Protecting Australian Workers

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Is manual handling important?
Injuries from manual handling are the most
prevalent, most expensive most preventable
workplace injuries in the country.
They account for almost 50 of all occupational
injuries and illnesses that are serious enough to
result in days away from work.
From 1985 to 1999, in Victoria, injuries from
manual handling accounted for 62 of all workers
compensation costs, about 412 million per year.
This is typical in all States.
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How do injuries occur?

• Manual handling injuries occur when there is a
  mismatch between the physical requirements of the
  job and the physical capacity of the worker.
• Prolonged exposure to risks will cause an injury.
• Manual handling injuries are known as
  musculoskeletal disorders, or simply MSDs.

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Gender issues

• Women are prone to manual handling injuries. Why?

• Because of the types of jobs in which they work.
  Not because their bodies are more vulnerable to
  injury.

• Many women work in jobs that involve

• repetitive motion (using a keyboard).
• heavy lifting (lifting patients in nursing
  homes).
• awkward postures (stacking shelves in a
  supermarket).

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Weight limits

• There are no legal limits on how much a worker is
  allowed to lift.
• Weight is only one of the things one needs to
  consider.
• Other considerations include

• The size of the object.
• The shape of the object.
• How often it needs to be moved.
• How far it needs to be moved.
• The actions and movements required to move it.

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Guidelines for lifting
Section 4.23 of the National Code of Practice for
Manual Handling offers the following advice

• In seated work, dont lift objects in excess of
  4.5 kg.
• From a standing position, keep loads below or
  between the 16 to 20 kg range.
• Do not lift, lower or carry objects in excess of
  55 kg, unless team lifting or mechanical
  assistance is provided.

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Prevention is better than cure
Manual handling injuries are easy to prevent.

• Use ergonomic chairs

Fit the work to the worker
Reduce the weight
Pad the tool handle
Rotate jobs
Use mechanical aids
Avoid awkward postures
Put a book under the monitor
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What is ergonomics?
Ergonomics considers the physical and
mental capabilities of the worker as they
interact with tools, equipment, work methods,
tasks and the working environment.

• Ergonomics is best defined as good business.
• Good ergonomics is good economics.
• Its good for workers and good for employers.

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Legal framework
Occupational Health and Safety Act Sets out
general duties of care
Occupational Health and Safety (Manual Handling)
Regulations Aims to protect people at
work against manual handling injuries
Code of Practice for Manual Handling Provides
practical guidance on how to comply with
Regulations

• Australian Standards
• Provides advice on best practice

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Legal requirements

• Employers are required to

Identify hazards
Assess the risks
Implement risk controls
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Everyone benefits

• Companies of all sizes have had success in using
  manual handling programs as a cost-effective way
  to prevent injuries.
• Any employer who prevents manual handling
  injuries will experience

A reduction in lost time
A reduction in workers compensation
A boost in staff morale
An improvement in product quality
An increase in productivity
A reduction in staff turnover
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Essential components

• An effective manual handling program will include

Management leadership employee participation
Hazard information reporting
Action plans
Risk analysis control
Evaluation
Training
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Management leadership
An effective manual handling program has a team
approach, with top management as team leader.

• Management demonstrates personal concern for
  employee health and safety.
• Company policy places health and safety on the
  same level of importance as production.
• Responsibilities are assigned and communicated so
  that everyone knows what is expected of them.
• Adequate authority and resources are given to all
  responsible parties.
• All responsible parties are accountable.

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Success stories

• Abernathy Abattoirs

The hazard Shoulder/arm injuries from
throwing the meat cuts from the moving
chain boning line to the table slicers
The control Relocate the slicing tables
closer to the chain to enable gravity to assist
in dropping the cuts
The result A 12 increase in productivity
The cost Nil
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Another winner

• Horizon Nursing Home

• The hazard Low back pain and pulled muscles from
  patient transfers.
• The control Mandatory two-person lift where
  patients cant support their weight.
• The cost Nil.

The result Workers compensation premium dropped
from 750,000 to 184,000.
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A simple approach
Identify record all the hazards
Record the risk
Assess the risks, determine the consequences
likelihood of injury
Prioritize the control of risks
Review periodically
Eliminate or reduce the risk
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Where are the hazards?
Examine the tasks in the workplace that have
potential to cause injury.
Walk around the workplace
Check injury statistics
Talk to suppliers about suitable plant and
equipment
Consult with employees
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Risk factors
Consider the risk factors

• Repetition
• Force
• Posture
• Environmental factors
• Duration and frequency

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Repetition
Repetition is performing the same motions
repeatedly.

