Manual handling legislation qld

Why training is important? Hazardous manual task HMT training is important as it supports other solutions that have been put in place e. Training also assists workers and management to identify and understand HMT, the risk factors that cause them and solutions used to reduce the risk. Training your workforce on your safety systems and procedures is a legal requirement. Legislation Hazardous manual tasks code of practice PDF, 1. What does suitable HMT training cover?

Manual task risk management Identifying HMT HMT risk factors — force, postures, vibration, repetition, duration, mental stress-work pressure Control measures used to minimise the risk factors. How to perform specific manual tasks safely — including use of relevant mechanical aids, tools, equipment and safe work procedures. How to report problems or maintenance issues. Who needs to be trained?

Workers who perform, supervise or manage HMT Staff responsible for: selection and maintenance of equipment e. Health and safety representatives. When do workers need to be trained? When starting a new job e. On an ongoing basis. When a risk of sprain or strain injuries remains after higher order controls e. The remaining risk must be minimised by providing administrative controls. When should training be reviewed? When work processes, plant or equipment change. When new controls are implemented.

After any other changes that affect how tasks are performed. When legislation changes. Find out about your obligations for hazardous manual tasks under workplace health and safety laws and codes of practice. This page contains resources to help keep your workers safe from hazardous manual task risks.

Find out the answers to frequently asked questions about musculoskeletal disorders, which are also known as sprains and strains. Skip to content. Learn what you can do to keep workers safe. Eliminating hazards and risks is usually easier and cheaper to achieve in the planning or design stage of an item, process or place used for work.

If it is not reasonably practicable to eliminate the risk, then you must minimise the risks so far as is reasonably practicable by:. If there is a remaining risk, it must be minimised so far as is reasonably practicable by implementing administrative controls, and if a risk still remains, then suitable personal protective equipment must be provided and used. These two types of control measures, when used on their own, tend to be least effective in minimising risks because they rely on human behaviour and supervision.

Hierarchy of control. Examples of control measures. Before purchasing equipment, such as tools, containers, workstations, machinery and vehicles, you should always check whether the item has been designed so that it can be used safely and best matches the needs of your workers.

Where possible, you should:. A well-designed work area will assist in eliminating or reducing the risk factors associated with a hazardous manual task, such as the degree of reaching, twisting or bending. Workstations should be designed to allow workers to work in an upright position, shoulders in a natural position not elevated and upper arms close to the trunk most of the time without large reaches to perform the task.

Work surfaces should be easily adjustable to suit a range of workers and the tasks they perform. Where it is not possible to provide adjustable workstations consider altering the design so that:. Tasks with high visual demands should be performed above elbow height and work surfaces may need to be tilted, for example, for tasks involving delicate or precise manipulation. Tasks where the hands make a narrow range of movements and can rest on the work surface should be performed at, or just above, elbow height.

A sloping surface may reduce the amount of neck flexion required to perform desk-based tasks, such as drafting. Light manipulative tasks or tasks involving the use of a keyboard should be performed at just below elbow height. Tasks incorporating a range of arm movements using the shoulder should be performed at between hip and shoulder height, for example taking items from a stack and placing them on a conveyor.

Tasks requiring considerable muscular effort or use of the body for leverage, for example, drilling at a workbench, should be performed at hip height and no higher. Where possible, place items used in manual tasks so they are:. Displays and controls should be positioned to encourage comfortable head and neck postures, comfortable hand and arm reach and efficient use. You should:. Workers should not remain in a seated, standing or otherwise static posture for prolonged periods.

Design the workstation to provide opportunities for workers performing seated or standing tasks to vary their postures and movements. For seated tasks, seating should have the following features:. Workers carrying out standing tasks should be provided with:. Work areas should have enough space to accommodate the number of workers and other people involved in the task, any equipment that might be required and space to operate the equipment safely.

For example, when observing workers of an aged care facility assisting an infirm person to bathe, the bathroom may need to accommodate two workers, the client and a mobile hoist with space to manoeuvre a person in the hoist over the toilet and bath or into a shower area. Examples of control measures that should be considered when handling loads include:. Figure Figure 26 Use handling grip devices adapted to the particular object to be carried.

Minimise the level of muscular effort, particularly of the shoulder and wrist, needed to use hand tools by:. Figure 27 Select tools that can be held with a neutral wrist or in a handshake position with the hand adopting a comfortable not too open or too closed grip. Orient jigs and fixtures holding the workpiece so that the wrist does not have to bend. Modifying the tool eliminates the awkward wrist posture.

Figure 28 Select tools that are suited to the task, such as long handled saws when pruning trees. The heaviest part of this brush cutter is located behind the wrists and the weight is supported by a harness. An overhead suspension system reduces the forces required to use the iron. Mechanical equipment may eliminate or reduce the need for workers to lift, carry or support items, animals or people.

A wide range of mechanical aids is available for various industries, for example: Figure Figure 29 Example of lift table. Figure 30 Mechanical lifter hand to lift people. Figure 31 Using mechanical equipment, such as overhead cranes to lift and move very heavy objects eliminates the need to apply high force.

A vacuum operated lifting device can reduce the forces, awkward postures, and movements required to manually load products onto pallets. A self-adjusting base in the laundry tubs reduces the need for bending, twisting and reaching during unloading.

