October 31, 2024

PErforM safety together

Manual handling accounts for almost half of all Work Cover claims at Northern Health. For each Work Cover claim made, there are approximately another four to five manual handling injuries that do not progress to a Work Cover claim.

Hazardous manual handling is often the cause of musculoskeletal injuries (MSIs) and is defined as work requiring the use of force exerted by a person to lift, lower, push, pull, carry or otherwise move, hold or restrain an object or person.

Both physical and psychosocial hazards can increase the risk of workers developing MSIs in the workplace. At Northern Health, many of our tasks involve hazardous manual handling that results in a higher risk of MSIs. These tasks may include:

  • Patient manual handling
  • Pushing trolleys/beds/equipment
  • Carrying awkward, heavy items
  • Repetitive tasks (e.g. picking, packing)
  • Maintenance tasks
  • Extended use of workstation

The Participative Ergonomics for Manual Tasks (PErforM) program tool was recently introduced to facilitate more effective management of hazardous manual handling tasks. The PErforM program is based on a participative ergonomics approach which is a validated approach for reducing the risk of musculoskeletal injury through worker participation.

Consultation is an important process to create a safe work environment. The idea of PErforM is to speak with staff about the safest way to perform a task as they are the expert in performing their work tasks.

This approach enables Northern Health to identify and assess problems more effectively as well as develop ideas about how to fix them. These valuable learnings can be incorporated into the SOP to make the task safer.

The advantages to this method include:

  • Developing effective controls that will target the key risk factors and be designed for the work requirements to suit the staff
  • Giving staff a greater sense of ownership and commitment to use the controls once they are implemented
  • Assisting in meeting legislative requirements, specifically; hazardous manual handling tasks risk management, duty to consult and providing information and training to workers

OHS recently facilitated a workshop to review the SOP ­- Moving a patient out of a small space.” Due to the restricted environment, staff have to assume awkward postures and forceful muscular exertion for part of the task. Participants performed the tasks and assessed the impact of the task on their body.

One example was when moving the patient on the floor using three slide sheets. Participants indicated they felt awkward posture and exertion in lower back, arms and legs. The participants then determined a safer method would be, where possible – staff working in unison to take three steps at a time, stop to check position and rest posture and then recommence moving the patient. This valuable finding along with many others were incorporated into the SOP.

One of the participants, Natalie Koegler, who is a Lead Manual Handling/No Lift Trainer, said “It was great to include staff in the process. We physically tried different options to see the safest way to do the task. This was incorporated into the SOP to make it a safer process and I feel this means we are less likely to make mistakes and hurt ourselves. I really liked thinking about which part of my body was being used when doing the task and if any impact can be reduced. Moving forward I think consulting with staff is a great way to review and update SOPs.”

The final SOP can be found: OHS – Manual Handling – Patient Handling.

The OHS & Wellbeing team are currently reviewing and updating the Patient Manual Handling/No Lift SOPs. If you are interested in coming to a Participative Review Session, please email us at ohswb@nh.org.au.

Safety is my business, your business, our business.

Featured image: Manual handling lead trainers that participated with the SOP review of: “Moving a patient out of a small space.”