Guide on Manual Handing Risk Management in Transport and Storage By HSA

What is the law?

Manual handling of loads is covered under Chapter 4 of the Safety, Health, and Welfare at Work (General Application) Regulations of 2007. To prevent back injuries when carrying weights manually, regulations were created. Three conditions are essential to the regulations: To eliminate the need for manual handling, either install automated equipment or alter the way work is done.  If physical handling of goods is unavoidable, take precautions to lower the risk by utilising suitable mechanical equipment or altering the way the operation is done.  Risk-assess the particular labour task (like lifting things out of a truck’s bed). Take action to lower the risk of injury by taking into account the risk factors listed in Schedule 3 of the rule.

How do I reduce the risk?

Recognising that manual handling activities present a possible workplace danger that requires attention is the first step. Understanding the type of manual handling labour activities performed in your workplace—for instance, lifting products out of the back of trucks or moving pallets—is essential to managing this risk successfully. The dangers connected to such operations must therefore be taken into account (for instance, are big weights being handled? Do cargoes have to travel long distances? Available trollies or tail lifts?) In the illustration on the right, a worker is preparing a delivery by independently lifting pallets. Pallet handling on the job site poses a danger because of their weight &  awkward size of the load.

It is therefore important to do task-specific risk assessments of those work activities in order to identify possible risk factors and suitable control methods to minimise or decrease the risk after realising that there are a variety of job activities that involve manual handling. It’s crucial to get accurate information for these risk assessments by seeing the job being done, speaking with personnel who do the task, and taking note of crucial information like the weight of the weights handled.

People who work in the transportation and logistics industry are well-versed in the variety of solutions or suitable control measures that might prevent or lessen the risk of injury, especially back pain. Solutions must be specific and address the risk factors that have been identified as part of the task-specific risk assessment in order to prevent or mitigate the risks associated with manual handling of loads in a certain work activity.

The “Guide on Manual Handing Risk Management in Transport and Storage” from the HSA outlines a five-step process for carrying out task-specific risk assessments. In order to determine what steps must be taken to avoid or decrease risk, the Health and Safety Executive UK Mac Tool can be used in conjunction with the five-step approach.