Six Advantages to Manual Handling Training for Employees

Manual Handling Training looks to ‘prevent’ workplace injuries that can be endured when competing tasks such as Manual Handling. Using method ‘prevention is better than cure’, we will outline 6 better ways of Manual Handling that will improve your employee’s knowledge, training and experience of good safe practice within the workplace. This will help to reduce and hopefully prevent any further injuries as a result of poor Manual Handling training. To learn from the following 6 benefits to manual handling training for your employees; sit-up straight, make sure your back is stretched and the lights in your room are lit well enough for reading. Once you have completed those steps, please begin the 6 advantages to Manual Handling Training for Employees: 1) Raises Awareness One of the biggest mistakes that an individual tasked with manual handling tasks make is to have a poor awareness of the risks associated to manual handling and the injuries that they may incur as a result of poor form and practice. Manual Handling Training will raise awareness to your employees to the possible risks and dangers directly related to Manual Handling, heightening the importance of good practice within your employees and bettering their understanding of the potential outcomes if practices are ignored and Manual Handling techniques are not employed. Raising Awareness is not a stand-alone practice that will ensure good Manual Handling practice is met and implemented within their work, regularly! 2) Good Practice An excellent outcome of Manual Handling Training is the understanding and learning of form and good practice. Manual Handling instructors will provide employees with the knowledge of best, safe and most effective practice. By understanding the best method to carry out Manual Handling, employees should understand the opposites; bad practice. By teaching an understanding of the differences of good and bad Manual Handling, employees may be able to start implementing good practice techniques within their own work. 3) Employees in their Environment One of the most valuable Manual Handling Training practices is to host the course on-site, within the environment employees will be using their training on a daily/ frequent basis. This method helps to cement the knowledge accrued within their own working environment rather than needing to ‘mentally’ envisage using the taught Manual Handling techniques at their own workplace (which may not have an identical layout, many variables can enter the training process etc.) 4) Teaching Employees How to Use Mechanical Aids An extremely positive outcome of Manual Handling Training courses on-site is to enable the instructor to show the intended and correct use of Mechanical Aids within their own working environment to ensure employee safety when using such machines. Typically, employees using mechanical aids will have already been briefed and understood the additional safety requirements necessary to operating those particular machines. By teaching employees on-site, best practice techniques can be ensured to be passed on and understood. Teaching employees within their own environment has an instrumental impact on the effectiveness of Manual Handling Training for employees, this is heighten when Mechinical Aids are involved within the process. 5) Learning through Experience For employees, learning through experience in their workplace may be a critical aspect to bettering their understanding of the best work practices/ techniques within their own work environment – improving confidence. Due to the inclusiveness of learning from experience, many employees may be able to provide insight into their past methods and techniques which have now been corrected. This level of teaching may be highly beneficial to individuals. In addition, employees that have picked up and developed bad habits which are translating into their daily work practices have a chance to ‘refresh’ their understanding in a learning environment with an expert which should help to improve their abilities to fulfil the role and improve the safety of their work. 6) Promotes a Healthy Workforce One of the most under-estimated benefits from Manual Handling Training for Employees is the promotion of a safer, healthier and happier workforce with a greater understanding of the roles and jobs they are to fulfil. It has been widely cited that a healthy workforce has benefits on productivity. Manual Handling Training promotes this by teaching good, efficient and safe practice within the workplace.