NSW Safe Work has released a position and Guide on what is and is not appropriate manual handling training after national research has shown that traditional ‘how to lift’ training does not work. While this is a NSW resource the position has been adopted nationally and other safety jurisdictions are expected to release similar resources in the coming days.
“It is rare that a national position will be taken like this, and released in this way. All businesses should be on notice that having released the information this way, the regulators in NSW, and the other States and Territories, will be placing a focus on ensuring that every workplace is compliant with the new standard”, explains ACAPMA’s Elisha Radwanowski.
“All businesses should be reviewing their manual handling training now to ensure that it adequately meets the new standard.”
From the Position and Resources;
Why is ‘how to lift’ training not effective?
Musculoskeletal disorders are caused by exposure to a range of physical and psychosocial hazards at work (Eatough, Way, & Chang, 2012; Gerr et al., 2014).
Prevention approaches implemented within workplace settings are often overly simplistic, focusing on worker behaviour and therefore misaligned to the complex nature of MSDs (Macdonald & Oakman, 2015).
Providing ‘how to lift’ training does not prevent work-related musculoskeletal disorders.
‘How to lift’ training does not change any of the hazardous manual task risk factors that workers are exposed to, nor does it address the source/s of the musculoskeletal disorder risk, such as:
• The design and layout of the work area
• The systems of work used
• Physical and psychosocial risk factors
• Workplace environmental conditions
• The characteristics of the load being handled
• Things used in the hazardous manual task (e.g. tools and equipment).
Research evidence verifies that ‘how to lift’ training is not effective in preventing or reducing work-related musculoskeletal disorders. Consistent findings from meta-analyses and systematic reviews (including reviews of reviews) have demonstrated that lifting technique training e.g. ‘how to lift’ training, is not effective in preventing work-related musculoskeletal disorders (Martimo, et al., 2011; Verbeek, et al., 2012; Rodrigues et al, 2019).
What is suitable and adequate training?
Training provided to workers should address the nature of the work, what they need to know about the control measures, and how they are to be implemented, to manage the health and safety risks associated with hazardous manual tasks.
Australian Codes of Practice/Compliance Codes outline that training should cover:
- Manual task risk management, including hazardous manual task risk factors and sources of risk
- Specific manual task risks and the measures in place to control them
- How to perform manual tasks safely, including the use of mechanical aids, tools, equipment and safe work procedures
- How to report a problem or maintenance issues.
Legislative requirements
Australian and New Zealand WHS/OHS laws impose obligations upon duty holders to ensure the health and safety of workers. In Australian jurisdictions, duty holders must follow specific legislative requirements in relation to the management of hazardous manual tasks. In New Zealand, duty holders are required to comply with the workplace health and safety legislation’s primary duty of care, in addition to following the code of practice for manual handling.
Please refer to your jurisdictional WHS/OHS regulator (see below) for more information on the specific legislative requirements for each duty holder, associated codes of practice, compliance codes and guidance material.
WHS/OHS Regulators expectations of industry, business, and training providers
A PCBU/employer must manage the risk of MSDs associated with hazardous manual tasks by using a risk management approach.
A PCBU/employer must consult with workers when identifying hazards, assessing risks and developing, implementing, maintaining, reviewing and revising control measures. Appropriate consultation and collaboration can support effective and sustainable risk management of hazardous manual tasks.
A PCBU/employer must identify hazardous manual tasks in their workplace and implement suitable control measures, in line with the hierarchy of control, before providing training to workers in the type of control measures implemented.
A PCBU/employer must ensure that hazardous manual task information, training and instruction provided to a worker is suitable and adequate. Industry, business, unions, health and safety professionals and training providers should not promote, provide or use ‘how to lift’ training as a sole or primary strategy to meet legislative requirements or to control hazardous manual task risks. Instead, duty holders should design the work to be safe in the first place, adhere to the hierarchy of controls and provide suitable and adequate training to workers.
For a copy of the Position and Resources see; https://www.safework.nsw.gov.au/resource-library/hazardous-manual-tasks/hwsa-position-on-how-to-lift-training.
ACAPMA is reviewing all guidance in line with the new position and will provide updates to members where required.
Elisha Radwanowski BCom (HRM&IR)
ACAPMA
Source: https://acapmag.com.au/2022/08/new-manual-handling-standards-now-at-play/.
