2. How You Can be Injured
The legislation has set out a hierarchy of control for manual handling operations:
- Avoid hazardous manual handling operations if possible.
- Mechanise the process
- Use equipment such as barrows, trolleys etc
- If manual handling can’t be avoided, undertake a risk assessment of any hazardous manual handling operation.
- Reduce the risk of injury so far as is possible
Failure to follow this hierarchy makes injury more likely. And if an employee sues you for a manual handling injury that occurred at work and you can’t demonstrate that you have followed this hierarchy, you will have no defence against the claim.
Common Injuries and Conditions
Manual handling injuries can be EXTERNAL and/or INTERNAL.
- EXTERNAL injuries include bruising, crush injuries and lacerations and are, generally speaking, easy to treat.
- INTERNAL injuries include sprains, strains, prolapsed discs, hernias and rheumatism and are, generally speaking, difficult to treat.
Both internal and external injuries can be caused by the following four classifications:
| Classification | What Can Happen |
| Degeneration | The normal ageing process causes wear and tear to all weight-bearing joints e.g. shoulders, elbows, hips, knees, ankles and to the vertebrae. Repetitive manual handling can cause, or speed up, the degeneration process, particularly if the lifting and carrying techniques being used are faulty. |
| Traumatic injury | This happens when a sudden, violent stress is applied to the body. For example if you fall while carrying a load, if you make a sudden sharp movement (such as pulling a rope, pulling up a weed), if you slip and/or twist while carrying a load, if you have to adjust the load while carrying, for example if your grip slips or if the large panel you are carrying is caught by high winds you can suffer a serious injury. |
| Cumulative stress | This occurs when obesity and/or poor posture and muscle condition result in minor stresses being applied to the body over a period of time. If you keep using the wrong technique, you will end up doing damage, and if you are also overweight, and/or have bad posture, the damage will occur sooner. |
| Psychological | Injuries can occur when acute anxiety, depression, hysteria or stress cause a person to believe that an injury will occur. If you’re tense, you’re much more likely to be injured. This can happen if you’re in a rush or up against a deadline. When you’re very anxious, the brain stops thinking clearly, and you don’t act rationally (look up “fight or flight” on the internet if you want to find out more about this). |
The majority of manual handling injuries occur due to lack of knowledge, lack of training, poor (or no) technique, over-exertion, poor posture and bravado (showing off!).
Injury Statistics
- Back – 35%
- Fingers/thumbs – 16%
- Arms and shoulders – 13%
- Legs – 9%
- Torso – 8%
- Hands – 6%
- Other areas – 3%
This information is alarming. But the good news is that with the correct training, many injuries can be avoided. The nest page, Training, explains correct manual handling techniques that should be used when you are carrying out any type of lifting, lowering, carrying, pushing or pulling a load.
Health and Safety Myth
Manual handling blamed for lack of refuse collection service
A resident complained to his local authority that his recycling waste hadn’t been collected for two weeks. He was told that this was due to the potential manual handling injuries the collectors could suffer when bending down to collect the items. The resident lives at the end of a long, narrow lane and the vehicle which usually collects recycling waste is too large and doesn’t fit.
The local authority has to pay extra for a smaller truck in order to collect the recycling. Any employee expected to carry out manual handling activities, including waste collectors, must be given training in order to do their job safely. The local authority should tell the truth about its reasons for missing the collections and not blame the chance of a manual handling injury occurring. That’s just rubbish!