Health and Community Services Module

Manual Handling

Writing, typing, moving and placing boxes and other items on shelves, lifting, moving and carrying children: these are just some examples of manual handling tasks you may have to do in the health and community services industry.

Key Point
People who sustain a manual handling injury at work can spend the rest of their lives coping with pain, and be unable to do a lot of things other people can do.

Many manual handling injuries in health and community services - back injuries in particular - occur as a result of lifting sick or elderly people. Work experience students, however, should not lift elderly or sick people.

To reduce the risk of manual handling injury your employer should:

provide safe work procedures, instruction, training and supervision for manual handling work activities
provide mechanical lifting equipment like trolleys and hoists
make sure employees do not work long shifts
re-organise work tasks to reduce the manual handling involved, and
ensure the work place layout allows employees enough space to move and work safely.

You must follow manual handling procedures, which may include:

reducing the need to stoop by not putting items on the floor that will have to be picked up later (this is double handling)
lightening loads
reducing bending, twisting and reaching movements
using team lifting
using mechanical lifting equipment (e.g. trolleys and hoists to lift people), and
wearing appropriate footwear (e.g. shoes with non-slip soles and good grip).

Key Point
Even though you may be young and new to the job, as a young employee you should speak up - talk to your supervisor if you feel your job is too heavy, too difficult, too tiring or puts you at risk of injury.

Slippery Floors

Slippery and uneven floors in a community services industry work place can be a serious hazard.

To reduce the hazard of slippery floors your employer should:

make sure the floors are even, slip resistant and free from obstruction
make sure spills are cleaned immediately
make sure appropriate procedures are in place to clean floors and maintain non-slip floor properties
provide non-slip mats in problem areas (e.g. the entrance to a shower room), and
install a small ramp to avoid a step between different floor heights in doorways or shower cubicles.