BlogEnvironmentLife Safety

Safety in Manual Handling

Listen to this article

15.11.2021, 23:45

Safety in Manual Handling

Handling and transporting supplies and equipment is a daily requirement for most facilities but one that needs to be managed in accordance with current health and safety guidelines.

Facilities managers need to be aware of multiple health and safety regulations relating to the manual handling and transportation of packages and machinery within buildings.

Establishing a comprehensive, documented manual handling process often represents a good start as information can be communicated to staff, and training provided to ensure they follow safe practices during their shifts.

Creating a manual handling process from scratch might seem challenging, however, unless it is approached in a logical and systematic way.

Advertisement

Requirements for a Workable Manual Handling Policy

If your organisation doesn’t already have a written manual handling process, then you need to create one. Check out examples of a manual handling procedure to see what you need to include. You can also tailor parts of the procedure to your organisation and workplaces so that your team has access to a comprehensive guide to manual handling within your company.

Conduct Regular Manual Handling Training

While providing a written procedure for manual handling, you also need to make sure that you review your team’s comprehension of it and provide them with practical training on a regular basis. Host regular manual handling training with your team, and make sure new staff get support with this process as part of the onboarding process. Use your written process to inform your manual handling training and work with your team to ensure that they understand the practical implications of the document.

Use Warning Labels To Indicate Manual Handling Procedures

While your staff might be aware of your manual handling process and what they need to do, when they’re working, they might not notice certain issues. For example, if an item weighs too much for one person to carry, it might not be obvious to someone who is simply looking at it. As such, you should consider using warning labels to clarify what needs to be done. Label Source offers a range of bright labels that can be placed on boxes or crates, so anyone handling them is fully aware of what safety procedures need to be put in place.

Keep Reviewing Your Manual Handling Practices

As your business grows and evolves, your manual handling process and other health and safety procedures need to change as well. As such, you should allocate time every year, or every few months depending on your company’s growth rate, to review your manual handling practices. If you find that they are no longer compatible with current working environments or procedures, then you need to adjust them to ensure that your staff stay safe at all times. Adapting your process regularly will ensure that it is always relevant and completely compliant with the latest changes to manual handling regulations that apply to the facilities management sector.

Fm logo2020
Staff Reporter

FMIndustry.com covers the latest news, trends and opinion from the facilities management (FM) and corporate real estate (CRE) sectors. The FM market is currently estimated to be worth USD 1 trillion annually and is projected to grow at a compounded annualised rate of approximately 5% between now and 2026.

Author

  • Final Logo

    FMIndustry.com covers the latest news, trends and opinion from the facilities management (FM) and corporate real estate (CRE) sectors. The FM market is currently estimated to be worth USD 1 trillion annually and is projected to grow at a compounded annualised rate of approximately 5% between now and 2026.

    View all posts

CAMFIL HVAC Filtration Solutions

You may like

We've noticed you are using an ad blocker

Advertising helps bring you fresh independent content. Please disable the adblock plugin or settings in your web browser to access the content you are trying to reach on www.fmindustry.com.