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Samantha Cook  
#1 Posted : 03 April 2018 12:06:50(UTC)
Rank: Forum user
Samantha Cook

After any advice in relation to using the MAC tool for our business, upon the recommendation from an EHO visit (triggered by number of RIDDORs in relation to lifting and handling). We are a warehouse operation who deal in boxes of garments, whether through goods inwards who handle box off container delivieries by hand or using conveyor, palletised these boxes, then putting them away to bulk racking from A to E level. Another Dept take boxes out of the racking across to the pick face racking, pick, pack and despatch pick loose garments into trollies, despatching packets or boxes out using a conveyor, these are then transferred to cages or palletised. As you can see this is a very manual industry with little automation. I have listed the tasks carried out in each Dept, but am struggling to digest the MAC tool documentation.

If anyone has any ideas of how to tackle this assessment, i would be very grateful !

Sam

ExDeeps  
#2 Posted : 03 April 2018 12:17:42(UTC)
Rank: Super forum user
ExDeeps

Likely not the best reply you'll get, but I recently did the Manual handling Assessors course at HSL in Buxton. from you're description of the operation I would strongly suggest booking a place on that course - the guy who delivers it is the author of the MAC tool and knows his onions wrt manual handling. I dou8bt anyone can give you enough detail on a chat forum to be honest, the tool needs to be understood and there's a level of interpretation and understanding required,

jim

thanks 3 users thanked ExDeeps for this useful post.
webstar on 03/04/2018(UTC), Samantha Cook on 04/04/2018(UTC), Hsquared14 on 04/04/2018(UTC)
andrewcl  
#3 Posted : 05 April 2018 10:48:47(UTC)
Rank: Forum user
andrewcl

The long answer is MAC charts are for the systematic processing of a Manual handling task or set of tasks. I find the best way to use them is step by step - focus on one part of the analysis at a time.  INDG 383 also gives a little bit of assistance with interpreting them.

For example, for lifting, the first thing to look at (using INDG 383) is the graph in part A, regarding the mass being moved and how often.  If your guys are lifting 30Kg every 5 minutes, the graph says that is in the amber area.  At this part of the process amber scores 4. If your guys are lifting 30Kg every 14 seconds, the graph says this is in the red area, which scores 6. Note down the score, move onto part B.

Part B encourages you to look at the postures of the workers. Use the diagrams to establish which posture is closest to what your guys are doing.  For the green posture add nothing, for the amber postures add 3 to your score from above, and if the posture is like the red diagram then add 6 to your score from above.

Keep working through the parts C to H, one at a time, looking at what your teams are doing and asking them about the processes, and adding the relevant scores to your total, as you go.

There are slight differences between carrying, lifting, team lifts and so on, so there are different MACs for each of these.

The trick then is to start trying to reduce the risk with whichever activity ends up with the highest score - higher scores mean more risky activities. Involve your workers, you'll get more out of the process that way.

The short answer is go with what ExDeeps said!

Samantha Cook  
#4 Posted : 06 April 2018 13:53:12(UTC)
Rank: Forum user
Samantha Cook

Thank you both for your advice, my employer is hopefully booking me on the HSL course !

Sam

imwaldra  
#5 Posted : 09 April 2018 08:17:22(UTC)
Rank: Super forum user
imwaldra

It sounds like the fairly similar RAPP tool (risk assessment of pushing and pulling might be relevant for some of the tasks in your premises. Also developed by HSL, so a course there would perhaps help for that area too. 

Edited by user 09 April 2018 08:18:36(UTC)  | Reason: Missing word

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