Posted By Allan Kerrigan
A friend of mine has just attended a Manual handling course witha certain police force and they were informed that the latest practice on lifting was to keep the buttocks OUT throughout the entire lift.
As a Manual Handling Instructor this is entirely the opposite to what I have be trained and now teach.

Has anyone any information on this?

Or has the constabulary got it wrong?

Posted By Paul Hay
Allan

It sometimes seems that every week someone comes up with a new and 'better' way of lifting, sitting, standing etc. If you talk to different back specialists they will often give you varying opinions as to the causes of back pain and correct lifting technique. My personal thoughts are that if the spine is kept in as normal, neutral postition as possible and the strongest muscles apply the bulk of the lifting force then you are going some way to protecting your back. Never come across the bum poking out technique - but always open to new ideas!

Paul

Posted By Ron Hunter
Does my bum look big in this?

Posted By Frank Hallett
All of the common "perfect" stances are only as good as the perfect person.

There is absolutely no one stance that will suit everybody when lifting from lower than pelvic height - the most common ones will all exacerbate the potential for piles and lower abdomen hernias; and also make absolutely no recognition of those with any physical deformity that precludes their ability to adopt the "trainers preferred position".

For instance, an individual with a poor sense of balance when squatting, or an individual with one knee that is markedly weaker than the other will be considerably disadvantaged by the commonest methods of lifting even though the remainder of their skeleton and musculature are more than adequate for the task.

Remember that MHSW AND MH Regs require the employer to adapt the work to the individual - as does the DDA!

Frank Hallett