MANUAL HANDLING & ERGONOMICS
REDUCING MANUAL HANDLING RISKS WITH MENTOR
Here Mentor Training, urges companies to re-examine the quality of manual handling training they provide to employees, in order ensure their safety.
In 2015 the HSE pinpointed musculoskeletal injuries as a specific priority for improvement over the next 5 years. Mentor maintains that relevant training designed to reduce injury risk is the best way to do this.
Mentor Technical Manager Andy Cartwright explains that there are several fundamentals employers should look for when selecting a manual handling course: “To really get the most out of your budget, you need to make sure the training you provide isn’t just a box-ticking exercise and that it makes a real impact on those taking part. That way you’ll see long-term improvements to safety and avoid the distress, damage and disruption associated with accidents of this kind.”
In 2014/15 an estimated 9.5 million working days were lost due to work- related musculoskeletal disorders. Factor in compensation claims, legal fees, replacement staff, overtime costs and it soon becomes clear the impact of these injuries on a business’ bottom line.
With manual handling firmly in the spotlight, Mentor has launched a training suite to fit delegates’ varying needs without adopting a ‘one-course- fits-all’ approach.
TARGETING THOSE
MOST AT RISK It’s of vital importance that courses are tailored to delegates’ needs. Companies must provide staff who are most at risk with training that actively contributes towards keeping them safe day-to day.
Andy added: “It’s not sufficient to put all staff through a generic course,
26
regardless of its relevance to their role. If delegates are at high risk of sustaining a manual handling injury, they need a comprehensive course designed to ensure they understand the potential pitfalls.”
“IN 2014/15 AN ESTIMATED 9.5
MILLION WORKING
DAYS WERE LOST DUE TO WORK-RELATED MUSCULOSKELETAL DISORDERS.”
When evaluating risk, it is important that employers consider all types of manual handling as all have the potential for injury. As well as one- off traumatic injuries, the constant repetition of ‘light’ tasks can put staff at a high risk of cumulative injuries, developed over time.
MAKE SURE IT’S RELEVANT Businesses should steer clear of generic content in favour of relevant scenarios and demonstrations, to make sure delegates truly benefit from training.
Andy continues: “In our experience, training is most effective and engaging when content is as tailored as possible to the delegates attending. It needs to be relevant and applicable to their industry and, more specifically, participants’ job roles. We’ve found that training scenarios using companies’ own loads and working environments really help delegates apply what they’ve learned once training is over.”
MAKE LONG TERM
IMPROVEMENTS What’s more, they maintain that training must target delegates’ attitudes and behaviour, if it’s to have real impact. Mentor’s courses discuss the potential consequences of manual handling injuries and include hard- hitting, interactive content designed to make delegates re-evaluate how they carry out manual tasks in both their working and personal lives.
Andy summarises, “It’s not enough to simply familiarise delegates with examples of good and bad practice. To ensure it’s engrained, all our courses target the behaviours at the root of any bad practice.
At the end of the day, cutting corners, complacency and ignorance of the dangers are no defence against sustaining a potentially life-altering injury; these need to be tackled now to maintain positive change for the long term.”
www.mentortraining.co.uk www.tomorrowshs.com
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84