Manual Handling in the Work Place

Manual Handling in the Work Place

Guest post

You and your employees will properly face manual handling tasks on a daily basis, no matter what sector your business operates in you should and will have to be aware of the potential dangerous and pitfalls of manual handling.

As basic as some of the manual tasks are if they are performed incorrectly they can cause an employee a lot of pain and distress. Which could potentially be disruptive to your businesses activities and your customers as well as the employee and his/hers home life. Employers can be fined and have court cases could be bought against them that could potential damage a business’s reputation.

The workplace is likely to be directly affected by manual handling injuries in terms of employee sickness, absence from work, time off for the treatment of injuries, and staff working below their optimal level of competency. Employees can often be uneducated on what constitutes manual handling:

· Lifting

· Carrying

· Pushing

· Pulling,

· Moving

· Lowering

· Restraining objects or persons

· Using bodily force to pull a lever

· Operating power tools

· Walking up and down stairs carrying something.

Training

A third of companies do not provide manual handling training to their employees when they start their employment. Local authorities recommend that businesses should train a new employee at the star of their employment. The idea is that if an employee is aware of the dangerous in the work place they should be more vigilant in the early stages of employment. Businesses should always consider revisiting training regularly especially in the industry like the courier and express delivery industries.

Prevention

It is not always easy for businesses to help employees avoid injury in the workplace, however careful thought should be given to every manual handling activity wherever it takes place. Training is one of the best ways to reduce the need for preventions, allowing employee’s time to understand equipment and tasks can reduce the risk of injury. Injuries can happen when people least expect it, consider adding posters/message around the office, even email reminders come in handy for employees who are on the move.

Common Injuries

So you may not be aware of some of the most common injuries caused by manual handling mistakes. Musculoskeletal disorders is one of the most common causes of occupational ill-health, estimated to affecting one million people per year and costing society £5.7 billion a year. DIY is responsible for over 200,000 injuries a year, bad posture, perhaps resulting from incorrect chair height in front of the computer.

Conclusion

It’s vital that your business does not underestimate the importance of manual handling. Business activities’ should be reviewed if an employee is injured at work or on a job. The law is very clear and there is much guidance, help and information available, so there is no excuse for ignoring manual handling issues.

This post was created by Mail Box Express a same day courier services in the UK.