Manual handling procedure ITFA14 Beware when using a printed version of this document. It may have been subsequently amended. Please check online for the latest version. Applies to: All NHS Resolution staff and contractors Version: 3.4 draft Date of SMT approval: 28 th August 2017 Review date: September 2019 Author: Sean Walker Owner: Sean Walker
Contents 1. Introduction... 3 2. Purpose... 3 3. Responsibilities... 3 4. Manual handling risk assessments... 5 5. When to carry out risk assessments and completing the risk assessment form... 6 6. Pregnancy and new mothers... 7 7. Reporting... 7 8. Training... 7 9. References and support information... 7 10. Document control... 8 Appendix 1: Manual handling assessment... 9 Appendix 2: Good Manual Handling Technique... 13 2
1. Introduction The primary objective of NHS Resolution is to provide expertise to the NHS on resolving concerns fairly, sharing learning for improvement and to preserve resources for patient care. Through the administrative processes in delivering this core objective, manual handling risks remain evident and need to be managed appropriately. More than a third of all over-three-day injuries reported each year to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) are caused by manual handling - the transporting or supporting of loads by human effort which includes any lifting, putting down, pushing, pulling, carrying or supporting a load by hand or by bodily force. Most of the reported accidents cause back injury, though hands, arms and feet are also vulnerable. Many manual handling injuries can build up over a period rather than being caused by a single handling incident. This manual handling procedure has been drawn up with reference to the Health & Safety at Work Act 1974, the Management of Health & Safety at Work Regulations 1999, the Manual Handling Operations Regulations 1992, the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 1995, the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1992 and guidelines from the Health and Safety Executive. 2. Purpose NHS Resolution acknowledges that moving and handling activities have the potential to cause personal injury and therefore has robust arrangements in place to reduce the potential for staff and/or contactors being injured whilst carrying out their duties. This procedure is therefore aimed at insuring that processes and procedures are in place to: avoid hazardous manual handling so far possible; take action to remove or reduce any risk of injury as a result of manual handling so far as is reasonably practicable; and identify the responsibilities of the various staff groups in order to achieve an appropriate level of mitigation of these risks. 3. Responsibilities NHS Resolution will ensure that suitable arrangements are in place to allow for manual handling operations to be undertaken in accordance with the Manual Handling Operations Regulations 1992. NHS Resolution will identify all manual handling operations that are undertaken regularly and ensure that there is an effective system in place to identify any changes or ad hoc lifting operations to: avoid hazardous manual handling operations as far as possible; assess the risks arising from any such operations that cannot be avoided; 3
ensure that an indication of the weight of the load is provided and, where necessary, information about the heaviest side of any load whose centre of gravity is off centre, (please refer to appendix 2); and provide training on the principles of manual handling for employees engaged in such activity and outline the risks to health and safety and how they may be avoided. NHS Resolution will ensure that suitable training is provided at induction and then annually for any staff or contractors that are required to undertake manual handling operations. All manual handling where possible will be handled by mechanical means. Where this is not possible adequate personnel / human resource will be made available to handle heavy or difficult loads, for which handling instructions will be given. The overall responsibilities detailed within ITFA04 - Health Safety and Wellbeing Policy, apply to this procedure. However, there are specific roles and responsibilities around manual handling operations. Agency staff contracts should reflect the need for staff to adhere to this procedure and to be proficient in manual handling techniques. The Operational Review Group Co-ordinating the risk assessment process; Ensuring manual handling issues are considered, thereby reducing the risk of injury from manual handing in so far as is reasonably practicable; and Monitoring compliance with the Manual Handling procedure. Operational Development Team The Operational Development Team are responsible for: The provision and coordination of manual handling training for staff and contractors; and Reporting on compliance with manual handling and all other mandatory training to the Operational Review Group and line managers. Line Managers Line managers are responsible for ensuring: That the relevant staff members undertake the manual handling and any other mandatory training; That staff are aware of the Manual Handling procedure; That manual handling risk assessments are carried out to identify risk factors related to the task; The implementation of recommendations that arise from risk assessments; That staff are reminded if they are not manual handling correctly and in accordance with their training; 4
