high risk activities

1. Section D: High Risk Activities

2. Manual Handling

3. Manual handling - any action involving physical
(human) effort to move or support an object or
person by:
• Lifting
• Pushing
• Pulling
• Manoeuvring
• Steadying
• Carrying
Manual handling is not just about lifting stuff!!!
What is Manual Handling?
Section D: High Risk Activities

4. Manual Handling Involves…
Picking up… and putting back down!
and pulling!
Carrying… or stretching!
Pushing…
Manual Handling
Section D: High Risk Activities

5. Injuries due to manual handling typically include….
• Back injuries are the most common (mostly
muscles and ligaments)
• Injuries to fingers, thumbs and arms are the next
most common
• Others include hand and lower limb injuries
Injuries Due to Manual Handling
Section D: High Risk Activities

6. • Stress is greatest in the cervical (neck) and lumbar
(lower back) areas.
• These two regions are responsible for most of the
movement in the back, allowing you to bend and
twist.
• The lumbar curve of the lower spine supports the
greatest body weight and is the most vulnerable
to injury and pain.
Components of the Back
Section D: High Risk Activities

7. Vertebrae:
7 - Seven in the
neck (cervical
spine)
12- Twelve in the
mid-back
(thoracic spine)
5 - Five in the
lower back
(lumbar spine)
Components of the Back
Section D: High Risk Activities

8. Four main causes of back pain:
1. Cumulative – occurs gradually and associated with
poor posture
2. Psychological – pain but with no physical
symptoms, caused through stress or depression
3. Traumatic – caused by sudden and violent stress
to the spine
4. Degenerative – normal aging process which
produces ‘wear and tear’
Causes of Back Pain
Section D: High Risk Activities

9. What your employer should do for you…
• Eliminate manual handling where practicable
• Carry out suitable and sufficient risk assessment
• Provide information and instruction
(tell you about weight / centre of gravity of the load)
• Provide methods of work / equipment to minimise the
risk
• Plan delivery / offloading and distribution of materials
to avoid unnecessary carrying
Manual Handling
Section D: High Risk Activities

10. What you should do for your employer…
• Take care of your own safety and others affected by
your activity
• Co-operate with your employer on safety matters
• Make full and proper use of any systems of work
• Make proper use of equipment provided for your
safety
• Inform your employer if you identify hazardous
handling activities
Manual Handling
Section D: High Risk Activities

11. Lifting and Carrying
Section D: High Risk Activities

12. “Weigh up” your safety by considering:
T identifies the Task
I identifies the Individual
L identifies the Load
E identifies the Environment
Lifting and Carrying
Section D: High Risk Activities

13. Task:
Is it…
Necessary?
Possible?
Reasonable?
Practical?
Lifting and Carrying
Section D: High Risk Activities

14. Individual:
• The safe limit you feel you can lift?
• Working alone or team work?
• Any lifting aids?
Lifting and Carrying
Section D: High Risk Activities

15. Load:
• Physical size?
• How is the weight spread out (wide / long)?
• Eccentric load - centre of gravity?
• Are lifting handles available?
• Source and destination of the load?
Lifting and Carrying
Section D: High Risk Activities

16. Environment:
• Floor space
• Floor condition (dry / wet / sloping)
• Weather conditions
Lifting and Carrying
Section D: High Risk Activities

17. Controlling Risks
Section D: High Risk Activities

18. The chart is a ‘filter mechanism’
Consider:
• Repetition
• Stooping or bending
• Pushing or pulling
• Twisting during lifting
• Balance
• Seated or standing
Controlling Risks – Training
Section D: High Risk Activities

19. How many of you lift things like this?
If so, you are putting your back at risk!
Controlling Risks
Section D: High Risk Activities

20. • Risk assess the task
• Keep the back straight
• Use the leg muscles / knees bent
• Keep load close to the body
• Elbows close to your side
• Use the palm grip
• Position the feet
Safe Lifting Summary
Section D: High Risk Activities

21. Working at Height

22. • Falls from height continue to be the
biggest industrial killer
• All work at height is covered (regardless
of the distance above ground)
• Precautions needed where there is a risk
of personal injury
• Employers use risk assessments to decide
on the necessary precautions
Working at Height
Section D: High Risk Activities

23. • Around 50% of industrial fatalities are caused by
falling from height
• 60% of work at height injuries are from falls
below head height
• Most fall from height accidents are caused by not
using the correct equipment for the job i.e.
incorrect use of ladders / stepladders or
improvised platforms
Working at Height - Facts
Section D: High Risk Activities

24. What your employer should do…
(Legal hierarchy of control)
1. Avoid working at height
2. Ensure all work at height is planned with proper
precautions in place
3. Provide work equipment to prevent falls
4. Mitigate the consequences of a fall
5. Provide instruction and training
Working at Height
Section D: High Risk Activities

25. A safe system of work would include:
1. Safe access
2. Method of protection
– Edge protection / guard rails
– Barriers back from the edge
– Safety harness or nets should only be used as a
last resort
3. You should not work in any environment if you do
not have a means of protection against falls
Work at Height Regulations
Section D: High Risk Activities

