Manual handling | November and December health and safety focus

Manual handling is not always seen as high risk, but it is a high frequency risk, and these injuries can be debilitating, affecting your personal life as well as work capability. Lifting, carrying, pushing, or pulling heavy loads can put you at risk of serious injury. But movement to warm up muscles – including stretching – helps promote blood flow to muscles and is essential to prevent sprains and strains.

It’s a great time for sites to reassess activities associated with manual handling to see if there are opportunities to eliminate, reduce, or minimise the need for manual handling – and it’s also a great opportunity to reinforce the correct techniques to our workers.

Typical manual handling risks at ANZCO include:

• Carrying heavy, bulky, unstable, sharp, or awkward loads
• Doing repetitive tasks
• Posture and lifting technique
• Surface or floor hazards

Following good manual handling practices will help to manage the risk of pain and discomfort:

• Holding a load close to your body at approximately waist height
• Not over-reaching to lift a load
• Turning using your feet rather than twisting at the waist
• Using two or more people for a large or heavy load
• Use mechanical aids where possible
• Stop and rest when needed, alter body position, change state, or rotate jobs
• Consider the best way to approach the job:
  • Make a plan
  • Consider how heavy it is and how far it needs to go
  • Can you ask someone else to help?
  • What tools can you use?
  • Should you be lifting the 
    o­bject?

Here's some safety conversation starters you can use with your colleagues:

• Have you ever experienced discomfort and pain while lifting objects?
• What are some signs that a load might be too heavy to lift safely?
• Do you know the weight limits for lifting in our workplace?
• Do we have enough lifting/mechanical aids in your work area to help you?
• What are the lifting techniques that you use to keep safe?

If you notice pain or discomfort, let your manager, supervisor or leading hand know as soon as possible so they can refer you to a doctor or your site’s health and safety team.