Mechanical aids should be:. When you introduce a mechanical aid into the workplace, you must provide adequate information, instruction, training and supervision to ensure that new arrangements do not introduce any additional risks to workers, for example, a forklift operated in the same workspace used by other workers.

Pushing loads is preferable to pulling because it involves less work by the muscles of the lower back, allows maximum use of body weight, less awkward postures and generally allows workers to adopt a forward facing posture, providing better vision in the direction of travel. Reduce the effort required to start the load in motion by:. Figure 32 A trolley can eliminate many of the risks involved in manual handling, however, the load will still need to be manoeuvered onto the trolley and through the workplace.

No worker should fully lift a person other than a small infant unaided, that is without assistance from, for example, mechanical aids, assistive devices or another worker. All people handling activities are a potential source of injury and the risks associated with this hazardous manual task must be eliminated or minimised so far as is reasonably practicable.

The physical condition of the person being handled as well as their non-physical characteristics, for example their ability to understand and communicate and their behaviour, will affect how the people handling activity is undertaken and the risks involved. When people are being handled, the controls selected should take into account all of the sources of risks. Controls may include the following:. Supporting or restraining animals should only be carried out by people with the necessary skills and experience.

When animals are being handled consider the following:. The workload and pace should accommodate the physical demands of the manual task. Where possible, work should be organised to minimise multiple handling and improve the flow of work by:. For example, building supplies can be delivered by truck or crane to the on-site location where they will be used or to the external lift, rather than being delivered to the front gate.

Workers should not have to work at a rate that is at the limit of their ability. When you establish a work rate, you should consult with the workers affected and their health and safety representatives.

Set realistic work rates by:. Figure 33 The work rate for high volume production and processing should not extend workers to their physical limits. Task design should take account of the range of human dimensions and capabilities such as height, reach and weight. If this is not reasonably practicable, allocate the worker to other tasks. In designing work systems, considerations also include:. Provide transition arrangements for workers undertaking unaccustomed work by:.

When introducing risk control measures that involve plant, tools or equipment, ensure that:. To allow for adequate recovery time and to reduce exposure to risks of MSD, arrange to have the right staffing levels, skill mix and shift arrangements considering:. Communicate and consult with workers about the way work is organised and allow workers to seek assistance from another person when necessary. Whole-body vibration — the design of vibration damped equipment and engine mountings are the most effective methods of controlling vibration exposure.

Other strategies to reduce exposure include:. Hand-arm vibration — substitute alternative manufacturing methods or processes to eliminate the need for vibrating equipment. Where this is not possible, the best strategy is to purchase tools and equipment that produce less vibration. For workers in hot and humid conditions, reduce temperature and humidity during manual tasks where possible by:. Consider minimising the risk of exposure to windy conditions by:.

Keeping work areas clean, tidy and free of clutter or obstacles prevents workers from adopting awkward postures and reduces the level of exertion that may be required to reach over or around obstacles. Clean, smooth and flat surfaces can also reduce forces required to push and pull objects and prevent slips, trips and falls.

Select lighting to suit the task performed. To prevent awkward or sustained postures that may arise from low or excessive levels of lighting, glare or reflection:. Administrative control measures do not address the risk factors or source of the risk — they only attempt to reduce risk by reducing exposure to those risk factors.

The risk of MSDs may be minimised by rotating staff between different tasks to increase task variety. Job rotation requires the tasks to be sufficiently different to ensure that different muscle groups are used in different ways so they have a chance to recover. To increase task variety, you should consider:.

Regular rest breaks provide opportunities for workers to prevent the build-up of, or recover from the effects of, fatigue in muscle groups used during hazardous manual tasks that involve:. The frequency and duration of rest breaks will be dependent on the nature of the task.

Generally, the greater the force required, or the longer a posture is sustained, the greater the recovery time. More frequent and shorter rest breaks are better for rest and recovery than fewer, longer breaks.

Build short breaks into task rotation arrangements where work is of a similar nature, for example process production or hand tool use. Micro-pauses very short intermittent breaks in physical activity are also beneficial. Build these into the design of tasks and methods of work, for example:.

Team handling is manual handling of a load by two or more workers. Team handling brings its own risks and requires coordination. It should only be used as an interim control measure. You should redesign manual tasks to allow the use of mechanical equipment, or eliminate the need to lift, if there is a regular need for team handling. Team lifting can increase the risk of MSD if:.

Whenever team handling is used it is essential to match workers, co-ordinate and carefully plan the lift. You should ensure that:. If a risk of MSDs remains after implementing higher level control measures, then the risk must be minimised by providing information, training and instruction.

Training in lifting techniques must not be used as the sole or primary means to control the risk of MSDs. Risk control may initially involve using short term, interim measures while a long term solution is developed. For example, temporarily raise the bench until it can be replaced or altered permanently, or rotate employees through a production line to reduce the time spent working at a low bench until it can be changed. To implement the most effective risk controls, you should:.

You should not make final decisions on the effectiveness of the control measures that you have implemented until enough time has passed for your workers to adjust to the changes. Workers should be given a chance to practice using the new workstation, tool, mechanical device or new work method.

Some modifications may require workers to use new muscle groups or different parts of the body and they may initially feel some discomfort. At this stage, you should frequently check with your workers how they feel the improvements are working. Section 60 Managing risks to health and safety states:. The Hazardous Manual Tasks Code of Practice Qld provides quite a lot of detail about how a business might meet their obligations to manage hazardous manual tasks.