While work is work, some work is considerably more physically demanding than others. This is the case with manual handling job descriptions and roles. As a leader or manager in a workplace such as this, you need to stay on your toes and ensure that everyone is fully trained and operating at their maximum capacity. This is for their safety, yours, and that of the rest of your staff. Follow these tips to make your job easier, and your workers safer, and instil a good work environment for everyone under your employ.
Incorporate Necessary Training Programs
If you work in a business where manual handling is part and parcel of the job description, then you know how imperative it is to conduct the necessary training to ensure everyone is safe at work. Use a top-rated manual handling training program that is accessible and relatable to everyone you hire.
By attending the training program and learning the best practices regarding manual handling, the likelihood of hazardous workplace practices will be reduced. It is simple, really, because your employees will understand what they should and should not do regarding how to work in a physically demanding role.
Implement proactive solutions to minimise and eliminate serious claims regarding manual handling. Heavy or imbalanced loads, repetitive motions, and the potential for musculoskeletal risks in the workplace are far too great. Take action with tailor-made solutions to ensure the safety of everyone going forward.
Schedule Frequent Breaks
Of course, everyone in certain workplaces is required to take predetermined breaks at specific intervals during their shifts. This is certainly pertinent when it comes to positions that involve manual handling with great frequency. Even when the movements of the body are performed according to the training program and its related standards, the human body still gets weary.
Offset this natural tendency to become tired, both physically and mentally by scheduling frequent breaks throughout each employee’s shift. There will certainly be the mandatory lunch break and probably a short break during the first part of the work shift as well as a second small break after lunch. But, more than likely this will not be enough for people to maintain focus safely.
Watch this video for insight and guidance on whether you are allocating the right breaks in your place of work.
Use the Buddy System
It may seem like a throwback to everyone’s childhood, but utilising the main components of what the Buddy System encompasses can prove beneficial. Encourage your employees to act as a cohesive and team-centric unit. To initiate this forward-thinking change in how everyone works together, you must create a company culture that is framed around the concept of teamwork.
Try these tips to foster and model teamwork:
- Assign teams or buddies. These groups or duos will look out for one another at work. Make sure everyone is wearing the appropriate safety gear and wearing it according to safety standards. They can watch heavy equipment and loads to ensure the heavy loads are properly strapped down, etc.
- Encourage camaraderie. Get your team members involved in after-hours activities. If that is not feasible due to time constraints or differing schedules, look for at-work activities. Add a billiards or foosball table to the break room. By incorporating things that bring people together at work, you are encouraging everyone to get to know each other better. This awareness tends to foster a sense of caring and loyalty that shows at work.
Be a Good Role Model
Even though you are the boss, you should always lead by example. This is especially true and appropriate when it comes to safety in the workplace. If your workers are required to wear a hard hat in certain workspaces, then you must wear one.Â
As the leader, you may not be competent, comfortable, and appropriately licensed or cleared to operate all of the equipment or machinery in your workplace. You should, however, make every effort to understand their uses and purposes. As time allows, make it your priority to learn some of the daily job duties your employees perform. This way, you can truly understand what they do and why they do it. When it comes to discussing their jobs and reassessing metrics or safety, this background knowledge will prove invaluable.
Even if you are unable to fully perform and undertake all of your employee’s job duties per their respective job descriptions, you should focus on attending their manual training programs. When they see you showing a keen and dedicated interest in what they do, they will feel more valued and appreciated. In addition, when your staff know you understand their roles more clearly since you have been through the same training, they know their job and position expectations are being monitored with an understanding. In turn, they will perform better.
Conduct Proper Inspections
Your workplace guidance materials are likely to outline proper inspections in your specific work environment and for your unique work vertical. These materials will include checklists for routinely scheduled and predetermined inspections.Â
The inspections will involve examining the factory and office equipment to ensure they are being properly maintained for safety. The age of the equipment, any parts replaced or maintenance conducted since the last safety inspection should all be accurately documented.
Other inspections focus more on how your team of employees use the equipment and the appropriate handling of the equipment and any related materials involved in the processing. Whether or not they wear the necessary and required safety equipment is part of the inspection.
Just because the nature of your work is physically demanding does not mean it will be unsafe. Instead, focus on the mandated safety standards and work from there. Incorporate specific safety training that caters directly to your line of work in terms of manual handling. Pay extra attention and focus on how your employees work as a team and care for one another’s safety concerns. By doing these things day in and day out, you will see a more cohesive team evolve with safety at the forefront of their minds.