Manual handling is work where you have to lift, lower, push, pull, carry, move, hold or restrain something. Most jobs involve carrying out some type of manual task using the body to move or hold an object, people or animals.
These hazards directly stress the body and can lead to an injury.
To manage the risks associated with hazardous manual tasks, a duty holder must follow a risk management process to:
Find all the work that involves hazardous manual handling. Not all manual handling is hazardous. Examples of hazardous manual handling include:
A musculoskeletal disorder means an injury to, or a disease of, the musculoskeletal system, whether occurring suddenly or over time.
It can be:
These ailments can all result from poorly managed hazardous manual tasks.
There are seven groups of contributing factors that to some extent affect all workplaces, including:
These factors combine in a way that magnifies their effect. By only addressing one or two factors and not all of them, you are unlikely to achieve the goal in preventing injury.
They “are not dodgem cars” Licensing is mandated where there is a history of serious injury or damage, permanent impairment and fatalities as a result
NSW Labour Leader in the Legislative Council and Shadow Minister for Industrial Relations, Adam Searle, has confirmed that NSW Labour will reintroduce legislation into parliament
