More relevant legislation
The European Agency for Safety and Health at Work outlines a variety of European Directives which have become law in the UK. These can be found
here…
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Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 Cover the provision of safe work equipment and its safe use
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Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992 Aim to ensure that workplaces meet the health, safety and welfare needs of each member of the workforce, which may include people with disabilities
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Manual Handling Operations Regulations 1992
Introduced to establish measures to: avoid hazardous manual handling operations so far as reasonable practicable; make a suitable and sufficient assessment of any hazardous manual handling operation that cannot be avoided; and reduce the risk of injury from those operations so far as reasonably practicable
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Personal Protective Equipment at Work Regulations 1992
PPE means all equipment (including clothing that protects against weather) which is intended to be worn or held by a person at work and which protects against one or more risks to health or safety, and any addition or accessory designed to meet the objective
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Health and Safety (Display Screen Equipment) Regulations 1992
Established the carrying out of a suitable and sufficient analysis of workstations and a solution-focused risk assessment
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The Disability Discrimination Act 1995
The Act gives rights to people who have or have had a disability which makes it difficult for them to carry out day-to-day activities. The disability could be physical, sensory or mental. It must also be substantial and have long term effect, ie it must last or be expected to last for at least 12 months
More information on these pieces of legislation can be found at the Office of Public Sector Information website and from the HSE.
Preventive action
In their priced publication
Upper limb disorders in the workplace, the HSE outlines how a positive management approach can enable managers and employees to minimise the risks from upper limb disorders.
They suggest that the first steps in this process should be ‘understanding the issues and committing to action’, followed by ‘creating the right organisational environment’.
It is good for people to use their bodies at work. It is important
not to give the message that working means harm. However, in some instances people can overload their musculoskeletal system at work, without any symptoms being evident in the early stages. This could be from sitting for too long as well as from doing what might traditionally be thought of as ‘heavy’ jobs. It is important, therefore, to carry out risk assessments across your work site, to identify any possible musculoskeletal hazards to which the workforce are being exposed, in order to prevent any cases occurring.
Risk assessments
Risk assessments for MSD risks could be manual handling risk assessments, display screen equipment risk assessments, general ergonomics assessments or, specifically, upper limb disorder risk assessments. A number of risk assessment tools are outlined below and some can be found on the
HSE website.
As with any health and safety issue, assessment is not enough – it should be followed by action. See the HSE website for
more advice.
Help to identify upper limb risks
The HSE has a
free leaflet on ULDs and how to manage them, as well as a leaflet on using
display screen equipment.
For a more detailed risk assessment, there is a priced publication Upper limb disorders in the workplace (HSG60). The assessment risk
filter and
risk assessment worksheets in HSG60 are available free on the HSE website.
RULA (rapid upper limb assessment) This is an assessment for ergonomic investigations of workplaces where work-related upper limb disorders (WRULDs) have been reported. You can carry out an assessment online or offline.
Help to identify more general MSD risks
Getting to grips with manual handling is a good starting point, and there are a number of other
free information sheets from the HSE that cover manual handling in various industries. These give basic guidance and highlight other sources of information.
NIOSH lifting equationThis equation can be used to assess manual handling operations. The tool and other information are located at this link.
The MAC tool is useful for identifying risk from various manual handling activities. The HSE states: ‘Using the MAC will help with the initial screening of possible high risk manual handling activities within the workplace. However, the MAC is NOT appropriate for all manual handing operations, and does NOT comprise a full risk assessment. Therefore it is unlikely to be acceptable if relied upon alone. To be “suitable and sufficient”, a risk assessment will normally need to take account of additional information such as individual capabilities (factors), and should conform to the requirements in the MHOR 1992.’ (Available from
HSE Books).
OWAS (ovako working posture system) This tool is used to evaluate the postural load on people in different work environments. This is a link to the tool and contacts for more help.
QEC (quick exposure check)
This tool is used for the assessment of exposure to risks for work-related musculoskeletal disorders. You can access the new, improved QEC and support materials.
REBA (rapid entire body assessment)REBA is used to assess the entire body postures for the risk of work-related musculoskeletal disorders. This link will take you to Cornell University REBA worksheet and a presentation explaining how to use it.
Assessing whole body vibration
Exposure to whole body vibration can be linked with the development of back pain. A number of
industry-specific vibration leaflets are available from the HSE.
Assessing hand–arm vibration
Exposure to hand–arm vibration has been linked with the development of certain upper limb disorders. A number of industry-specific vibration leaflets are available from the HSE.
NHS Direct gives advice as to what can cause back pain and has a helpful list of what to look for when surveying your work site.
Identifying unreported symptoms
Employees can have symptoms of an MSD but fail to report them. You can find out if this is the case in your work site by carrying out a survey on:
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people wearing joint supports
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changes that people have made to their workstation, such as adding padding, tape, cushions, using different seating and so on
In addition, you could carry out a body mapping exercise across your site. This encourages employees to note body parts that are causing them pains, aches or discomfort. For more information, see the Public and Commercial Services Union site, or the Bakers, Food and Allied Workers Union site. A body mapping leaflet is available from the Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers, and you can also get information from Hazards Magazine. Body mapping is a form of health monitoring. This is described in more detail on the HSE website.
How can I apply ergonomics in my workplace?
Educating employees
As an additional aspect of managing MSDs, you can encourage your employees to look after themselves, particularly when it comes to
back pain. You can get a range of information and training materials on back care from
IOSH.
Ensuring good reporting mechanisms
It is generally accepted that the earlier you deal with an MSD issue the better. In order to make this happen, you need to make sure that your workforce is aware of what the risk factors are, what symptoms to look for and how to report them should any arise.