Health & Safety

ASSESSMENT QUESTION No 4

STRATEGIES FOR DEVELOPMENT & IMPLEMENTATION

TO REDUCE NUMBER OF BACK INJURIES

INTRODUCTION

I am an area trainer working for a retail co-operative society based on the south coast of England. The society is multi-site and its stores are mainly of the convenience type although there are some supermarkets and two petrol stations. Of the many tasks associated with this work, a large number of them will involve some form of Manual handling.

Reviewing the accident records for the previous year it has been noted that there a significant number of back injuries reported amongst the staff.

ACCIDENT FIGURES - RELATING TO BACK INJURY 2000- 2003

Accident Type 2003 2002 2001 2000

No Time Off Work 171 126 153 148

Absent for up to Three (3) Days 82 59 72 63

Absent for over Three (3) Days 31 17 19 24

Total Accidents 284 202 244 215

It is likely that these injuries may have resulted from a lack of understanding and awareness regarding Manual Handling.

It is important that this problem be dealt with as significant obligations are placed on employers with regard to all manual handling tasks in the workplace. Left alone this problem would only increase and result in a number of issues for the Society. i.e.

 Employees off sick with their associated costs. At a minimum of Ј5 per hour one employee off work for an average 3 days could cost the Society Ј120 in covering that job.

 Lost man hours

 Other employees having to work extra hours to cover those off sick

 Long term injuries resulting from Manual Handling. Possible early or medical retirement or simply persistent time off due to recurring problems.

Unsafe manual handling or incorrect lifting techniques has been one of the main causes for absenteeism in the workplace and taking positive steps to prevent these type of injuries can only be of benefit to the employer and employee.

Yet, despite this knowledge and the fact that the Health & Safety Executive (HSE) has continually made this information public, thousands of these cases happen every year. During 2001 - 2004 the Health & Safety Commission made tackling the problem of work-related musculoskeletal disorders one of the eight key priorities in its strategic plan.

Managers/supervisors should be aware of the importance of ensuring that employees carry out correct lifting techniques and providing the correct equipment to enable them to do this and employees would be very much aware that carrying out these safe systems of work would enable them to carry out their task in a safe manner. Resulting in fewer injuries and less discomfort / inconvenience.

Some of the hazards related to poor manual handling are:

 Disc injuries from exerting too much stress on the on the spine when bent, causing the disc to rupture.

 Ligament / tendon injuries causing inflammation and straining.

 Muscular /nerve injuries resulting in general aches and pains and in some cases Fibrositis can result.

 Hernias are generally caused over a period of time however it is not uncommon for these to be caused when lifting heavy weights.

 More commonly there are fractures, abrasions and cuts caused when loads are dropped through being incorrectly handled.

It is also important to point out that the Society could suffer from prosecution for failing to comply with current legislation. European Directive [9012691[EC] which requires minimum health and safety requirements for the manual handling of loads particularly where there is a risk of back injury to employees.

Recently an employee was bringing a roll cage into a store when the cage toppled over and fell on to his leg causing distress and injury. Fortunately the injury was not too severe and the employee was back at work after a couple of days. Investigation showed that at the entry to the store was a metal lip at ground level. This had caused an obstruction which had it been noted would have prevented the accident. The employee was aware of the obstruction; however he had not seen it necessary to call for assistance. Correct training and knowledge would have again prevented this from happening.

EMPLOYERS LEGAL DUTIES

Section 2 of the Health & safety at Work Act 1974 imposes general duties on Employers towards their Employees and the public. Employers must ensure so far as is reasonably practicable, the health, safety and welfare of their employees, and of all people who may use, or have access to, their premises.

Regulation 5 of the H&S at Work Act 1974 supplements these general duties in the case of manual handling by requiring employees to follow safe systems of work.

Under The Manual Handling Operations Regulations 1992, significant obligations are placed on employers with regard to all manual handling tasks in the workplace. The Regulations are the result of the European Directive on minimum health and safety requirements for the manual handling of loads where there is a particular risk of back injury to workers [9012691[EC] (Ref. H&S workbook Hygiene Audit System)

The objectives of the Regulations are to implement the Directive and apply an ergonomic approach to the prevention of injury while carrying out manual handling tasks.

Regulation 4 places duties on the employer to make evaluations and then assessments of certain manual handling operations. They must, so far as is reasonably practicable, avoid the need for employees to carry out those operations that involve a risk of injury.

Regulation 4(1)(a) Where this cannot be done,

Regulation 4(1)(b) requires them to

* Make and keep up to date a suitable and sufficient assessment of all manual handling tasks. Assessments are to be reviewed and amended if appropriate, if they become invalid or there is a significant