• The severity of risk depends on

• Repetition is influenced by

• Line-pacing programs
• Piecework
• Unrealistic deadlines

• The frequency of repetition
• The speed of the movement or action
• The number of muscle groups involved
• The required force

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Force

• Force is the amount of physical effort required
• by the person to do the task.

• The effort depends on

Type of activity
Type of grip
Body posture
Duration of the task
Weight of the object
Number of repetitions
Dimensions of the object
Bulk of the object
Temperature
Texture of the object
Vibration
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Posture

• The ideal working posture is to have the arms at
  the side of the body, elbows bent and wrists
  straight.
• Awkward postures typically include
• Twisting
• Reaching behind
• Working overhead
• Kneeling
• Squatting
• Bending
• Static posture requires muscle contraction for
  more than a short time. As muscles remain
  contracted, the blood flow to the muscles is
  reduced.

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Environmental factors
Environmental factors include heat, cold and
vibration.
High temperatures increase the rate at which the
body feels fatigue.
Low temperatures reduce sensory feedback,
dexterity, blood flow, muscle strength and
balance.
Vibration, goes through the hand and arm, then
travels through the rest of the body. Vibration
reduces blood flow and sensory response.
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Duration and frequency

• For every risk factor, the duration and frequency
  of worker exposure affects the potential for it
  to cause injury.

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Injury records
Consult the company injury records to find the
jobs and workstations that may have manual
handling hazards.

• Some useful records include

Register of injuries
Workers compensation claims
First-aid reports
Employee complaints
Symptoms surveys
Safety audits

• Equipment and tool evaluations

Safety meeting reports
Job descriptions
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Review the records
Conduct a records review whenever

• The product line changes.
• New products are added.
• Work methods change.
• Procedures change.
• New equipment is installed.
• Workplace configurations change.
• The workplace moves to a different location.

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MSD symptoms
Swelling
Painful joints
Back or neck pain
Stabbing pains in arms or legs
Heaviness
Pain in wrists, shoulders, forearms or knees

• Weakness or clumsiness in hands

Stiffness
Mr MSD
Fingers or toes turning white
Pain, tingling or numbness in hands or feet
Burning sensations
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Bloomdales
is a large retail organisation with a warehouse
and a chain of shops.

• A small group of warehouse employees are
  designated pricers and their only job is to
  affix price labels to goods before despatch.
• The hazards

• The number of items priced per shift varies from
  4,000 to 10,000.
• The continuous nature of the work means that the
  affected muscle groups do not have time to
  recover.

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How serious is the risk?
To assess whether the task is likely to cause an
injury look at
Frequency
Method used
Speed
Location of the equipment or tools
Effort required
Environmental factors
Design of the equipment or tools
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What is risk assessment?
Assessing the risk involves

• Identifying consequences

If the hazard causes an injury will it be
catastrophic (permanent disability) or minor
(first-aid treatment)?

• Identifying likelihood

• Is it highly likely or negligible that the hazard
  will cause the identified consequence?

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A risk assessment matrix
Consequence
Likelihood
All the pricers at Bloomdales suffered MSDs to
the forearm and were forced to take several
months off work. The consequence was major and
the likelihood of it happening was almost
certain. The risk factor was high.
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Control the risks
Control strategies must be ranked as follows

• Elimination
• Substitution
• Isolation
• Engineering controls
• Administrative controls
• Training and personal protective equipment

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Simple options

• Can the task be eliminated?
• Can the workplace be altered?
• Can the environmental conditions be altered?
• Can the systems of work be altered?
• Can the objects used in the task be changed?
• Can mechanical aids be used?

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Where to begin?

• Starting with smaller projects will lead to early
  success.

• Keep the goals realistic and well defined.

• Demonstrated improvement will help the management
  team gain experience and credibility with their
  manual handling program.

• Once a few projects have been completed
  successfully, the bigger and more complex areas
  will be easier to tackle.

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Control steps
Identify and assess feasible controls
Ask employees for their recommendations about
eliminating the risk
Prioritise and implement the controls
Identify and evaluate hazards when new plant
and equipment is installed
Consult with employees to ensure the hazards
have been eliminated
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Eliminate the task
Eliminating the task that causes the risk of
injury is the most effective way of protecting
workers.
Some simple solutions

• Outsource the task
• Implement a no-lift policy
• Use pallets and a fork-lift

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Bloomdales

• The potential for injury was eliminated in the
  long-term when the pricing task was transferred
  from the warehouse to the individual shops.

