1. Manual Handling Risk Assessments Andrew Cooke SHE Director - GRAHAM

2. UK - Manual Handling Operations Regulations 1992
What the law says!!
UK - Manual Handling Operations Regulations 1992
“Each employer shall so far as is reasonably practicable, avoid the need for his employees to undertake any manual handling operations at work which involve a risk of their being injured; or……..
ROI - Safety, Health and Welfare at Work (General Application) Regulations 2007, Ch 4 of Pt 2, Reg 69
An employer shall take appropriate organisational measures, or use the appropriate means, in particular mechanical equipment, to avoid the need for the manual handling of loads by the employer’s employees,………
Management Regulations 1999, Schedule 1
GENERAL PRINCIPLES OF PREVENTION – (a) avoiding risks
UK and ROI regulations included as we have some here from HSA and some who work in ROI.

3. Control – through Risk Assessments.
Management heirarchy
Design out (or in) – eliminate the need for manual handling through the initial design or design development review stages.
Engineer it out – replace the need for someone to conduct manual handling, by mechanically moving the load (next speakers will hopefully cover this)
Control – through Risk Assessments.
NOTE: this is the lowest level of prevention
of injury as it relies on understanding,
perception, rules, personal discipline,
and monitoring.
Design – make the load so large it has to be moved mechanically!!!
PD Role- should review the design to eliminate foreseeable risk where possible
Engineer – remember that where mechanical aids are used, there should be training, an inspection regime, and thought to any additional hazards that are introduced by them (fumes, etc.)
Control – understanding the task to be done, appreciate the risk perception, follow the rules (and training), be disciplined enough to not contravene all the above, and monitoring – both of the individual and their adherence to the safe system of work, and of the effectiveness of the controls specified in the RA. Remember training is not spending a half day in a classroom. That's education. Training is the ongoing personal development and implementation of the education until it is second nature or learned – i.e. apprentices, etc.
Image courtesy of HSE.

4. Manual Handling Risk Assessments
Where the general assessment carried out under regulation 3(1) of the Management Regulations indicates a possibility of injury from manual handling, and it cannot be avoided, you should carry out a more specific assessment as required by regulation 4(1)(b)(i) of MHOR.
Each employer shall—
(i) make a suitable and sufficient assessment of all such manual handling operations to be undertaken by them, having regard to the factors which are specified in column 1 of Schedule 1 to these Regulations and considering the questions which are specified in the corresponding entry in column 2 of that Schedule
Suitable and sufficient – some tasks can be done by a simple assessment or by using one of the HSE tools, others need a full assessment, and Appendix to L23 explains when.

5. TASK – does it involve:-
Manual Handling Risk Assessments - TILEO
The acronym ‘TILEO’ stands for TASK, INDIVIDUAL, LOAD, ENVIRONMENT and OTHER FACTORS and will help your organisation conduct risk assessments. (See L23 Schedule )
TASK – does it involve:-
holding or manipulating loads at distance from trunk?
twisting / stooping ?
excessive movement – lifting / lowering or carrying?
excessive pushing or pulling?
risk of sudden movement?
frequent or prolonged physical effort?
insufficient rest or recovery periods?
a rate of work imposed by a process?
Not time to run through complete RAs, so summary of what to think about and include for each section of the acronym, and signposts to where to get more guidance. With more time, full RAs as examples could have been provided.

6. INDIVIDUAL – are they:- Pregnant Suffering from a health condition
Manual Handling Risk Assessments - TILEO
INDIVIDUAL – are they:-
Pregnant
Suffering from a health condition
Classed as having a disability
Needing specialist training
LOAD – is it:-
heavy
difficult to grasp
Unstable (contents likely to shift)
sharp, hot or cold
otherwise potentially damaging
Animate or inanimate
Loads vary in nature – moving a patient in a hospital, moving boxes of paper in an office, In 2007, employees at the Health and Safety Executive office were banned from moving furniture, including their own chairs, on the remote chance that they may cause themselves injury.

7. ENVIRONMENT – does it involve:- space constraints?
Manual Handling Risk Assessments - TILEO
ENVIRONMENT – does it involve:-
space constraints?
uneven, slippery or unstable floors?
variations in level of floors or work surfaces?
extremes of temperature or humidity, gusts of wind?
poor lighting conditions?
OTHER FACTORS
Is movement or posture hindered by PPE or clothing?
Psychosocial factors – e.g.:-
lack of planning and scheduling of tasks/rest breaks?
poor communication
sudden changes in workload
workers feel they have not had enough training and information

8. Manual Handling Risk Assessments - TILEO

9. No risk assessment of work activity Lack of safe systems of work
Guidance for employers
The business case for adopting a strategic management approach is further supported by a quick study of civil judgements specifically related to injuries due to manual handling.
The Courts identified the following key failures when making rulings on compensation claims:
No risk assessment of work activity
Lack of safe systems of work
Mechanical aids not provided and maintained where specified
Adequate training not provided – for plant and/or people
No evidence of work supervision
These 5 simple checks could save injury, ill-health, financial penalties, reputational damage.
We know that despite there being moral and legal reasons for conducting MH RA, there are still some people for who it is all about the bottom line! For them, we have this. It’s a quick summary of civil cases where employees successfully claimed off their employers for injuries or ill-health due to MH operations, that could have been prevented. These are the common 5 reasons – none of which are overly impractical or expensive.
5.—(1) Every employer shall make and give effect to such arrangements as are appropriate, having regard to the nature of his activities and the size of his undertaking, for the effective planning, organisation, control, monitoring and review of the preventive and protective measures.

10. Guidance for employers
THANK YOU