Manual handling assessment process from Australia has merit

There has been little movement on the assessment and management of manual handling risks in Australia during the period of OHS/WHS harmonisation.  Just an hour or so ago, Work Health and Safety Queensland released a video that outlines its manual handling assessment program PErforM – Participative Ergonomics for Manual Tasks.

A PErforM manual for trainers seems to have been around since February 2012 but the new video should create fresh interest in the program that is supported by a new handbook.

Manual handling risk assessments are one of the most difficult tasks for business and safety people but they can also be a safety task that offers the greatest financial and worker rewards.  This initiative is a relatively new look at an old OHS problem.

Kevin Jones

reservoir, victoria, australia
Categories consultation, ergonomics, guidance, hazards, health, manual handling, OHS, risk, safety, Uncategorized, wellnessTags

5 thoughts on “Manual handling assessment process from Australia has merit”

  1. The guy in the laundry now uses a lift trolley to pick up the compressed linen. Then at the end of the video it shows him vigoursly pumping the foot pump to lift it up higher, plus it doesnt address the strain on the lower back from pushing and twisting when pushing a trolley. You\’ve eliminate done risk, but introduced others.

  2. For mine, the package is close to OHS regulator guidance material perfection (ORGMP). See a ORGMP, grab it and nurture it is my advice. I dips me lid to all the people involved in the production (and that includes the graphics and video production crew) – wonderful.

    1. Col, I think the MH package has promise and I applaud WHSQ for promoting through YouTube.

      What I liked about the video is that it provides context to the guidance rather than simply promoting the guide. This recognizes the primacy that some are giving to internet videos.

      I think the guide is not as easy as it appears in the video but certainly deserves a couple of practices.

      There is also the case that there are some cultural issues that work against acknowledging manual handling as a hazard that can be prevented. We still try to gauge the weight of something by lifting first instead of having the default setting in our brains and management systems as \”no lift\”. If it can happen in nursing, it can happen in other industries.

      1. Roger that KJ. And roger and the very useful vid support for use. It\’s a great package for mine because it uses relatively straightforward tools to do a basic risk assessment. I think we tend to massively underestimate the background knowledge and skills needed to get a half-way decent risk assessment together. Yep, there a bunch of important risk control principles that have to go along with the package, but for the ordinary punter, dealing with day-to-day risk control decisions I think this material is a pearler. Better we get progress, and wind down the level of risk, vs waiting for HIRAC perfection. The package excels by biting the bullet in order to get some progress.

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