Manual Handling: Factory Injuries Carry Heavy Financial Burden
Almost 20 thousand Queensland factory workers suffered injuries in the workplace in the past fiscal year which resulted in approximately $204 million in disbursements from WorkCover.
While less than 12,000 claims were made by construction workers, their payout were in excess of $201 million and were responsiblefor 16 per cent of all claims.
Workers in the metals, plastics and meat processing areas are considered to be the highest risk in the manufacturing sector according to the insurer’s yearly repor. t
Queensland secretary of the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union, Rohan Webb, claimed to have expected the injury report for 2011/12 financial year to be high, “but not that high”.
He attributed the problems to companies who appoint on-site safety managers who lack the proper training for the role. He also targeted companies who fail to properly guard machinery.
“When a safety representative is elected by the workforce we seem to get better results and better safety, Mr Webb said.
He said occupational health and safety standards had weakened with a relative explosion in small- to medium-sized manufacturing operations across the state.
“Unfortunately employers say safety is paramount, but they’re quite quick to cut a corner if it means upping production,” Mr Webb said.
Overall, 3741 Queensland workers injured on the job sued their employer for negligence last financial year, resulting $514 million in payouts.
The report reveals the 150,000 employers insured through WorkCover face premium hikes, with the average rate to increase from $1.30 to $1.45 per $100 in wages.
WorkCover manages 90 per cent of Queensland workers’ compensation claims.
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Source: http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/queensland/factory-accidents-prove-costly-20121018-27u26.html#ixzz2ABKXg0iY
Manual handling in healthcare – preventing injuries due to lifting
If you work in the health care industry you may need a manual handling certificate. A manual handling course provides employees with the knowledge required to prevent injuries due to manual handling. Many organisations have introduced ‘minimal lifting’ or ‘no lifting’ approaches as a part of their manual handling risk management, which also involves manual handling training. This type of approach focuses on the use of equipment to reduce injuries caused by patient lifting and other patient handling. The provision of manual handling equipment and aids is a risk control measure that attempts to control risks at their source.
This approach involves:
- consulting with staff in the trial and purchase of manual handling equipment
- providing appropriate lifting aids and equipment to assist staff in moving/transferring patients
- manual handling training of staff in the correct use of the aids and equipment, in manual handling
- techniques and in patient assessment
- assessing patients to determine their specific manual handling needs and standardising the method of handling
- encouraging appropriate patient mobility and independence
- prohibiting manual lifting (including team lifting) except in emergencies;
- providing adequate levels of appropriately skilled staff
- enforcing the use of equipment through supervision and post- manual handling training support.
Manual handling training provides advice on the principles of the minimal lifting approach. It assumes your organisation already has policies and programs supporting the implementation of risk management strategies.
Nursing unions have introduced no-lift policies from about 1997. Ideally, all facilities would follow a ‘no lifting’ policy, where lifting is eliminated or minimised. Any handling which involves manually lifting the whole or a substantial part of the resident’s weight is avoided. Facilities implementing ‘no-lift’ policies have drastically reduced their manual handling injuries.
Manual handling training – learning to work with your body
You only get one body. Most of us get it in good order and condition. Then spend the rest of our lives trying to break it, ruin it or just plain neglect it. A manual handling course will help you understand the effects of manual handling injuries and the value of, and the need for, correct manual handling practices.
The more wear and tear the body gets the shorter it’s useful life. You don’t want to be reckless at work and find that you cannot enjoy the later years of your life because of chronic injury and pain. You only get one body. Look after it!
If you are involved in any form of manual handling in the office, warehouse or as a healthcare worker, manual handling training will help you understand the requirements of the Manual Handling Regulations and Compliance Code, and earn you a
The human skeleton is made up of all the bones in our body. Where the bones connect is called a joint. This is where bones may pivot to provide us with flexibility and movement. Joints are usually coated with a smooth surface to make movement easy and painless. It is this coating and the cushioning material that often damaged when we put too much stress on our joints. Especially in the spine.
The power and strength in our movements is caused by our muscles. Muscles attach to the bones with ligaments so that the effective result is tugging on a lever to produce movement and power.
Our arms are designed as levers. Muscles act on the bones and the joints are designed for bending, twisting and lifting forces. The arms are designed for us to pick up and move objects.
Our legs are also designed as levers. Muscles act on the bones and the joints are designed for bending twisting and lifting forces. The legs are designed to be very strong and powerful to lift us up and move. The leg muscles are very powerful and the bones are strong. The legs should be used for any safe lifting.
Manual handling training is also important in showing you the basic anatomy and function of the spine. Up to one third of all work injuries in Australia occur during manual handling. Most of the reported accidents involving manual handling tasks cause back injury although hands arms and feet are also vulnerable.
Sometimes the person injured never fully recovers or requires a long period of rehabilitation before they are able to work again. This is why having a manual handling certificate is so valuable.
