can be lifted for manual handling, but it’s best to stick within safe limits. Age, gender, and physical condition can all affect how much an individual can lift safely.

Critical Thinking

Critical thinking, or CT, is a set of abilities and habits that enable people to consider ideas from opposing perspectives. Employees who are able to think critically in this way can help your business avoid costly mistakes and reduce problems from occurring in the first place.

Critical thought is the ability to evaluate information and come to a conclusion without bias. By examining all the details, employees can determine which information is most relevant for solving the problem at hand.

Many educational jurisdictions around the world have adopted critical thinking as a goal for their students. This is based on the belief that students should be able to consider different viewpoints and make good decisions based on objective facts.

Although definitions of critical thinking differ, all of them can be construed as including three features: careful thinking directed to a specific goal, rational and skeptical analyses and evaluation of evidence, and a focus on an unbiased process. Having a clear understanding of these three characteristics allows educators to identify abilities, skills, dispositions, attitudes, and the like that contribute causally to thinking critically.