Make Manual Handling Training Courses More Relevant

How Good Record Keeping, Frequent Re-Evaluation, And The Old Fashioned Suggestion Box Can Make Manual Handling Training Courses More Relevant.

Manual handling training courses are designed to help cut down on work place injuries and the risk of work place injuries for those who need to those who need to physically handle heavy materials in the course of their work. Manual handling courses are offered for the health care industries, office workers, warehouse personnel, and the construction industry.

While manual training courses are great at making sure that employers know their duties as far as finding ways to make manually handling of materials less stressful on the worker as well as making the worker aware of different things that can reduce the risk of manually moving materials, these courses are not going to significantly reduce work place injuries in and by themselves. It is going to take some real hands on experience (pardon the pun) to make these manual training courses truly effective.

It All Start With Record Keeping

Almost all companies have one or two problem areas where the risk of injury seems higher than anywhere else. By keeping good records, you can pinpoint these areas and then set out to discover why more injuries are occurring at these points or with specific jobs. By targeting these specific problems and finding ways to make handling the materials here easier and safer, you can reduce your injuries and risk of injuries significantly.

This will result in your employees missing less time, better overall production, and you will save money in the long run.

Frequent Re-Evaluation

Making changes to make handling those heavy loads easier is one thing but following up on those changes to make sure that they are really making a difference is important as well. By taking the time to frequently re-evaluated safety measures and given situations, you are able to better pinpoint those changes that work and those that don’t. In those rare cases where the cure turns out to be worse than the initial problem, you can go back and try something new and hopefully safety.

The Suggestion Box

If you really want to make those manual handling courses count then try putting up a suggestion box. The fact is that the employee is the person who is required to manually handle materials on a day-to-day basis and they may simply see risks and solutions that you as the employer may not. By allowing your employees have some say in the safety of their work environment, they will feel more a part of the company and the solution. In fact, by allowing your employees to have that say in their safety you just might discover that bogus claims of injury fall as well as those legitimate ones.

While manual handling courses are necessary and beneficial it what you as a company does after the course is completed that is going to make the real difference. Having a safe work environment not only leads to more employee satisfaction in the long run but it can also save you money.