Risk Assessment for Manual Handling

What does Manual Handling mean?

Any activity (including the lifting, pushing, pulling, carrying or moving) that is accomplished or carried out by an individual that kind of load is termed as a manual handling task.

Why Manual Handling Risk Assessment?

Any individual who is involved in the moving and handling of goods, objects or material could be at high risk of severe and critical injury. There are a lot of possible amount of risks in handling even light objects and or material if the task is repetitive or is being carried out in poor conditions or have not compatibility with the person who is going to accomplish the activity.
If we discuss the risks, the possibility of risks is present in all field of working, service activities and departments, but construction, agriculture or merchandising areas are recognized as high-risk industries due to various varieties and nature of the manual handling activities that are conducted or carried out in these fields.

Musculoskeletal Disorders- MSDs

The injuries linked to manual handling activities are called MUSCULOSKELETAL DISORDERS. These type of disorders include injuries to joints and tissues in the upper and lower limbs (ULL & LLD's) or back.

Controls for Manual Handling Risks

All types of Manual Handling Operations requires that employers should follow this order of control measures to deal with manual handling acute or chronic risks.
To control such kind of health risks, HIERARCHY OF CONTROL must be followed and or practiced.
1. Firstly try to keep away from any hazardous manual handling activity. If you could not move or lift the object, use alternative methods of working, e.g., automation (by using pallet trucks, trolleys, conveyor belts etc.).
2. Secondly, try to assess the risks of injury from associated hazardous manual handling activities that cannot be avoided. Such practices could be done in-house by finding alternative or substitute ways of making the work tasks easier, less risky and less physical efforts.
3. The last but not the least, reduce the risk of injury to the ALARP level. This term means to reduce all relative and critical risks until the cost of further safety measures in time, money or anxiety would be too great in proportion to its benefits.

The Process of Assessing Manual Handling Risks

An appropriate and authentic Manual Handling Assessment is required when there is not even a single possibility to avoid a manual handling activity and there is a possible risk of any acute or chronic injury. It will help to assess the aspects of the operation and assist in deciding appropriate and suitable controls.
The assessment of these manual handling risks is done or carried out by following a procedure called TILE. Some of the key aspects to look at for each element are as follows.
1.Task-Look if the task includes any twisting, stooping, bending, pushing, pulling, and abrupt movement of the load, seated work.
2.Individual-All participants to the task as being an individual have a variety of physical capacity, and this should be examined in risk assessment. It is mandatory to see at every individual's physical strength before carrying out a task. Any individual with an established disability must be assessed individually. Particular risk assessments will be enforced for budding participants and those with impaired vision, reduced grip’s strength, in pregnancy or other critical disability.
3.Load-Always look at if the load is heavy, difficult to grasp, sharp, hot or cold or if the capacity and or content is to be a move or shift.
4.Environment-the task performer should think about the working environment as this may increase the risk related to that specific task. Take some of the considerations such as floor conditions, variations on floor levels, space limits, poor lighting, and ventilation. And also, maybe extreme (hot or cold) environments and wind conditions can all have critical an impact.

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