Posted By Paul Leadbetter Debbie Regardless of what any guidance may say, if the employee says the mallet is too heavy, it is too heavy and you should find a more appropriate implement. Paul

Posted By The toecap I hope he's wearing goggles

Posted By Alan Nicholls Hi Debbie Speak to your fitter again, try to find out what has changed his attitude to the work he is doing. Its possible the hammer is just the tip of the iceberg. Or perhaps he's like me just feeling old and fragile. Try it and see what he has to say. Regards Alan N

Posted By Kieran J Duignan Debbie You appear to be faced with a tangle of issues, on the basis of what you're saying. The occupational safety and health ones may be broadly classified in terms of 'unsafe postures' and 'stress'. Options open for a solution include videoing him at work and interviewing him to pinpoint where and when he reports a problem. If this doesn't lead to an agreed way ahead, you may be well advised to get a chartered occupational psychologist who is also a chartered safety & health practitioner and a registered ergonomist to make a formal assessment using the same methods; this can generate a solution, discipline (even leading to dismissal on grounds of 'frustration of contract') and/or a court case. If a court case arises either for personal injury or unfair dismissal damages, the objective report can be used as evidence and the writer and the troubled employee cross-examined about the difficulty resolving it. Alternatively, a solution may emerge based on an issue that the employee may be willing to discuss initially in confidence with an independent third party, which may result in a mutually acceptable compromise that nobody could otherwise even imagine. Haivng been down both channels as the independent third party, I'd simply encourage you (and the line manager) to balance firmness and fairness but not let the matter drift.

Posted By Kieran J Duignan Cara's observation about 'old and fragile' points to important issues about managing age and disability discrimination. They're important because there's no upper limit on successful discrimination claims. The safety clause of the age discrimination regulations and disability discrimination law require an employer to assess the risks to the employee associated with his age (any age above the school-leaving age) or disability and make appropriate adjustments. You can draw on research - referred to in my article in the October 2006 issue of 'Safety and Health Practitioner - about increasing risks of musculoskeletal problems as workers increase in age and how Finnish and Japanese employers have got to grips with them. And on ignificant research by the Robens Institute of Health Ergonomics published by the HSE in 2004 about links between occupational stress and musculo-skeletal problems.

Posted By Christopher Kelly Hi Debbie - you need to take into account that it may be age, general health issues (you need to adapt his work to suit him). However - have you thought about reviewing his work patterns, how long he is working with arms above his head, how long he is using the mallet for ? Surely he cannot be using a mallet for so long that it would cause pain ? Something else is going on which you need to investigate. I don't think weight is the issue here. Regards

Posted By William Debbie, i have sent you an email with the information which i think you require without going into overkill on the subject. Its just a couple of diagrams and i hope this helps.