Posted By David Bramall Jo Have you tried the HSE MAC tool, available on HSE website? I have and didnt like it, I worked through the whole thing and when I was finished, there was no indication of what the final score meant. Instead, we used the other "useful" HSE guidance on manual handling and produced a set of controls based on weight, repetition, length of carry, upper weight limit for single lifting etc. This has been in force for a short while and certainly appears to be working well. Of course the employees are trained in manual handling and therefore know to check for awkward loads, uneven loads and the like. Regards DrB

Posted By pedro To answer your query would require more information. But to say there are different environments and different loads means that you must use the differing environments as the starting point. All manual handling tasks have similar risks and can be covered off by using the the 5 elements of risk assessment including the provision of manual handling equipment, training so on. But if the environment introduces new and differing hazards they must be identified on the environment aspect of the risk assessment and then control measures put in place to reduce or eliminate them. For example lifting a 10kg box in a warm dry warehouse poses the same manual handling risks as lifting a 10kg box outside in a yard with ice on the floor and freezing rain pouring down. The difference is the conditions and you would have to identify the extra hazard and risk posed by the icy floors and weather conditions. When training MH you should instruct your trainees to consider the load, enviroment etc when assessing the task in hand. Sorry if I am teaching you to suck eggs but I use TILE - Task Individual Load Environment. This is good at getting them to think laterally about the task as a whole and not just the weight of the item to be lifted or moved. It can also be used when using MH aids such as trollies, sack trucks, pump trucks etc. Hope this helps a little as a little often goes a long way! Pedro

Posted By pedro Well someone is feeling the lack of oxygen looking down from thier high horse aren't they David. I am capable of controlling hazards and use TILE as way to get the average worker (who has not had the benefit of H&S training) to undertand and identfy the hazards themelves. I would suggest that my answer actually tries to help the origianl poster where yours is about as helpful as a chocolate fireguard! Maybe its true what most H&S say about the IOSH site forum members that they all think they know everything without actually changing anything! If you can't be bothered to help people with less knowledge and experience than you then I suggest you start your own website forum and talk to yourself

Posted By the badger Jo Given the nature of the tasks which your people are undertaking, I feel that the approach which you are taking at the moment is exactly right and there is no need to do any more. In my company we do just the same as you are doing for work like this. We also monitor our accident reports for signs that we might not have got it completely right. To do any more than this, particularly as regards the production of written assessments, is, in my opinion, unnecessary and would be of no benefit to your organisation or those who are doing the manual handling.

Posted By CRT My advice would be to carry out an initial trawl of your activities to identify and categorise your activities by their level of risk. You could then use "generic" assessments for the lower risk activities, but then carry out a more detailed assessments (as req my MHOR) for the higher risk activities. Incidentally if you use the HSE Mac Tool, it will help to identify circumstances and/or conditions that will increase risk, you can then prioritise these areas for action.

Posted By Darren J Fraser Hi Jo If you contact me direct, I may be able to help with a risk assessment that I use, not saying it will cover everything, but you are welcome to cast your eye over it. Regards Daz