Manual Handling

There are a variety of Manual handling courses available to suit the individual need of your organisation. Whether you are looking at training staff of basic workplace Manual Handling, to more complex movement of people, we can offer the training that you require.

Modern medical and scientific opinion accepts the scale of the problem associated with lifting of objects and stresses the importance of an ergonomic approach to remove or reduce the risk of manual handling injury. Ergonomics is sometimes described as 'fitting the job to the person, rather than the person to the job'. The ergonomic approach looks at manual handling as a whole. It takes into account a range of relevant factors, including the nature of the task, the load, the working environment and individual capability and requires worker participation.

Some tasks of course will need to be mechanised for instance, the use of hoists for people with reduced mobility. ABC Aid can offer in house training on any particular equipment you may use. We can also offer advice on the risk assessment procedure required when attempting to cope with challenging situations.

The most import part of manual handling training is to reduce the risk of injury from manual handling tasks so far as is reasonably practicable. The training is designed to highlight the responsibility of both the employer and the employee.

Reduce the Risk

The Manual Handling Operations Regulations 1992 (as amended) establish a clear hierarchy of measures for dealing with risks from manual handling.

These include:

• Avoidence of hazardous manual handling operations so far as reasonably practicable.
• Assessment of any hazardous manual handling operations that cannot be avoided.
  
• Reduction of the risk of injury so far as reasonably practicable.

Section 2 of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and regulations 10 and 13 of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 require employers to provide their employees with health and safety information and training. This should be supplemented as necessary with more specific information and training on manual handling injury risks and prevention, as part of the steps to reduce risk required by regulation 4(1)(b)(ii) of the Regulations.

The risk of injury from a manual handling task will be increased where workers do not have the information or training necessary to enable them to work safely. For example, if they do not know about any unusual characteristics of loads or about the system designed to ensure their safety during manual handling, this may lead to injury. It is essential that where, for example, mechanical handling aids are available, training is provided in their proper use.

The provision of information and training alone will not ensure safe manual handling. The first objective in reducing the risk of injury should be to design the manual handling operations to be as safe as is reasonably practicable. This will involve improving the task, the working environment and reducing the load weight as appropriate. Where possible the manual handling operations should be designed to suit individuals, not the other way round. Effective training has an important part to play in reducing the risk of manual handling injury. It should not be regarded as a substitute for a safe system of work.

Please contact us with your manual handling requirements. We understand that not every setting is the same and each environment will have its own unique characteristics. By working together we can ensure the right training is provided for you.