• The task was done by each shop assistant over the
  course of a week, rather than being concentrated
  into one long period.
• The periods in which repetitive work was done
  were short and the task was made safe as far as
  injury was concerned.

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Alter the workplace

• Provide adjustable work levels.
• Provide sufficient workspace.
• Store items below shoulder height.
• Provide suitable floor covering and clear
  pathways for mobile equipment.

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Alter the environmental conditions

• Wear appropriate personal protective equipment.

• Choose plant and powered tools that operate with
  a minimum of vibration.

• Relocate work away from sources of heat.

• Ensure workers take regular rest breaks.

• Install fans or air-conditioning.

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Alter the systems of work

• Provide tasks that allow workers to vary their
  postures and movements.
• Introduce job rotation and job enlargement.
• Set realistic work rates.
• Avoid overload during peak periods.

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Bloomdales

• In the short-term, the pricing task was
  reallocated so that it was shared across the
  entire warehouse.

• Each worker priced items only on alternate days
  and in a pricing session limited to 150 minutes,
  with a 10-minute break after 75 minutes.
• This initiative reduced the job from full-time
  for some workers to about one-fifth of a working
  week for a large number of workers.

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Change the objects

• Think about the shape, size and weight of the
  objects used in the task.

• Talk to suppliers about modifying the objects
  they supply.

• Change the weight or shape of the objects.

• Provide handles on the objects.

• Ensure that tools have suitable grips to fit
  different hand sizes.

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Bloomdales

• In the medium-term, an electronic system replaced
  the pricing gun, so that an item could be passed
  over a photo-electric cell which triggered the
  release of a price label.
• Only a sweeping action was required to affix the
  label.
• The forearm muscles no longer had to work to
  operate the gun and this eased the tasks injury
  potential.

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Use mechanical aids
Mechanical aids must

• Be easy to use.
• Be readily available.
• Suit the load.
• Be used by trained employees.
• Have adequate space for proper use and easy
  storage.

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Training program
Who to train?

• Employees
• Supervisors
• Purchasing officers
• Suppliers
• OHS representatives

What to train?

• Process training provides instruction about risk
  factors, MSD symptoms, injury reporting and legal
  obligations.
• Task training provides hands-on instruction on
  use of tools and equipment lifting techniques
  correct ways to stand, sit and bend use of
  personal protective equipment hazard
  identification and ergonomics.

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Investigating accidents
A comprehensive investigation will

• Provide an assessment of the severity of the
  accident.
• Identify causes.
• Identify problem areas.
• Recommend corrective action.
• Provide information that can be used as a
  preventive tool.
• Provide management with data about problems.
• Provide information for training programs.
• Provide information about compensation claims.

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Rehabilitation
When an accident or near miss has occurred, the
rehabilitation coordinator must

• Make contact with the injured worker.
• Offer any available assistance.
• Determine whether rehabilitation is necessary or
  possible.
• Assess workers needs and capabilities.
• Develop a written return to work plan.
• Monitor the workers recuperation.
• Oversee the workers return to suitable duties as
  soon as possible.
• Monitor progress of the return to work.
• Supervise arrangements to ensure the worker
  returns to pre-injury duties.
• Record the entire process.

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Return to work plan
The law requires employers to provide suitable
duties and to actively manage return to work
plans for injured workers.

• The injured worker is responsible for
  participating in the plan.

Return to work activity should commence as soon
as possible after injury.
The plan should be tailored around the
individuals injury circumstances.
The workplace should provide the best environment
for rehabilitation.
Approved rehabilitation providers must be
available.
The employer-employee relationship is critical.
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Benefits of rehabilitation

• Compliance with legal requirements.
• Reduced compensation costs.
• Lower absenteeism and down-time.
• Reduction in the cost of replacing staff.

• Fewer long-lasting compensation claims.
• Improved working environment.
• Enhanced staff morale.

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Simpson v North Aramara Sawmill Pty Ltd

• Supreme Court of Queensland, September, 2000.
• Dale Simpson injured his back after lifting a
  50-kg coil of strapping.
• Judge Atkinson ruled that North Aramara Sawmill
  provided no training in safe lifting and no
  lifting equipment.
• The employer was not aware of the code of
  practice for manual handling.
• Damages of 455,130 awarded to Dale Simpson.

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