Lift Off For Speedy’s Manual Handling Campaign

30/04/2008

Speedy Hire, the leading tool and equipment hire company, has launched a UK-wide awareness campaign to help combat the rising number of back injuries resulting from manual handling.

According to official statistics, 400,000 people suffer from back pain caused or made worse by their work, leading to 4 million lost days each year and costing industry more than £5billion. Almost two thirds (63%) of back injuries in the construction industry are caused by manual handling.

Speedy's 'Make Light Work of It' campaign, part of its award-winning Safety From the Ground Up initiative, includes free 'toolbox talks' on customer construction sites to demonstrate better handling techniques to site operatives and the range of handling aids available to site managers. A communications pack, including information pocket guides, CDs, booklets and site posters, has also been developed to promote awareness.

The campaign, which launches in April, follows independent research commissioned by Speedy which found the majority (70%) of site operatives were unaware of any legislation or guidelines on the movement of heavy or awkward objects. Forty per cent said they would use lifting or handling aids more if they were available on site.

Employers have a legal responsibility to risk assess any tasks where manual handling may be required and include details in a method statement. While the HSE has developed Manual Handling Assessment Charts to help site managers and safety representatives identify high-risk activities, it is the employer's responsibility to provide and maintain appropriate equipment, ensure proper procedures are followed and provide the necessary information, training and supervision of employees.

Some of the most common causes of back injury include:
- Lifting loads such as manhole covers incorrectly
- Lowering kerb stones and paving slabs
- Carrying cement bags
- Pushing loads of aggregate
- Pulling blocks and slabs
- Twisting while handling plasterboard
- Holding heavy loads while fixing into position

Mark Turnbull, Safety, Health, Environment and Quality Director at Speedy Hire, said: "In an ideal scenario, architects and process engineers should consider manual handling issues in the planning phase in order to design out as much risk as possible.

"On site, however, many situations where manual handling is required are unavoidable. Here, the real challenge for employers is to prevent exposure by promoting the use of lifting and handling aids and supervising site working practices. With the implementation of best practice, companies can not only help reduce the number of injuries, but also increase workplace efficiency."

Speedy's top 10 tools for safe handling include:
- Jumbo BV vacuum layers for laying kerb stones
- Skip loaders for lifting waste and rubble
- All terrain pallet trucks for moving palletised loads such as aggregates, cememt, roof tiles etc
- Brick and block carts
- Board trolleys for moving plasterboard
- Powered stair climbers for manoeuvring heavy and awkward objects such as boilers and air conditioning units
- 4x4 powered mini dumpers for transporting waste and rubble
- Mobile conveyor system for moving rubble or excavation waste
- Mini flat bed trucks for transporting rubble or waste objects from site to site
- Lightweight lifts for lifting and lowering objects such as lintels

Dr McKiernan, chairman of national charity BackCare, added: "Construction workers are at particularly high risk of back injury due to the sheer number of hazards on site. Looked after, your back should and can last you a lifetime, but employers and employees needs to take responsibility for this. It's vital to get into the habit of moving, lifting, sitting, standing and carrying in ways that don't put too much strain on your back."

For more information, visit www.speedyhire.co.uk/safety or call 0845 606 6886 to book a tool box talk.

Speedy's range of manual handling solutions will be available at Safety & Health Expo 2008 on 13-15 May at the NEC in Birmingham.