5 Steps Your Business Can Take to Control Manual Risk

What is ‘Manual Risk’?

Workers are exposed to manual risk when a hazardous manual task is undertaken. Not all manual tasks are hazardous though. Knowing which tasks are potentially hazardous is the first vital step in controlling manual risk at your site. Work Safe QLD outlines the following characteristics of hazardous manual tasks:

• Repetitive or sustained force
• High or sudden force
• Repetitive movement
• Sustained or awkward posture
• Exposure to vibration

How do you assess for high levels of Manual Risk?

There are tools that aid in the assessment of hazardous manual tasks for the presence of manual risk. At Employ Health, one of the tools we make use of is the Manual Task Risk Assessment (ManTRA) for our partners. The use of an evidence-based tool like the ManTRA results in an objective score being attributed to the amount of risk posed to workers. If high and actionable risk levels are identified to any part of the worker's body, control measures need to be put in place.

5 steps to control Manual Risk:

Your workplace should be implementing risk controls that have been created with reference to the Hierarchy of Controls, as shown in the image below.

This hierarchy outlines that the most effective control measure for a hazardous manual task is elimination. If this is not reasonably practicable at the time at the time of recommendation, workplaces can decrease levels of manual risk to that of an acceptable level through less effective but perhaps more realistic controls measures.

Here are five practical steps workplaces can take to actively control manual risk exposure:

1. Improve workspace and/or tool ergonomic design.
2. Provide job rotation and task variety within a worker’s shift. Aiming to rotate workers every 30 minutes effectively decreases cumulative manual risk.
3. Alter manual workloads by decreasing shift duration and/or the pace of work.
4. Ensure proper maintenance of machinery, with records kept.
5. Provide training to staff carrying out hazardous manual tasks regarding how to prepare their bodies for physical work and actively risk assess throughout their day. Employ Health has created Move Well training, that ensures the following three principles are adopted by workers:
   1. Think Clear
   2. Think Core
   3. Think Close

At Employ Health we routinely aid our partners in assessing tasks for the presence of high and actionable levels of manual risk. We then recommend occupational interventions that will target the identified problem areas. If you'd like to know more, feel free to contact me directly at zac.lowth@employhealth.com.au.