We spend billions on workplace injury every year in the UK, and last year was no exception - Read our most recent DLH News update to learn how to ensure your business is doing everything it can to avoid manual handling accidents and injury, using specialist lifting equipment where necessary.
There were 555,000 workplace injuries reported by employees in the UK in 2017-18 according to HSE’s Annual Statistics Report. A huge 21% of these were handling, lifting or carrying injuries. That’s 116,550 lifting and handling injuries reported! It is actually estimated that more than double this number of workers experience back pain due to manual handling accidents, though they are not always reported.
Worryingly, there were 3.9 million working days lost in 2017/18 due to non-fatal workplace injuries, according to estimates from the Labour Force Survey. If your company relies on manual handling and lifting then this is a concerning statistic. The annual cost to cover workplace injury exceeds 5 billion pounds a year in the UK, and even the cost of having one worker off on sick leave can leave a business reeling.
Workers themselves are also at risk of long-term personal and professional effects through manual handling injuries. UNISON states ‘it is the most common cause of accidental injury in the workplace’. A massive one in three accidents are estimated to be caused by manual handling. The effects can include extreme pain, temporary or permanent incapacity and ongoing problems at work.
Manual handling injuries can happen when the employee uses awkward postures to lift, move arms, legs or back repetitively, aggravates an existing injury, or simply lifts very heavy items. Workplaces and employees should therefore be encouraging sensible lifting and handling measures at all possible opportunities to avoid the long-term affects both the employee and business can suffer from the simple process of lifting.
Top 5 things for to look out for when risk assessing the manual handling within your business:
1. Consider the lifting capacity of the individual and the types of load they will handle
2. Look at the conditions in which the employee will have to lift
3. Provide manual handling training
4. Think about storage and reduce the distances items will need to be carried
5. Provide lifting aids and specialist lifting equipment where possible
Main Advantages of investing in lifting equipment
It is often a much more cost effective solution to provide lifting equipment and tools to make manual handling easier, than to fork out for these lifting and carrying injuries. Repeated lifts do not have to be heavy to be both dangerous and costly.
Providing vacuum lifters and grippers in the workplace can:
1. Lead to increased work rate and therefore better productivity from your employees.
2. Minimise the risk of accidents and injuries from lifting.
3. Reduce the costs for extended periods of sick leave and injury claims.
4. Protect your goods from being damaged during the handling process.
At DLH Online we pride ourselves on being hoisting equipment specialists and we supply a wide variety of specialist lifting equipment and hoists within the UK to help your workplace thrive, avoiding accidents and additional costs.
Lifts All - The complete package for any workplace
The unique feature of the Lifts All weightless handling system is the Bal-Trol balancer - This is a single-acting pneumatic powered cylinder which can lift up to 600 kg. The lifting height can be adjusted to the demands of the user. The standard height is 1.5 metres, but up to 8 metres can be delivered. The user easily adjusts the speed up and down instantly by using controls on the gripper. The unit is made of aluminium which makes it light and easy to move with an overhead crane system or jib crane.
● Grippers – standard or custom built to handle your product.
● Vacuum lifters - we recommend lifting material that has a relatively dense and smooth surface.
● Mechanical lifters may be designed for the most complex lifting items such as gearboxes.
● Magnetic lifters - use when lifting metal parts, such as tubes, cylinders, gears, or plate.
● All smart lift Manhattan - the perfect lifting tool when working high load or reaching high levels.
Vaculex Lifters - Ergonomic, Efficient and User Friendly
Vaculex electrically powered vacuum tube lifters are designed for lifts between 5 and 250 kg. They are simple to install, very easy to use and can be adapted to lift virtually any object.
Very easy to use:- a vacuum tube lifter uses vacuum to grab hold of and lift the load in a single action; the controls are very easy to use and the vacuum tube lifter gently follows your own body movements, as if the lifted object were weightless.
With a bottom swivel or an angle adaptor you can rotate or turn the lifted object any way you like, for instance in assembly work.
Grippers can lift almost anything. With a vacuum tube lifter you can lift boxes, sacks, drums, sheet metal, computers, crates, kegs & barrels, TVs and much more – depending on equipment and accessories. The design consists of a electric pump, vacuum hose, lift tube, control unit and finally a suction foot or a gripping tool which is adapted to your needs.
Just thinking about the above methods means you are already on track to fewer accidents and injuries in the workplace, along with increased productivity and product care for your business.