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Man Hand

Manual tasks refer to any work requiring muscular or skeletal exertion and include activities like lifting, carrying, pushing, pulling, and repetitive motions; manual tasks can lead to musculoskeletal disorders if they involve forceful exertions, awkward postures, or repeated movements; to reduce injuries, employers must identify manual task hazards, assess their risks, and eliminate or control the risks through measures like changing tasks, using aids, improving workspaces, or providing training.

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53 views18 pages

Man Hand

Manual tasks refer to any work requiring muscular or skeletal exertion and include activities like lifting, carrying, pushing, pulling, and repetitive motions; manual tasks can lead to musculoskeletal disorders if they involve forceful exertions, awkward postures, or repeated movements; to reduce injuries, employers must identify manual task hazards, assess their risks, and eliminate or control the risks through measures like changing tasks, using aids, improving workspaces, or providing training.

Uploaded by

Cio Simanullang
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PPT, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Manual Tasks

A manual task refers to any activity


requiring a person to use any part of their
muscular or skeletal system in their
interactions with their work environment.
It includes the following activities:

Lifting
Pulling

Pushing Holding
Carrying

Striking Throwing
Manual Tasks
It also describes activities
involving:

Repetitive actions Sustained postures Exposure


to
Vibration
Manual Task Injuries
Manual tasks can lead to injury through the
development of Musculoskeletal Disorders
(MSD).

An MSD is an injury affecting the bones or soft


tissue structure (other than organs) of the
body that is caused by manual handling at
work.

Examples include sprains of ligaments; strains of


muscles or tendons; injuries to the spine,
joints, bones or nerves and abdominal hernias.
Symptoms

 Back or neck pain


 Pain in wrists shoulder or
arms
 Stabbing pains in arms or
legs Weakness or clumsiness
 Painful joints Heaviness
 Pain, tingling or Burning sensations
numbness in hands or Stiffness
feet Swelling

If you start to experience any of these symptoms don’t


ignore them!
Responsibilities for Manual
Tasks
• The University has a legislative
requirement to eliminate risks related to
manual tasks.

• In meeting this obligation, the University


requires that managers and supervisors
and those employees who design,
manufacture or supply plant, premises,
equipment or systems of work identify,
assess and eliminate (or control) the
range of hazards associated with manual
tasks at the University.
Three Steps to Reducing
Manual Task Injuries

The three steps are:


1) Identifying manual task hazards
2) Assessing the risk of those manual
task hazards identified causing injury
3) Eliminating the risk, or if not
practicable reduce the risk to the
lowest practicable level
Hazard Identification

Identify all the plant,


materials, equipment,
premises, systems of
work, the work
environment and
individual tasks which
have the potential to
contribute to a
musculoskeletal disorder
Hazard Identification

Manual task hazards can be identified in


different ways:

 Walk through the workplace and look for


potential hazards
 Talk over risk factors with co-workers
 Reviewing previous accidents and near
misses
Assessing the Risks
The next step is to assess which factors are
contributing to the risk of injury. Risk factors to be
considered:

• Body posture • Workplace or


workstation layout
• Force
• Other work
• Repetition of
conditions
movements
• Characteristics of the
• Speed of
item
movements
• Location of objects
• Vibration
and distances moved
• Duration
• Work organisation
and systems of work
Assessing the Risks

• Type of work - some tasks • Weight of the object - heavy


require fixed postures for long objects that have to be lifted
periods of time awkwardly, such as from ground
level are more likely to cause
• Layout of the work space - a
injury than objects lifted from
poorly designed workspace may
waist level
force people to maintain awkward
postures, such as bending or • Equipment - more effort may be
twisting repetitively required to manipulate badly
designed or poorly maintained
• Handling time - the more often
equipment
an object has to be handled, the
greater the chance of injury • The degree of effort - simply
restraining an object such as an
animal, can cause sprains and
other injuries

Further information on assessing manual task risks and


forms can be found on the manual task website
Eliminating (or Controlling)
the Risk
Hierarchy of Controls

ELIMINATION

SUBSTITUTION

ENGINEERING

ADMIN

PPE
Common Risk Control
Measures
 Change the task - does Change the workspace - for
this task need to be carried example, use ergonomic
out? If so, does it have to furniture and make sure work
be done this way?
benches are at optimum
heights to limit bending or
 Change the object - for
example, repack a heavy stretching
load into smaller, more
manageable parcels Change the nature of the
work - offer frequent breaks
 Use mechanical aids - or multi-task
like wheelbarrows, trolleys,
conveyor belts, cranes or Seek proper training -
forklifts
inexperienced workers are
more likely to be injured
Evaluation & Record Keeping

Evaluation
Check the effectiveness of control
measures in place and ensure no
new hazards have been introduced

Record Keeping
Records should be kept of hazard
identification, risk assessment and
control measures including training
records
The Spine
Protecting Your Back
Your back is particularly vulnerable to manual task
injuries.
Suggestions to protect your back include:
 Warm up cold muscles  Organise the work area to reduce
thoroughly before engaging in the amount of bending, twisting
any manual work and stretching required
 Lift and carry heavy loads  Get help to lift or carry a heavy
correctly, by keeping the load
load whenever possible, using
close to the body and lifting with
another worker or appropriate
the thigh muscles
mechanical aids
 Never attempt to carry or lift
loads in excess of the  Cool down after heavy work with
recommended maximum limit for gentle, sustained stretches
one person  Exercise regularly to strengthen
 Maintain correct posture and the muscles & ligaments
natural curves of the spine  Lose any excess body fat
 Take frequent breaks
Safe Lifting Technique

• Plan the lift

• Keep the load close to


your body

• Maintain the natural


curves of your spine

For more information on


safe lifting please see the
Manual Task website
Stretching
Following are some tips on how you can prevent manual
task injuries. The link below will allow you to view
some suitable stretches.

 Stretch prior to doing any manual handling tasks.


 Exercise and take short breaks frequently
 Cool down after any heavy lifting/manual handling.
 Prevention is better than cure! You can do just a few of the
exercises anytime during the day. Try some of them before you
get stiff and sore.
 Include a variety of movements in your workday.
 Some stretches may cause you pain or discomfort. If this
occurs, stop the stretch immediately.
Stretches for Manual Tasks
Further Information

Further information on manual tasks,


including guidelines for identifying,
assessing and eliminating manual task
hazards can be found on the manual
task website:

http://www.csu.edu.au/division/healsafe/frames/MH_p.htm

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