Too heavy? Rubbish!
The HSE have recently criticised the size of recycling boxes and said that if filled they may well be too heavy for lifting. Not everyone agrees but how do you decide what is “too heavy†in the workplace and what should you be doing?
Recycling boxes
The Health & Safety Executive (HSE) says that boxes currently used for kerbside recycling are so heavy they could injure anyone trying to lift them - potentially triggering thousands of injury compensation claims. The most widely used recycling box, a 55-litre capacity model, weighs about 22.1kg when filled with a 50-50 mix of glass and paper. So, should you be worried if you have people at work lifting such weights and who decides what’s “too heavy�
Where’s the risk?
In most industrial settings, manual handling is under control with risk assessments having been carried out in accordance with the Occupational Health and Safety (Manual Handling) Regulations 1999. Mechanical aids such as lift trucks, pallet trucks and other types of device are usually in existence to protect the employee from back injury. But what about the minority of people who get involved in day-to-day manual handling such as the office worker carrying boxes of copier paper or the cleaner taking out your office waste?
Tip.Don’t forget, that by law, you should carry out risk assessments for these people too and if the risks are significant you should record the action you are taking to prevent injuries from happening.
How do you decide what is too heavy?
This isn’t as easy as it sounds and the law doesn’t include maximum weight limits! So what are the HSE getting at here? To give you a comparison, 22kg is roughly equivalent to two boxes of photocopier paper (12.5kg per box). The HSE reckon that to lift a weight such as this from ground level to above waist height repetitively, is a recipe for back injury. In the context of an office environment you may well expect your clerical staff to carry boxes of copier paper or your cleaners to carry out bags of office waste. It will be up to you to assess these activities, as you would do for other employees, in order to minimise the risks.
Tip.Basic manual handling training for office staff and cleaners is important. Arrange for one of your people to be trained to deliver such training - it will be cheaper than bringing in an external trainer. Using smaller waste bins/bags will help your cleaners by minimising the weight when full, but you can consider emptying bins more often.
Campaign
As we said in T&A Health & Safety, yr.4, iss.22, pg. 3, (11.09.2006) the HSE and Local Authorities are running another campaign targeted at manual handling. Starting in October 2006, “Better Backs†will include workplace inspections, mass media advertising and events. So don’t be surprised if you get a visit from an inspector who’s likely to want to see how you manage manual handling risks. Although the HSE are making a point that they’re only targetting “high risksâ€, our mole has indicated that they will also be looking at office risks such as the ones we’ve mentioned.
Tip.Make sure you’ve done your assessments and taken some steps to minimise the risks. Don’t forget you only have to minimise the risks not remove them - fortunately we are still allowed to pick things up and move them. Also, make sure you have signed and dated training records.
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