Why do my employees need manual handling training?
Date: Friday, 22 April 2016. -
Blog, Courses, Training
Manual handling training is about teaching your employees how to safely move heavy items either by lifting, carrying, lowering, pushing or pulling them.
It is essential training for all employees who may be faced with heavy lifting. Incorrect manual handling is one of the most common causes of injury at work, accounting for over a third of all workplace injuries.
It is within the best interests of employees and employers to carry out this kind of training to minimise the risk of injuries resulting in absences. According to Health and Safety Executive, 4.1 million working days were lost due to workplace injuries, which averaged 6.7 days per case in 2015.
What are the legal duties and obligations around manual handling training?
There are certain legal requirements related to manual handling included in the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 and the Manual Handling Operations Regulations 1992.
All employers have a duty to avoid manual handling as far as reasonably practical if there is a risk of injury. If this is impossible, they must reduce the risk of injury as far as possible. This can be done through a detailed risk assessment and an understanding of safe manual handling.
What do manual handling courses entail?
The imperative course in manual handling aims to teach learners how to safely complete tasks where manual handling is required. It also covers the correct ways to lift to reduce the risk of injury by teaching learners how to identify and combat risks. All manual handling courses should teach employers how to:
●Understand the reasons for safe manual handling
●Understand how manual handling risk assessments contribute to improving health and safety
●Understand the principles, types of equipment and testing requirements associated with manual handling safety
●Be able to apply safe manual handling principles
What are the other benefits of manual handling training?
Not only will manual handling training help increase employees’ awareness of risks involved with lifting, employees will recognise that that their welfare is top priority, and the course will lead to less people taking time off work due to injury.
We can help
If you think your employees would benefit from manual handling training, here at imperative our intensive one day course can offer candidates a Level 2 award certificate in Safe Moving and Handling.
The topics covered include understanding the reasons for safe manual handling, how to apply safe manual handling principles and much more.
If you would like any further information please visit our Level 2 Award in Safe Moving and Handling page or call us on 0845 071 0820 for more information.