New Template

This month Simply-Docs has added a Manual Handling Policy to its Health and Safety Policies subfolder.

For most businesses a focus on avoiding injuries from manual handling is important. Manual handling injuries account for almost a third of all reportable occurrences in all sectors of industry. These range from the occasional fracture to the more normal strain type of injury with nearly half of all injuries affecting the back. Accident figures show that manual handling injuries are not confined to a narrow range of industries – over a third of accidents happen in wholesale and retail distribution.

Manual handling is something most of us do every day, and many people are injured every day by not lifting correctly or by trying to lift too much. The new Manual Handling Policy can be used in conjunction with the existing Manual Handling Risk Assessment Forms and allows you to set the boundaries of what you want your staff to move by hand.

The new policy is based around the main requirements of the Manual Handling Operations Regulations 1992 – Avoid, Assess and Reduce. There is also useful guidance in our Guidance Notes – How to do a Manual Handling Risk Assessment to accompany the new policy. The policy is not intended to replace any manual handling training you may do, rather it is there to help remind your staff of how they should be lifting or moving the things you have in your workplace.