That manual handling issues are considered for all new team members; That any new team members are booked on appropriate training and other staff attend refresher training; That, if any members of the team report pain when working or have concerns about their activities, request that a risk assessment is carried out; That inspections are undertaken when a notifiable accident occurs; and The planning and implementation of risk assessments undertaken by managers using the tool within Appendix 1 Employees Must undertake manual handling training where required; Must perform manual handling activities in accordance with the information, instruction and training provided; Informing their line manager if they have difficulties associated with the manual handling activities that are part of their job; Acting in a way so as not to injure themselves whilst carrying out manual handling activities; Inform their team leaders if they are experiencing any pain and discomfort whilst carrying out their normal work; Informing their team leaders if they have concerns about certain activities that involve manual handling; and Must visually inspect all equipment before use and report any defects to the IT and Facilities Department. IT and Facilities Department The IT and Facilities team must ensure that: All manual handling equipment is maintained in an efficient state, in good working order and is in in a state of good repair. Any defective manual handling equipment must immediately be condemned and removed from service; and Suitable equipment is available for use. 4. Manual handling risk assessments NHS Resolution will ensure that staff involved in manual handling are physically able and competent to undertake the task and are issued with suitable protective equipment. Additionally, the organisation will ensure that a process for carrying out risk assessments is in place to ensure compliance with the Manual Handling Operations Regulations 1992 (as amended in 2002). 5
5. When to carry out risk assessments and completing the risk assessment form, (Appendix 1) The activities of staff who are involved with manual handling operations as a key aspect of their job, should be risk assessed and those activities added to the relevant departmental risk register for regular review. Records of those assessments should be kept even when no problems have been identified. The date of the assessment should be included along with the name of the assessor Record the job/task being assessed e.g. filing, moving boxes, distributing post. The sections within the assessment refer to different areas of the work. Indicate yes or no to each question and comment where there is a problem and what is causing it i.e. boxes piled too high, item too heavy. Once the problem areas have been identified, the recommendations can be identified and selected. The recommendations are how the issues identified will be resolved as far as they can be by looking at the Risk Control measures as a guide. Some examples of recommendations could be: ensuring two people carry out the activity; reducing the size of the item; and using trolleys. Once the recommendations have been identified, the person/people responsible for carrying out the action must be identified and the action ticked off when completed. The risk assessment should be signed by an appropriate person, as determined by the following guide. Control Measure Individual or team systems and processes All NHS Resolution staff Requires resources Approval from Team Leader/Manager Operation Review Group Operation Review Group A copy of the risk assessment should be kept by the person carrying out the risk assessment, a copy sent to the IT and Facilities Department and the original completed form should be sent to The Operational Review Group for information. 6
6. Pregnancy and new mothers As soon as NHS Resolution has been informed of a pregnancy the relevant line manager must ensure that a risk assessment is carried out. No pregnant women or new mothers should be carrying out any manual handling activities. The Line Manager must put systems in place to protect pregnant women and new mothers from injury. 7. Reporting If an accident occurs involving an injury, call a first aider immediately (unless it is a serious accident, when an ambulance should also be called immediately). Lists of first aiders are displayed around NHS Resolution offices. All accidents, incidents or near misses must be reported using the Incident Reporting Policy & Procedure (RM05), as monitoring is an important method of assessing Health and Safety problems in the work environment. If an accident is serious and the person is off sick or hospitalised, it may have to be reported to the HSE see HR09 - Sickness Policy for further details. 8. Training Suitable training will be provided to all staff required to control or undertake manual handling operations. Where appropriate, only agency staff that are suitably trained should be contracted to work on NHS Resolution premises. All staff that are involved in lifting, putting down, pushing, pulling, carrying or supporting a load will receive appropriate Manual Handling training at induction and then annually. If changes in systems and processes could affect the manual handling requirements, a risk assessment will be carried out. 9. References and support information RM05 - Incident Reporting Policy and Procedure ITFA04 - Health Safety and Wellbeing Policy 7
