I have personally observed how settings spend much time, energy and effort providing outstanding facilities, education and care for children, but at the detriment of employee welfare.
When delivering manual handling training we look at the legal requirements. Delegates are often surprised that they need to carry out a specific risk assessment where a task involves manual handling. Throughout their working day, childcarers are involved in many manual handling tasks (pushing, pulling, lifting), which can be as simple as moving a table or lifting a toddler. The cumulative effects of years of poor manual handling are what in most cases causes the damage, rather than a one-off major incident.
It is the employer's responsibility to undertake a specific manual handling risk assessment and then to take any action required as a result to minimise the risk of injury to their employees. In most cases, the effects of manual handling can be reduced by:
- - Removing the need for manual handling - for example, encouraging a child to walk to the changing area, rather than carrying them
- - Modifying the load - such as reducing the size of boxes or carrying fewer items
- - Using the correct lifting technique.
Using the correct technique is actually a last resort. We should ideally be aiming to avoid the need for manual handling or other movements that place the employee at risk of muscular-skeletal injuries. However, where an employee is required to manually handle, then appropriate training must be provided.
If suitable training were provided, along with suitable risk assessments of manual handling operations that are acted upon, the number of injuries, pain and long-term disability suffered by practitioners should be greatly reduced.