Posted By Jon Vitta Afternoon Can anyone tell me how the French have fitted the six pack directive on Manual Handling into their legislation? Do the use pretty much the same lifting guidelines as the HSE manual handling regs or is the guidance completely different? We are have problems with a French customer complaining that 15 kg cans of edible oil is too heavy to lift ( low frequency activity at waist height) I don't want to make a judgement just using the UK set of guidelines. As usual the export manager wants an answer yesterday so any help would be appreciated. Regards Jon

Posted By Alan Hewett John, Try emailing Mr Merv Newman direct (use the search forums facility to acquire the email address). Alan

Posted By Jim Walker Jon, If I had decided (by risk assessment) that the product you supplied was in any way detrimental to our employees and you started to "advise" me otherwise; you would quickly find yourself an Ex supplier. Even for your UK customers: Appendix 3 of Manual handling regs sets guidelines (it does say these should not be regarded as safe weight limits) are, but unfortunately all people "see" is the 25kg bit.

Posted By Frank Newman As far as we can trace recent French legislation men are still allowed to lift, occasionally and with medical approval, 100+ kg. However, received wisdom is that 25kg is ok for men, women and young children. The sack of cement I bought on my wife's instructions Saturday weighed 25 kg. A French ergonomics manual, on the office shelf, recommends, for occasional lifting for females 15 to 45 years old, 15 kgs, Men 55 kg For frequent lifting, females 10 kg, males 30 kg The INRS recommends up to 55 kg with medical approval for men and the load should never exceed 105 kg. That's about two hundredweight. If your 16 year old son weighs about 50 kg (roughly 7 stone) then that is four times his body weight. How much do you weigh. And could you do it ? Merv

Posted By Simon Long I too have had problems with single handed lifting. All the regs and advice is for two hands and regular shaped items. I've tried to get advice on the forum before but with no luck. I'll be interested to see how you resolve this. Regards Simon

Posted By Kieran J Duignan As a registered ergonomist, I'll respond to the nudge.... The real point about ergonomics is that it offers scientific methods for evaluating solutions to problems taking all relevant variables (about the person, load and the situation) into account; and for generating 'guidelines' based on scientific evidence. Scientific methods are technically valid in any legal jurisdiction. The one time I heard one of the UK's most distinguished physiological ergonomists, Steve Pheasant, speak, he warned that any of us could harm our backs lifting any weight (even a little pencil, he emphasised) because the significant force on the lower back at the time of lifting was the weight of the upper body. So, reduce the demands on the person lifting by mechanical aids and, where possible, sharing the manual handling task with another alert person. While gender differences have some relevance, a female exercising care and appropriate balance is safer than a male neglecting to do so. And behavioural leadership would positively reinforce safe manual handling, in ways that each person finds rewarding - and in that respect the gender differences can often be very telling!