26. The best prevention from falls is to use guard rails, toe
boards, barriers and similar means of protection
• The minimum height of a top guard rail must be at
least 950 millimetres above the edge from which a
person could fall
• Intermediate gaps must be reduced to no more
than 470 millimetres
• Plastic barriers, netting or rope are not suitable as
edge protection to stop anyone from falling
Preventing Falls
Section D: High Risk Activities

27. If falls cannot be prevented by the use of guard rails then
the risk of injury must be minimised by:
• Collective fall arrest / mitigation by the
provision of air / bean bags, safety netting and ‘crash’
decks
• Personal fall arrest by the use of safety
harnesses
– The selection of the type of harness is vital
– You must receive additional training before using
a harness and lanyard
Arresting Falls
Section D: High Risk Activities

28. Protection measures;
• Collective fall prevention – guard rails / barriers
• Collective fall arrest / mitigation – nets / bags
• Personal fall arrest – harnesses
Work at Height Regulations
Section D: High Risk Activities

29. Common types Mobile Elevated Work Platforms
(MEWP’s) include scissor lifts and cherry pickers
• You must only use access equipment if you have
been fully trained
• If you are a passenger in a cherry picker you must
wear a safety harness and lanyard clipped to the
attachment point
• Never clip on to an adjacent structure
Access Equipment
Section D: High Risk Activities

30. Mobile towers are safe and versatile access equipment
• You must hold a PASMA or equivalent qualification to
erect, alter or dismantle a mobile tower
• If you are to work on such equipment you should
receive a toolbox talk
• Always ensure wheels are locked
• Only use the integrated ladder access
• Ensure guard rails are fitted
Mobile Towers
Section D: High Risk Activities

31. Ladders are a very common piece of access equipment
– most frequently misused when utilised as a working
platform
Ladders -
• Should only used for light work
• Always check they are in good condition – report
any defect to your supervisor
• Only use on firm, level ground
• Set at correct angle
• Extend 1 metre (5 rungs) above platform
• Beware of overhead cables
Ladders
Section D: High Risk Activities

32. Using a Ladder
Section D: High Risk Activities
• When using a ladder always keep the ladder at
an angle of 75 degrees
• Any angle greater than 75 degrees and the
ladder may be too steep to climb and become
unstable
• Any angle less than 75 degrees and the ladder
may be under too much stress and may snap
85
o 75
o
45
o

33. How Not to Use a Ladder!
Section D: High Risk Activities

34. A wide variety of stepladders are available…
• Stepladders should only be used for light work
• Always check they are in good condition
• Only use on firm, level ground
• Never over reach
• Don’t stand on the top four treads unless it is
designed to be used that way
Step Ladders
Section D: High Risk Activities

35. Podium steps are a safe and versatile
alternative – if used correctly
Podium Steps
Section D: High Risk Activities

36. Many fatalities occur from falling through fragile roofs
• Asbestos cement roofs
• Roof lights
• Other materials where the surface is dirty or
obscured with moss etc.
Never attempt to work on or cross a fragile roof
without a safe access system
Fragile Roofs
Section D: High Risk Activities

37. How Not to Use Edge Protection
Section D: High Risk Activities

38. Worst Practice…
Section D: High Risk Activities

39. Excavations and Confined Spaces

40. What your site and employer must do:
• Make sure you do not enter an excavation that has
not been adequately supported or designed to
prevent collapse
• Prevent persons or vehicles from falling into an
excavation
• Assess the risk
• Only allow entry to a confined space if it is necessary
and each person is adequately trained
Excavations / Confined Spaces
Section D: High Risk Activities

41. What you must do for your employer:
• Do not enter an excavation that has not been
adequately supported
• Follow the agreed safe system of work
• Do not remove any guards or leave the excavation
unprotected
• Do not enter confined spaces unless trained to do so
Excavations / Confined Spaces
Section D: High Risk Activities

42. Collapses can occur when:
• The sides are not (or inadequately) supported
• Vehicles operate too close to the edge of
excavations
• Materials are stored too close to the edge
• Heavy rain weakens the sides
• The ground dries out, shrinks and collapses
• Excavation undermines adjacent walls or structures
Excavations - Collapses
Section D: High Risk Activities

43. • A cubic metre of soil can weigh over two tonnes
• A shallow excavation can collapse onto you if your
bending over
• Collapsed soils can easily crush or break legs
• Collapse is often silent and occurs without warning
Excavations – The Problems
Section D: High Risk Activities

44. Every buried service is a danger to the unwary. The
services most likely to be found and their colour
codings are:
• Electricity Black or red
• Water Blue, black or grey
• Gas Yellow
• Communications Grey, yellow, purple or black
(non-exhaustive list)
Excavations – Buried Services
Section D: High Risk Activities

45. • Avoid the need to enter the excavation
• Install supports before anyone enters
• Only work within the protected area
• Provide a safe way to enter the excavation
• Provide fall protection around the edge
• Prevent vehicles from coming too close
• Inspect the excavation at the start of every shift
Excavations - The Solutions
Section D: High Risk Activities

46. Questions
Section D: High Risk Activities