Keeping Your Team Safe: Understanding employers duties
Workplace injuries can be devastating.
They're not just painful and inconvenient; they can be costly and demoralising for your team. As an employer, manager, or team leader, you have a duty of care to protect your workforce. Fortunately, there are effective tools and techniques to help reduce injury risks and keep operations running smoothly.
The Manual Handling Operations Regulations 1992 set out a clear and logical hierarchy of duties for you to follow to keep your workforce safe:
#1 AVOID
The most effective way to reduce risks from physically demanding tasks is to avoid them altogether. This could involve:
Redesigning storage spaces to minimise material movement
Utilising machinery for heavy lifting tasks
Modifying operations to limit unnecessary handling of heavy loads
#2 Assess
When manual handling is unavoidable, it's crucial to assess the risks thoroughly. Our comprehensive risk assessment guide can help you identify potential hazards and implement appropriate control measures.
#3 Reduce the Risk
Risk reduction involves examining various aspects of the task using the FIELD acronym:
FUNCTION (task)
What is the specific task that needs to be performed? Consider if you can adapt any of the following to make it less demanding:
Where is the load?
Is the task repetitive?
Do you twist or reach overhead?
Is the task subject to time pressures?
Can you rest or change position while doing this task?
INDIVIDUAL
We want to fit the job to whoever will be carrying it out as far as we can. Consider the following and adapt to fit the task to your workforce:
Who will be carrying out the task?
Does the task require extreme strength or height?
Is the person carrying out the task physically and mentally prepared?
Are they pregnant, young, old, or experiencing health problem or injury that increases their personal risks?
Have they attended manual handling training?
ENVIRONMENT
The nature of your job is a challenge in itself, and while you may not be able to control the terrain or the weather, you can plan ahead to reduce the risk by considering the following:
Is there enough room for the task? Are you working in a confined space?
Is the terrain challenging? Can you provide footwear or other support to make the terrain easier to navigate?
What are your adverse weather policies?
How do your team work in poor lighting?
Are there members of the public, livestock, waterbodies, or other risks around that require consideration?
LOAD
Depending on the task at hand, you may be able to modify the load you are moving to reduce the risk. Can your workforce:
Reduce the size or weight of the load?
Use or create hand holds or grip aids?
Manage a moving or dynamic load (e.g. an animal or half full barrel)
Manage the manual handling task alongside other legislation, such as COSHH
See over the load?
Work in pairs or small teams to reduce the weight lifted by each individual?
DYNAMIC FACTORS
As the expert in your industry, this is the space to use your expertise. For example:
Do your team use restrictive PPE or other equipment that could make lifting or moving objects more challenging?
Are your team cohesive and supportive with each other?
Is there a culture of ‘just pushing through’ or can your team readily ask for help?
Is this load unpredictable or challenging in another way not already mentioned? Can you mitigate or change that at all?
#4 Provide Load Information
Not every load comes neatly labelled and weighed. In lieu of detailed labels, you can ensure your team has guidance on when not to undertake certain tasks. For example, establish size or weight thresholds for handling fallen trees or other heavy and difficult-to-quantify objects solo or without lifting aids. This information may not be precise, but it will help your workforce feel protected while at work.
At Terrain Safe, we're committed to helping you create a safer workplace. Our expert team can provide tailored advice and training to help you comply with regulations and protect your workforce. Contact us today to learn more about our manual handling safety solutions!
