The safe lifting, carrying, pushing, and pulling of objects, often involving bending, twisting, and awkward postures, to minimize the risk of injury.
Anatomy and Physiology: Understanding the human body and its limitations when it comes to manual handling.
Risk Assessment: Identifying the potential risks involved in manual handling.
Safety Regulations: Understanding the laws and regulations that govern manual handling practices.
Lifting Techniques: Proper techniques for lifting heavy objects, low and high.
Ergonomic Design: Understanding how to design work spaces and tools to minimize the strain on the body.
Body Mechanics: Understanding how the body moves during manual handling and the impact it has on the body.
Posture and Positioning: Understanding the importance of maintaining proper body posture when performing manual handling tasks.
Work Environment: Identifying environmental factors that can contribute to manual handling injuries.
Manual Handling Equipment: Identifying equipment that can be used to reduce the risk of manual handling injuries.
Physical Fitness: The importance of physical fitness when performing manual handling tasks.
Task Analysis: Analyzing and assessing the manual handling task to determine how to reduce the risk of injury.
Training and Education: Providing proper training and education to employees about manual handling practices.
Injury Prevention: Understanding how to prevent injuries and minimize the risk of accidents during manual handling tasks.
Rehabilitation and Recovery: Understanding how to properly and safely recover from a manual handling injury.
Ergonomic Assessment: Identifying ergonomic risks and determining the appropriate action to reduce risks.
Lifting: Refers to the lifting of an object from one level to another.
Pushing: Refers to pushing an object to a different location.
Pulling: Refers to pulling an object towards oneself or away from oneself.
Carrying: Refers to carrying an object from one place to another.
Lowering: Refers to lowering an object from one level to another.
Holding: Refers to holding an object for a duration of time.
Twisting: Refers to twisting the body while holding or carrying an object.
Reaching: Refers to reaching for an object that is positioned above or below the worker’s height.
Stretching: Refers to stretching the body to reach an object that is not easily accessible.
Repetitive Movement: Refers to performing the same task repeatedly, which can cause muscle fatigue and injury.
Awkward postures: Refers to maintaining an uncomfortable posture while handling an object.
Prolonged static positions: Refers to holding an object or remaining in a stationary position for a long period of time.
Manual handling with hand tools: Refers to performing manual work with the help of hand tools.
Manual handling with power tools: Refers to performing manual work with the help of power tools.
Team/manual handling: Refers to doing manual handling activities as a team, with multiple people involved in the process.
Transport and storage: Refers to manual handling involving the transport and storage of goods or materials.
Load handling: Refers to manual handling activities that involve the management of goods or materials so as to minimize risk of damage or injury.
Assembly line work: Refers to manual handling activities performed in assembly lines, where workers perform repetitive manual tasks at a fast pace.