2011-11-07 
Back pain affects around 80% of us at sometime in our lives and figures from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) report that around 30% of all injuries to employees are caused when handling, lifting and carrying. All of us should undergo manual handling training as most of us will be required at some point to do some form of lifting. All %u201Cmanual handling%u201D needs to be done properly. An awkward sideways or sudden movement, regular or repetitive tasks - they could all cause back strain. Your back is a wonderful piece of technology, but also a vulnerable one and it needs to be taken good care of. Learning good manual handling technique is not difficult, it%u2019s a matter of thinking about any lifting or carrying task and ensuring that any difficulties have been taken into consideration BEFORE starting it. Always test the weight, always consider the route: are there stairs, doors to be opened, is the lighting sufficient, is there somewhere to put it down? These are all examples; there are many more factors that should be considered. The HSE launched a Better Backs campaign as a major initiative in 2006 to focus on reducing the incidence of back pain at work. The overall aim at that time was to encourage people to think about working conditions and use appropriate equipment to reduce the incidence of back injuries at work. Five years on, back injuries at work due to poor manual handling HAVE BEEN reduced but still remain an issue. Those working in certain industries are particularly at risk. Recycling, land transport, sewage and refuse disposal, and furniture, food and beverage production account for the largest number of such injuries. The HSE statistics also break down the manual handling injuries into types, for example over the last five years 25% of injuries were caused when lifting or putting down loads, 16% when pushing or pulling loads and 11% were sprains and strains from body movement. Good manual handling training should include explanations of ALL factors which need to be taken into consideration when preparing for a lift. It should clearly show how to lift properly. Explaining how the back works gives great background and clarifies what exactly is happening when the back is mistreated and makes SENSE of the training. Good training needs to hold the interest, using various forms such as video, animation, illustration and clear, well-spoken language. Regular interactivity ensures knowledge is more likely to be retained. A toddler picking up a box from the floor will almost invariably use naturally good manual handling technique - bending at the knees rather than from the back - perhaps because their centre of gravity is low. Somehow, over the years that good technique is lost and needs to be re-learnt. Good preparation and learning a few simple steps to lift and carry is a great step in helping to avoid future back pain. 2011-11-04 Start blogging by clicking in this area. Then simply type whatever you wish. You can also drag an object from the left hand column into this area. This will allow you to add pictures, videos, etc. to your blog posts.
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