Manual Handling Training for Healthcare Workers
Managing manual handling risks should be regarded as a cyclical process aimed at continuous monitoring, review and improvement. Manual handling training can get your staff up to speed on what are some of the things to be aware of before they receive their manual handling certificate. An online manual handling course (more…)
Manual handling training – an employer’s legal obligations
Manual handling law is managed by Acts of Parliament in each State and Territory in Australia. Each State and Territory has an Act (the Law), which enforces Regulations (the framework), which are supported by Codes of Practice (the guidance). (more…)
Manual handling safety
In most jurisdictions, manual handling is the leading cause of injury and can often account for around
50% of all injury claims. Manual handling effects all workers whether they be in manufacturing,
heavy industry or office environments and therefore should be addressed by all employers. (more…)
Why you should keep up-to-date with manual handling instructor training
Do your staff need regular and in-depth manual handling training due to their job roles? Have you decided to train your own members of staff so that you can save on hiring an outside manual handling trainer? (more…)
Manual handling training – reducing injury for healthcare workers
Statistics from the National Occupational Health and Safety Commission for the aged care industry show that in 1996–97 strains and sprains made up three-quarters of all the workers’ compensation injuries that occurred. It is important to remember that manual handling injuries can be the result of lots of stresses and strains over time. (more…)
Manual handling safety – how to protect your back
Lifting objects is part of our daily life and fortunately the strength of your back and the rest of your body allows you to do this. However, lifting (or manual handling as it is often called) is also a common cause of back pain. (more…)
Manual Handling Training Certificate
Are you looking for a workers course for manual handling trainer that can be used for refresher training? We offer an online course for healthcare workers including those who work in aged care.
Organisational Duty of Care
For organisational heads, we provide online training will enable you to meet legal requirements. Manual handling also known as manual tasks, includes the task of assessing risks associated with various related activities.
Safe manual handling policies and procedures enable businesses to provide a secure working environment. Typically push pull carry techniques is something you cannot do without proper training. Training will also help in reducing claims for compensation which prompts insurers to charge lower premiums and is bound to increase output due to reduced absenteeism by workers.
What better than to get a training course that meets all state Occupational Handling and Safety (OHS) or Work Health and Safety regulations and all at your convenience? It is done either in a span of 3 hours face-to-face or 45-60 minutes online, whichever suits you better.
How often should I undertake Manual Handling Refresher Training?
Manual Handling training is something that needs to be refreshed from time to time. Refer back to your workplace to find exactly when you need to undertake refresher training. As a guideline though, the risk of injury increases the longer you leave it, particularly if you perform manual handling tasks on a regular basis.
You should not leave the refreshment of your manual handling training longer than 3 years. In many cases, it may be advisable to do a manual handling course earlier than this, particularly if you need your manual handling certificate for compliance reasons.
Manual Handling in the Healthcare / Aged Care Sector
In the health care industry, many employers require proof of manual handling training. One simple way to do this is by getting your manual handling certificate of completion online. You’ll need to put aside a couple of hours in total to do your manual handling course, but once your manual handling training is done, and you’ve passed all the quizzes you’ll be able to print out your certificate on the spot to give to your employer.
Online is becoming an increasingly popular way of getting a certificate particularly for those who are just refreshing their prior accredited manual handling training. Our course includes all the necessary manual handling best practice.
You can find out more about what is manual handling here to go to the relevant page.
Manual handling training
Manual handling has often been associated with a high risk of injury; in fact, a recent assessment of causes of such risks ranks lack of proper training in the top five. (more…)
Manual handling – why do we need to take care?
Your health and safety at work is very important. Not just because of any legal requirements either. People, who are happy at work, performing tasks they can properly manage, make for a great workplace. (more…)
What is Manual Handling?
Manual handling is a risky activity. We all have to perform manual handling tasks at work. We should always be looking at ways to make our workplace safer through better practice.
Injuries resulting from manual handling can be very painful and difficult to fix. Therefor it is very important to acquire the basic knowledge and skills necessary to work safely and efficiently when manual handling. (more…)
Why is manual handling awareness in healthcare important?
Manual handling remains the single largest cause of injuries to health care workers. Importantly, manual handling injuries are a significant cause of the loss of nurses from health and community services. Other occupational groups at risk include facility cleaners and health care assistants.
What is different to other Manual Handling?
You are most likely working in healthcare because you want to help people. Often the people you help have poor mobility. They depend on you to get around or in some cases just the simple task of turning in bed.
The human body is a very awkward heavy object. If you were asked to work in another job where you were required to move objects weighing an average 80kg or more, you would probably be going for the forklift. Yet some healthcare workers continue to handle patients, day in day out, as if there were no consequences. Everybody knows of a colleague who has chronic back or neck pain due to working in the healthcare industry.
How bad is the problem?
The following major contributors to nurse injuries have been recorded:
- manual handling of people
- muscular stress with no objects being handled
- slips, trips and falls
- manual handling of trolleys
- the use and adjustment of beds
- handling of linen and lead aprons.
Sprains and strains were the main types of manual handling injury. Of injuries to registered nurses, 40 per cent involved the back, 12 per cent the upper limbs, and 9 per cent the lower limbs. Of injuries to enrolled nurses, 30 per cent were to the back and 17 per cent to the upper limbs. Beds were involved in nearly all patient-handling activities where injuries occurred, e.g. repositioning and transferring patients.
Manual handling is the most common cause of injuries for employees working in aged care facilities, accounting for 58 per cent of all injuries. Nurses, carers, cleaners, laundry, maintenance, administration and kitchen staff have all been injured during manual handling.
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