Manual Handling -The 3 most common mistakes organisations make.

You’ve heard the manual handling mantra – “bend your knees, keep your back straight”. You’ve probably sat through many well intentioned presentations showing you how to lift a light box positioned conveniently on the floor in the training room. But how well does this translate to the specific tasks in your organisation? And has it actually prevented any manual handling injuries? Unlikely. Despite all the power point presentations, manual tasks still account for a significant number of workplace injuries. So where are we going wrong?

We tell our employees what to do - “bend your knees” – but often don’t take the time to explain why it is important to do so. If our employees understand the “why” they are more likely to make positive changes and will be able to apply the information to different tasks and situations.
We provide generic information to all employees regardless of the manual handling tasks they perform in their role. Manual handling training needs to address the specific hazards faced by work groups. This can be achieved simply by work shopping solutions with the people doing the tasks.
We rely on employees changing their habits rather than investing in workplace systems that encourage safe work practices. Workplace task and ergonomic assessments by qualified health professionals can help your organisation design workplaces where the easiest option is also the safest.

If we can move away from viewing manual handling training simply as a tick the box exercise and take a more proactive approach we can not only help our employees work more safely but also more efficiently.

Our experienced consultants are able to develop in house manual training for your organisation (train your trainers), facilitate manual handling training, and conduct ergonomic and risk assessments.