Given over 40% of all days lost due to work related ill-health in 2014/15 were due to work related musculoskeletal disorders it is hardly surprising that HSE has just updated L23 Manual handling – Manual Handling Operations Regulations 1992 – Guidance on Regulations (although the main messages have changed very little between this and the the third edition it replaces). In fact the changes seem to be more about simplification and increased clarity, but of course they do take account of the recent amendment to section 3(2) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 relating to the self-employed. At the sametime the HSE have also produced the RAPP (Risk Assessment of pushing and pulling) Tool to help assess the key risks in manual pushing and pulling operations involving whole-body effort, eg moving loaded trolleys or roll cages, or dragging, hauling, sliding or rolling loads. These documents and tools along with other advice on this topic can be viewed and downloaded for free the HSE website.
