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Posted By Catman
Hi All
Good thread.
I always start by asking if everyone knows how to lift safely (normally using a volunteer to demonstrate), to shouts of 'bend your knees, keep your back straight'.
I then ask, if everybody knows, why are there still injuries and discuss mechanisms of injury?
This leads to risk assessment (very basic to show the Task/Load etc breakdown)and planning lifts
and then back to technique, but with the benefit of what has been learned in risk assessment/planning and based specifically on their jobs.
In my opinion, nothing is more important than equipping people with tools to understand how to lift safely themselves in various situations as we cant possibly teach everything.
Cheers
TW
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Posted By Merv Newman
Look, I work with companies who have completely eliminated manual handling of any thing more than a pneumatic screw-driver. And those on a counter-weight system.
We calculate the cost of a lost Time Injury as about £10 000. this is average including serious disabling injuries, accidental death and the guy who takes a few days off to visit mum. Catastrophies, including serious environmental or neighbourhood damage (think Buncefield) Come out a bit more.
Can you not, as professionals, persuade your management to put more into prevention than into curative ?
(various emphatic swearwords)
Merv
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Rank: Guest
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Posted By Catman
That would be lovely Merv and I too have been involved in programmes where we minimised succesfully, but how do you implement that in a 10 acre glasshouse site with 80 nursery workers, hundreds of trolleys, shifting tables, plants of varying sizes etc.? it can be done but it takes much more than a stern word with the boss.
Of course there is heavy emphasis on prevention and in the long run that is what I would always push for, but in the meantime people will need trained, and will for a long time yet unless SME's suddenly come into serious money.
You want various emphatic swearwords, talk to the small supplier told by the big retail outlet 'you must improve your safety, oh and by the way, we will only be paying you half the price for your produce next year.'
Sorry, getting tired and grumpy.
TW
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Rank: Guest
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Posted By Jeffery Watt
Is you have the eye of a barrister (complement)
I see what you mean. Could be a matter of somantics on my part but just trying to draw a distinction between the thrust of the training of rigid techniques as opposed to more flexible general principles.
For instance HSL work studied refuse collectors throwing bin bags into the back of a moving bin lorry on a collection. The guys walked quickly stooped and scooped the bags and threw them over the rave into the lorry. They then got them to repeat the operation using straight backs, bend the knees standard technique. The operators had myograghs and cardiographs on to measure strain on the body muscles and heart rate. Turns out stooping and scooping although heavier on the back muscles than straight back use the legs technique was within parameters that would not be seen as high risk for MSDisorders BUT stoop and scoop used half of the calories because the operators were not lifting the combined bin bag and bodyweight and giving their heart and other muscles a break.
In the round stoop and scoop was better for folks doing this job than conventional technique. This also goes some way to explain why guys do not use the "safe way" because of high cardiovascular demands and reinforces other posters statements about designing out MH as much as you can.
I trained on specific techniques where they are needed for specific tasks that could not be mechanised but that was in previous job e.g. one man movement of 28kg CHEP pallet onto side of curtain sider or manipulating a 60kg keg of beer up steps into an outlet.
Is that any clearer chaps, no, well I'm off to bed e byes, work it out amongst yerselves.
Kind regards
Jeff
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