Posted By Andy Brown
A 14 year old child of a friend has been complaining about a sore back for a number of weeks. So much so, that he is struggling with his paper round. His father gave him a hand one morning and was shocked at the weight of the bag. The following day he weighted the bag and found it to weight 20KG. The child weighs about 50KG.
Does anyone out there know of any HSE guidance on the weight limits for minors?
Is this a reportable under RIDDOR, as he has been "off Work" for over 3 days?
Any help or advice would be much appreciated

Posted By Crim
Does he carry the bag while riding his bike? If so dangerous!

If not how does he carry the bag?

He needs a trolley just like the post persons use.

Manual handling assessment required with lots of recommendations I should think?

Posted By Dan dan
No doubt the time will come

Posted By Ralph Baqar
Firstly, a 14year old is a child in law, not a ‘young person’. NB. Sorry for treading on peoples toes.
This issue is not a new phenomenon, this has been highlighted in various newspapers themselves over the last few years.

I personally think that many children are exploited as cheap labour to undertake tasks which, have not been suitably addressed with regards to risk or health.

In relation to paper rounds, how many shopkeepers do we honestly believe have assessed the risks regarding the children undertaking work on their part?

This is an issue for each LA however, I’ve not come across any that have taken a stance on this issue. Hopefully I will be corrected on this forum?

RIDDOR reportable or not, you have to ask yourself the question… Is it worth you’re child carrying out this type of work if it causes them harm?

I’d personally speak to an enforcement officer from the LA to seek guidance and ask what plans they intend to take to address this issue.

Posted By Andy Brown
Alan,
I presume you work in the construction industry? The "I have always done it this way and to make it safe would make me less manly" attitude doesn't really carry much weight in front of a coroner.

Ralph,
Some very useful points. thank you.

Crim,
good points, well made

Posted By CRT
Andy.

We have be carrying out some work at our LA as part of a recent campaign - we focussed on newspaper delivery.

The national back Pain Associaition have published some guidelines,

Age of child 14

Ave weight of child 52kg

Max recommended (papers)10.4 kg (approx 20% of body weight)

We have produced a pack for all of our newsagents giving sensible advice about risk assessment and control measures, hopefully it will help raise standards.

To be honest i'm not sure about RIDDOR i would have to make enquiries to establish employment status etc

Colin

Posted By Glyn Atkinson
Sturdy!! Must spell check !!

Posted By Crim
Just seen the local paperboy, black hoody and trousers, bike no lights, no reflective anything.

One good thing - his paper sack was bright yellow, looked heavy though?

Please see new thread re schoolboy accident in school.

Posted By Jimmy R
From what I have noted it strikes me that Alan Haynes does little in the way of contributing positively to this Chat Forum. Perhaps the moderator could look at his responses and have a chat and send him a clear message.

Posted By MT
CRT - as an LA officer I'd be very interested in the pack you have put together for your newsagents, if you'd be prepared to send it to me.

Posted By CRT
MT.

i have tried to send you the info, with no luck.
suggest you e-mail me and i`ll try again.

CRT

Posted By BB
Jack,

I too have found this posting quite nostalgic.

I think that this issue is fascinating but dare I say, a reflection on modern times.

Yep, heavy bags = potential bad backs and the issue must be accepted and managed. However, prevention is the key and this point seems to be hitherto overlooked in this thread.

The hazard has remained largely the same but the risk has increased. Why?

In addition to sturdy trolleys and risk assessed walks how about campaigning to increase the 'elf' in 'elfinsafety'?

So as as a society, we need to take a good, long, hard look at ourselves to understand why we are producing future generations who are under-exercised, overweight and generally in pretty poor condition, inevitably more prone to injury due to being less physically robust.

....Good heavens! I'm beginning to sound like my father.......

Posted By Allan St.John Holt
Sundays, whatever, everyone is pushing to get the mail out in our busiest week. But don't forget, those 'leaflets' are proper mail - make no mistake. Without them (annoying as some people find them) your first class stamp would have to go up by about 15p I am told. And some people must make use of them, otherwise one assumes the advertisers wouldn't waste their money.

Readers of an egalitarian persuasion will be glad to learn that all Royal Mail non-operational (i.e. back-room including safety people) managers are required to lend a hand and do at least five days 'real' work dealing with the mail over Christmas. In my case that means an 0500 alarm call all next week, to do an early shift in a sorting office. On the other hand, the phone doesn't ring and there's no computer handy to correspond with you nice people!

Happy Christmas and the best for 2007 to all,

Allan