10. Document control Date Author Version Reason for change 25/07/17 Sean Walker 3.3 Changes to reflect name change and OD process changes 8
Manual handling assessment Appendix 1 Complete one form per job being assessed Date: Assessor: Job Assessment: Answer the questions yes or no and add any details in the spaces provided to establish risks. No. Working environment Yes/No Comments/notes 1. 2. 3. Is lack of space or poor layout preventing staff from working with the right equipment or using safe working posture? Is it difficult for staff to move without twisting? Are the floors uneven / slippery / obstructed in some way? 4. Is lighting dim or causing glare? No. Tasks Does the work involve: Yes/No Comments/notes 1. Frequent or prolonged stooping? 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. Stretching forwards or above shoulder level? Repeated sideways twisting where staff cannot use their feet to change direction? Manually carrying awkward or unsuitable loads? Carrying or pushing loads above 25kg (men) or 17kg (women) for 10 meters and longer without stopping? Manual transfers of loads 30 times or more an hour? Working at a pace that the staff cannot control? 9
No. Methods of work Yes/No Comments/notes 1. Does the system of work need to be changed to make it safer? 2. Are more staff needed to cover the work? 3. Do work routines need to be changed to spread work more evenly between staff or over the day? No. Furniture and equipment Yes/No Comments/notes 1. 2. 3. Is variable height equipment available for staff? Are staff working with faulty equipment that needs to be repaired? Is equipment available to reduce the strain? 4. Do staff know how to use the equipment? No. Training Yes/No Comments/notes 1. Have staff ever received manual handling training? 2. Do staff need manual handling training? 10
Recommendations The actions described should be those that can be carried out immediately. If there is any proposed action that will need to be discussed with management this should also be noted and a person identified to contact the management team. Number Immediate action to control the risks Responsibility (Name) Completed (Date) 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. Signed: Job title: A copy of the completed form should be returned to IT & Facilities Department for information. 11
Risk Control Risk control is a method for managing risk with the primary emphasis on controlling the hazards at source. For a risk that is assessed as High, steps should be taken immediately to minimise the risk of injury. The method of ensuring that risks are controlled effectively is by using the hierarchy of controls as detailed in the table below. Start with number one with number six being the last resort. Order number Control Example 1 Eliminate 2 Substitute 3 Isolation 4 Engineering 5 Administrative Removing the hazard, e.g. taking a hazardous piece of equipment out of service. Replacing the hazardous substance or process with a less hazardous one, e.g. substituting a hazardous substance with a non-hazardous substance. Isolating the hazard from the person at risk, e.g. using a guard or barrier. Redesign the process or piece of equipment to make it less hazardous. Adopting safe work practices or providing appropriate training, instruction or information. 6 Personal Protective Equipment The use of personal protective equipment could include using gloves, glasses, earmuffs, aprons, safety footwear. 12
Appendix 2 Good Manual Handling Technique A good handling technique is no substitute for other risk reduction steps such as improvements to the task, load or working environment. However, if you do need to lift, put down, push, pull, carry or support a load, follow these basic steps that are outlined in the Manual Handling Operations Regulations 1992 (as amended in 2002) a) Stop and think Plan the lift. Using appropriate aids, where the load will be going and any obstacles in the way. b) Place the feet Have the feet apart giving suitable balance. c) Adopt good posture Bend the knees so that the hands when grasping the load are nearly level with the waist as possible. Keep the back straight, keep shoulders level and facing in the same direction as the hips. d) Get a firm grip Keep the arms close to the legs and ensure that it is as secure as possible. If it is necessary to vary the grip as the lift proceeds, do this as smoothly as possible. e) Don t jerk Carry out the lifting movement smoothly. f) Move the feet Don t twist the trunk of your body when turning to the side. g) Keep close to the load Keep the load close to the trunk for as long as possible. Keep the heaviest side of the load next to the trunk. If a close approach to the load is not possible try sliding it towards you before attempting to lift it. h) Put down, then adjust If precise positioning is required, put the load down first, then slide it into position. Guidelines for safer manual handling 13