Almost every employee is exposed to some form of manual handling at work, varying in risk from workplace to workplace.

Did you know musculoskeletal (sprains and strains) account for 43% of serious workers’ compensation claims? Most of the time these sprains and strains are largely avoidable injuries which can be prevented by a targeted risk management approach to work health and safety initiative. Here are some common topics covered by manual handling training:

What Is Manual Handling?

A manual task involves using your body to lift, lower, push, pull, carry or otherwise move, hold or restrain any person, animal or thing.

How Do Manual Handling Injuries Occur?

A manual task becomes hazardous when one or more of the following risk factors are present:

• Repetitive or sustained force
• High or sudden force
• Repetitive movement
• Sustained or awkward posture
• Vibration

Identify, Assess and Control Manual Handling Risks

The workplace can’t always be the perfect environment for lifting and moving objects. You don’t live in a world full of perfectly square boxes all of which are located at waist height. Manual handling training aims to:

• improve the skills of your staff in identifying manual handling risk
• how to apply manual handling principles to allow you perform the task better on a day to day basis

Safe Lifting Techniques: The Most Important Step!!

Advice on how to reduce sprains and strains can involve specific anatomical and biomechanical knowledge and practice, making it hard for everyday employees to retain. We've made an easy to read manual handling poster you can keep in the workplace.

If you want to enquire about our manual handling training that can be tailored to your organisation, please click here. Watch the video below to find out how we successfully implemented a manual handling program at Woolworths SRDC.