LIFTING AND MANUAL HANDLING HAZARDS AND INJURIES BASIC INFORMATION AND TUTORIALS

HAZARDS AND INJURIES OF MANUAL HANDLING AND LIFTING
What are the Hazards and Possible Injuries of Manual Handling?

The term ‘manual handling’ is defined as the movement of a load by human effort alone. This effort may be applied directly or indirectly using a rope or a lever.

Manual handling may involve the transportation of the load or the direct support of the load including pushing, pulling, carrying, moving using bodily force and, of course, straightforward lifting. Back injuries due to the lifting of heavy loads is very common and several million working days are lost each year as a result of such injuries.

Typical hazards of manual handling include:
S lifting a load which is too heavy or too cumbersome resulting in back injury
S poor posture during lifting or poor lifting technique resulting in back injury
S dropping a load, resulting in foot injury
S lifting sharp-edged or hot loads resulting in hand injuries.

Injuries caused by manual handling
Manual handling operations can cause a wide range of acute and chronic injuries to workers. Acute injuries normally lead to sickness leave from work and a period of rest during which time the damage heals.

Chronic injuries build up over a long period of time and are usually irreversible producing illnesses such as arthritic and spinal disorders. There is considerable evidence to suggest that modern life styles, such as a lack of exercise and regular physical effort, have contributed to the long-term serious effects of these injuries.

The most common injuries associated with poor manual handling techniques are all musculoskeletal in nature and are:

S muscular sprains and strains – caused when a muscular tissue (or ligament or tendon) is stretched
beyond its normal capability leading to a weakening, bruising and painful inflammation of the area
affected. Such injuries normally occur in the back or in the arms and wrists

S back injuries – include injuries to the discs situated between the spinal vertebrae (i.e. bones) and can lead to a very painful prolapsed disc lesion (commonly known as a slipped disc). This type of injury can lead to other conditions known as lumbago and sciatica (where pain travels down the leg)

S trapped nerve – usually occurring in the back as a result of another injury but aggravated by manual
handling

S hernia – this is a rupture of the body cavity wall in the lower abdomen causing a protrusion of part of the intestine. This condition eventually requires surgery to repair the damage

S cuts, bruising and abrasions – caused by handling loads with unprotected sharp corners or edges

S fractures – normally of the feet due to the dropping of a load. Fractures of the hand also occur but are less common

S Work-related upper limb disorders (WRULDs)

S rheumatism – this is a chronic disorder involving severe pain in the joints. It has many causes, one of which is believed to be the muscular strains induced by poor manual handling lifting technique.