Above gives you a simple guideline as published by the health and safety executive (HSE), for manual lifting operations.

Do they worry you?

Suppliers are trying to pack their goods in larger units to reduce distribution costs, 25 kilos is the maximum the HSE recommends lifting by hand.

This is fine as long as you can always lift the cartons at waist height, and as long as you aren't female!

This becomes even more frightening when you look at the weights that you can lift at floor level, very few cartons are packed at less than 7-10 kilograms and even less at 3-7 kilograms. This makes it very difficult to ensure that you are not exceeding regulation.

What can you do to minimise the risk?

Ask yourself some simple questions.

1 - Will your suppliers reduce the weight of the package?

2 - Can you increase the height of the package without lifting manually?

3 - Do I need to lift the package at all, or can it be move the horizontally without risk?

4 - Can I use mechanical aids to lift or lower the object to a safer working height?

5 - Can I train my staff to cope more easily with lifting?

There are many solutions in the market that will reduce the risk of injury to your staff, and the risk of costly legal proceeding to your company.

Moreover many of them will provide productivity benefits which far out way the cost of the equipment itself.

Get Shrewd! Not Sued!