Posted By Vincent Shields Notwithstanding any short-term pressures, what you appear to need is a longer-term strategy of local 'leaders' who are responsible for onward cascade-training. It is not feasible or practical for to be carrying the burden of 'direct' training for that number of staff on a regular basis. I would suggest you concentrate on developing a longer-term plan which identifies key people in each department of Trust (who guide, supervise, monitor, train, risk assess etc whilst on-the-job) in their own department and concentrate on training only those 'key' people. Email me for further info if required. Vince

Posted By Wilf Archer Hi Lisa I understand your problem. I don’t work in the NHS but in local authority and I also don’t have quite as many staff as your self (1900) but I do have a wide range of employees covering road workers, refuse collection, building maintenance, building cleaning, etc. And they all have different types of lifting and handling to do. When I started this job I soon became aware that the conventional approach to manual handling training was not going to work. So I put together a three part programme to be delivered to small groups of staff on the job. We delivered in canteens, workrooms, and even put a training bus on the road to ctch off site personnel, never in classrooms. Part 1 covered the rudiments of line of gravity, centre of gravity and load behaviour. Nothing heavy (no pun intended) It took approximately 45 minutes and used everyday objects that the candidates worked with. We balanced them lifted them and even knocked them over just to show how they behaved (both objects and people). We had people bending and pushing twisting and stretching to show personal balance and how the body reacts when working. We played with the individuals ergonomic range. Part 2 was delivered approximately 6 weeks later (only because it took that long to go round all staff). Here we concentrated on the T.O.T.A.L. manual handling risk assessment technique. This was designed by myself to allow the individual to take ownership of the lift and to assess it before they lifted it. TOTAL stands for · TEST the Load for grip and weight. · OBSERVE where your route and the distance you are going · TRIAL to make sure you have a good hold · ASSESSMENT check to make sure you haven’t missed anything out and that you are able to lift load ·LIFT the load. This little assessment process is backed up by management in that if at any time during the sequence the individual can ask for help and it will be given. Part 3 introduces the mechanical aids that are available to assist in the lift. Where to get them and how to use them. The whole process was initially delivered y my own two man team but has been kept simple so that supervisors can pick up the remedial and refresher training. This means that as the supervisors become comfortable with the manual handling toolbox talk they can correct any wrongdoings at source. It also allows them to ad habitual errors into additional talks. All this is supported by myself and my team. I am sorry if this is long winded but I have found it simple and effective. If you need anything else then drop me an email. Good luck Wilf.

Posted By Elizabeth Hallows If the manual handling training is for the handling of people [or patients], rather than inanimate loads, the Royal College of Nursing guidance is used as a standard by most people, and also in court as an example of best practice. Thei latest publication, "The Guide to the Handling of patients, 4th edition", states: "regular refresher training is also needed, preferably at least once a year" [page 68] Importantly, it also includes a chapter on condemned techniques. In my experience [working more with local authorities, but still in the field of people handling], training in the work situation is probably more useful, but it's difficult to get through all the numbers, and can be more time consuming.Perhaps a way forward would be to identify those areas where more handling takes place, or more accidents occur, and target those people more often than others. For example, the elderly wards will require more handling by the nurses than outpatients. There is evidence around which indicates which areas within hospitals have more manual handling accidents. Hope this is of use