Manual Handling

Manual Handling Regulations 2002

Manual Handling injuries affect all workplaces, even the smallest and in the safest of environments. They account for more than a third of reportable three-day accidents with over 1.1 million people suffering from musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs).

Manual handling costs employers as many as 12.3 million work days a year with each sufferer taking an average of 20 days leave before returning to work.

Manual handling injuries can occur wherever people are at work - on farms and building sites, in factories, offices, warehouses, hospitals, banks, laboratories, and while making deliveries. Heavy manual labour, awkward postures, manual materials handling, reaching, twisting and turning and previous or existing injury are all risk factors implicated in the development of MSDs.

Complacency is a major factor.

All employers are required to conduct a Manual Handling Risk Assessment and to introduce the approprite control measures to prevent accidents. Some of the simplest measures can be the most effective. Encouraging employees to report problems as early as possible reduces the extent of injuries and training in simple lifting techniques will significantly reduce the risk of injury in the first place.

We will conduct a manual handling risk assessment at your workplace for £125. Please contact us to book an appointment. See the areas we serve.

Or purchase a proforma manual handling template from our sister company for £25.

Manual Handling Training - CD-ROM

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Additional Reading

Getting to Grips with Manual Handling

Quick Guides are not intended to be a full statement of the Law.
For a definition of "Employee" and "Employer"
Contains public sector information published by the Health and Safety Executive under the Open Government Licence