Manual handling injuries

It is now widely accepted that an ergonomic approach will remove or reduce the risk of manual handling injury. Ergonomics can be described as fitting the job to the person rather than the... 

Prevention of manual handling injuries Key elements in a manual handling programme... 

Stevens, M.A. (1990). Avoiding Manual Handling Injuries at Work. The Safety and Health Practitioner, 8(1), 8-10. 

Training alone will not reduce manual handling injuries-there still needs to be safe systems of work in place and the full implementation of the control measures highlighted in the manual handling assessment. The following topics should be addressed in a manual handling training session ... 

Has the risk of manual handling injuries been assessed ... 

A description of how people can be harmed if the hazard is not controlled. For example, the majority of manual handling injuries occur to the lower back, the shoulder, or the wrist/forearm. Knowing this helps to focus on the risk factors. 

Information on the circumstances that contribute to injury such as the causative factors in manual handling injuries that include lifting, twisting, repetitive actions, or posture while moving objects of weight. 

Am I trained to lift The quickest way to receive a manual handling injury is to use the wrong lifting technique. 

More than a third of over-three-day injuries reported each year are associated with manual handling. Manual handling is defined as the transporting or supporting of loads by hand or bodily force, i.e. human effort as opposed to mechanical handling such as a crane or fork-lift truck. Introducing mechanical assistance, e.g. a sack truck, may reduce but not eliminate manual handling since human effort is still required to move, steady or position the load. 

Although an element of manual handling is still present, body forces are applied more efficiently reducing the risk of injury. Levers can be used which lessen the body force required and also remove fingers from... 

Use gloves when manual handling to avoid injury from rough or sharp edges. 

Manual handling, that is, moving objects by hand, may result in strains, sprains and trap injury pains. 

The protection of hands from injuries that may result from cuts, abrasions, bums, and from manual handling operations and extremes of temperature. The protection commonly used includes gloves and gauntlets. 

Over one third of all reported lost-time absences are attributed to injuries caused by manual handling. This problem is common across Europe and has resulted in a Directive aimed at reducing this toll. In the UK the contents of the Directive are contained in The Manual Handling Operations Regulations 1992 (MHOR). 

A number of practical techniques have been developed to facilitate the manual handling of loads and hence reduce the toll of injuries and some of these are considered in this chapter. 

These Regulations are aimed at reducing the appalling toll of injuries from manual handling. The requirements of the Regulations are summarized below. 

Many things contribute to manual materials handling injuries. Common factors are materials handling techniques, job design, and physical condition and characteristics of individuals. 

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