HSE Comments on Manual Handling Risks Highlight Need to Invest in the Right Equipment
Following recent comments made by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), Midland Pallet Trucks is urging businesses to assess their existing manual handling equipment to ensure it matches their operations to minimise worker risks.
HSE recently warned employers to think twice before opting for off-the-shelf manual handling training, labelling such options as a waste of time and money due to having little impact on musculoskeletal disorder risks. Instead, the independent regulator advised the firms assess their workplace practices to reduce risks to allow training to be customised where residual risks remain. It’s an approach that Midland Pallet Trucks is getting behind.
Phil Chesworth, Managing Director of Midland Pallet Trucks, said, “It makes sense to look at how workers carry out tasks rather than providing training for risks that could be removed altogether. With processes that have considered health and safety, firms can reduce manual handling risks and the absences that are associated with them. Lifting and handling account for over a fifth of workplace accidents and can significantly affect productivity.
“Within the assessment of working practices, it’s important for businesses to look at the type of equipment that employees use. Choosing the right option can not only reduce musculoskeletal risks, it can positively influence other areas, such as efficiency and staff satisfaction, too.”
As the UK’s leading supplier of material handling equipment such as hand pallet trucks and weighing scale trucks, Midland Pallet Trucks is well placed to offer advice on how to reduce manual handling risks. Having worked with a range of companies operating in a variety of sectors, the firm understands how big the positive impact of investing in the right equipment can be. The brand boasts an extensive catalogue of items to meet the different demands of businesses, including those that are designed to minimise the amount of handling and physical strain undertaken by employees.
Chesworth added, “Businesses shouldn’t consider the HSE advice a chore to carry out but rather an opportunity to reduce overall manual handling risks across their entire operations, which should lead to a reduction in the number of lifting and handling injuries reported moving forward.”