Manual Handling Manual Handling Operations Regulations 1992 ...

Health and Safety
Executive
Guidance
Is the load being pushed or pulled?
148 For loads which are being pushed or pulled it is important to ensure that:
(a)
the equipment being used is:
(i)
(ii)
(iii)
(iv)
the correct type for the load involved;
well maintained, particularly any braking system;
fitted with the correct type of wheels, eg wheels that run easily over the
surfaces involved;
provided with the correct height handle;
(b)
the load itself is:
(i)
(ii)
(iii)
stable and, if necessary, secured to the equipment being used to move
it;
not too bulky for the route or equipment being used;
stacked, so that heavier items are at the bottom and it is possible to see
over the load.
Designing equipment so it can be handled easily
149 The Supply of Machinery (Safety) Regulations 1992 (as amended) 16 cover
the essential health and safety requirements in the design of machinery and its
component parts. These Regulations require machinery to be capable of being
handled safely. If manual handling is involved, the machinery and component parts
must be easily movable or equipped for picking up, for example with hand grips.
Machinery and component parts not suitable for manual handling must be fitted
with attachments for lifting gear or designed so that standard lifting gear can be
easily attached.
150 Regulation 10 of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations
1998 places duties on employers and they will need to check, for example, that
adequate operating instructions have been provided and that there is information
about residual risks such as manual handling. The employer should also check
that:
(a)
(b)
(c)
the equipment has no obvious faults or defects;
the CE mark has been correctly applied; and
an EC declaration of conformity is provided with the equipment.
151 For second-hand machinery the above does not apply (except if the machine
has been substantially modified or where the machine is brought in from outside
the European Union (EU) and has never been supplied from within the EU
previously). However the HSW Act requires designers and manufacturers to ensure
the safety, so far as is reasonably practicable, of any article for use at work and to
provide adequate information about the conditions necessary to ensure that when
put to use, such articles will be safe and without risk to health (see paragraph 175).
4(1)(b)(i) and (ii)
152 To ensure that adequate information is available for articles which are likely
to cause injury if manually handled, it may be helpful to provide information on
the weight. The simplest way of doing this is to mark the article with its weight.
Alternatively, mark its package with the total weight prominently in a place or
places where the handler will see it easily. For asymmetric articles likely to cause
injury when lifted manually, the centre of gravity should be marked on the article or
package.
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